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Essay #2:

Write an essay about The Namesake. Develop a thesis that answers the following question:

PLEASE DO NOT USE OUTSIDE RESEARCH FOR THIS PAPER. I WANT YOUR IDEAS SUPPORTED WITH QUOTES FROM THE NOVEL.

Please look at one of the main characters in the novel through the first lens (Ethnicity/Race/Culture) from the handout “Lenses for Reading Literature” (handed out in class 6/15 and posted on our Moodle site). With this lens in mind, create a thesis that addresses the following: How does this character struggle?

LENSES FOR READING LITERATURE:

1. Ethnicity/Race/Culture:
This
lens
allows
us
to
look
at
issues/conflicts/questions
that
 arise
in
a
text
that
relate
to
the
ethnicities,
races,
and
cultures
of
the
characters
in
the
 text.
It
is
particularly
important
to
consider
these
issues
when
characters
in
the
text
 come
from
different
ethnic/racial/cultural
backgrounds
and
the
text
reveals
how
the
 characters’
diverse
backgrounds
might
cause
confusion,
conflict,
or
meaningful
 interactions.
It
is
also
important
when
stereotypes
or
prejudice
results
because
of
these
 differences.
An
example
of
this
is
Rita
Dove’s
“Parsley,”
where
the
Dominican
General
 Trujillo
decided
to
kill
many
Haitian
workers
because
they
did
not
speak
Spanish
 “properly.”
Another
example
could
be
“Two
Kinds,”
where
the
Chinese
mother
and
her
 Chinese‐American
daughter
come
into
conflict.

When
these
differences
in
culture
represent
one
group
who
is
oppressed
and
another
 group
that
is
in
power
(or
colonizes/controls
this
oppressed
group),
this
lens
can
be
 called
Post‐Colonial
Literary
Criticism
(Schilb
1603).
Also,
for
more
information
on
this,
 visit
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/10/.

2. Gender:
This
lens
examines
the
conventional
or
traditional
roles
that
men
and
women
may
play
in
a
text
and
also
how
men
and
women
might
reject
or
protest
or
try
to
change
 these
roles.
An
example
of
reading
a
text
through
a
gender
lens
may
be
looking
at
the
 relationship
between
the
narrator
of
“The
Yellow
Wallpaper”
and
her
husband,
John,
or
 to
think
about
how
the
gender
of
the
aunt
in
“No
Name
Woman”
contributed
to
her
 punishment
and
suicide
and
asking
whether
a
man
who
committed
the
same
act
would
 be
treated
differently.
In
literary
criticism,
this
lens
is
often
called
Feminist
Criticism.
Feminist
critics
“hope
to
 uncover
and
challenge
essentialist
attitudes
that
hold
it
is
normal
for
women
to
be
kept
 in
domestic,
secondary,
and
subservient
roles,
and
they
affirm
the
value
of
a
woman’s
 experiences
and
perspectives
in
understanding
the
world”
(Schilb
1601).
For
more
 information
on
this,
visit
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/11/.

This
lens
can
also
be
used
to
talk
about
sexuality
and
sexual
orientation.
This
approach
is
 called
Gender
Studies
and
Queer
Theory
and
raises
questions
about
how
characters
of
 different
genders
or
sexualities
are
portrayed/described
in
a
text.
For
more
information,
 please
see
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/12/.

3. History:
This
lens
considers
how
the
time
period
and
place
is
described
in
a
text
and
how
a
writer’s
life
may
affect
the
way
she
writes
about
a
particular
time
and
place.
 Looking
at
a
text
through
this
lens
means
asking
what
a
particular
text
says
about
a
 particular
time
and
place.
It
also
means
thinking
carefully
about
why
a
particular
writer
 might
depict
a
moment
in
history
in
a
particular
way
and
how
a
reader
living
in
a
 particular
time
period
or
place
might
understand
a
text
in
a
particular
way.
An
example
 of
this
is
Kurt
Vonnegut’s
“Harrison
Bergeron.”
This
was
written
in
1961,
a
time
in
which
 many
people
in
America
were
thinking
about
issues
surrounding
communism
and
 capitalism.
If
we
read
this
text
through
a
historical
lens,
we
might
think
about
what
 Vonnegut
might
be
trying
to
say
about
communism,
capitalism,
and
equality.
We
might
 also
think
about
what
would
be
different
in
the
story
if
Vonnegut
had
written
this
is
 2010
vs.
1961.
To
what
extent
are
Vonnegut’s
social
concerns
relevant
today?
This
approach
is
often
called
New
Historicism
(1601).
Also,
see
the
following
website
for
 more
information:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/09/.

4. Psychology:
This
lens
focuses
on
the
internal
struggles/issues/concerns
of
a
character
in
 a
text.
If
we
read
a
text
through
this
lens,
we
may
focus
on
the
feelings
of
guilt,
fear,
or
 inner
conflicts
of
a
particular
character,
trying
to
understand
what
the
character’s
 emotional
state
may
be
and
what
the
character’s
unconscious
desires
may
be.
An
 example
of
this
is
Sylvia
Plath’s
“Daddy.”
Plath
describes
her
speaker
as
suffering
from
 something
that
Sigmund
Freud
calls
the
Electra
complex,
in
which
a
daughter
idolizes
 her
father
as
a
sort
of
God.
Critics
have
also
pointed
out
that
the
speaker
has
very
 ambiguous
feelings
about
her
father
as
she
mourns
his
death,
desires
to
be
close
to
him,
 and
also
hates
and
fears
him
(269).

This
approach
is
similar
to
Psychoanalytic
Criticism
and
the
theories
of
Sigmund
Freud
 (1601).
For
more
information,
also
see
 http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/722/04/.

5. Social
Class:
This
lens
often
overlaps
with
lenses
that
examine
culture,
race,
ethnicity,
 and
history.
Overall,
this
lens
looks
at
the
differences
between
social
classes
of
 characters.
It
looks
at
a
text
to
see
if
there
are
any
important
differences
in
the
 economic
or
social
status
among
characters.
For
example,
when
using
this
lens,
you
 might
ask
yourself,
is
there
one
character
who
has
a
lot
more
money
that
the
other
 characters?
A
lot
less
money
than
other
characters?
What
are
the
different
types
of
jobs
 that
different
characters
hold?
An
example
of
using
this
lens
might
be
reading
through
 Jamaica
Kinkaid’s
“Girl”
and
thinking
about
the
types
of
work
that
the
characters
in
this
 text
do.
Are
these
jobs
associated
with
prestigious
social
status
or
wealth?
Why
or
why
 not?
Why
is
this
important
in
understanding
the
text?

This is a starting point. You need to develop a specific, argument thesis statement and support your points with the text. For example I might use the following as my thesis:

In the novel The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, Gogol’s struggle for cultural identity is evident in his romantic relationships with Maxine and Moushumi.

TIPS:
– Have a specific working thesis before you begin writing and utilize pre-writing techniques.

– Write as if the reader of your paper already knows the plot of the story/stories you are writing about. Avoid plot summaries and focus on your ideas/analysis.

– Underline the title of the novel.

– Use quotations/passages from the novel to prove your points. Be sure and list the page number in parenthesis after your quote. If you are quoting text that is more than three lines, use MLA block style.

– Use present tense when describing story events.