As Marston Anderson analyzed in The Limits of Realism, twentieth-century Chinese writers relied heavily on perspectivism—focalization, or “point of view”—in creating modern Chinese realist fictions. However, while the point of view of the critical observer known as the narrator is valorized, more often than not strict such focalizations have difficulty maintaining absolute objectivity (Anderson, 10–11). Use ONE literary example from our readings (Week 1 to Week 7) and answer the following questions: 1) Which point of view—first-person points of view or third-person points of view (either limited or omniscient)—is used in your chosen piece of literature and for what purpose? 2) Within that adopted point of view, are there moments and why are there moments when the critical observer jeopardizes his or her objectivity, exceeds the temporal and spatial limitations of said point of view, or overreaches for the inner thoughts of their protagonists objectively inaccessible to the critical observer?

Answer BOTH questions with close reading of primary materials. Be as concrete and original as possible. Your paper should be 4-page, double-space. Please use Times New Roman 12 for font and allow reasonable page margins. Use proper citation format (MLA or Chicago).

You will be graded on three levels: argument, structure, and language. Papers without close readings will not earn a passing grade. Papers with spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors cannot be awarded grades within the A range.

Your draft is due on Oct. 25 at 11:59pm. You will receive comments from your TAs and have till the end of the semester to revise your work, which will be resubmitted on the last day of class on Dec. 6 by 11:59pm. Both your draft and revision weight 15% of your final grade. Late work is strongly discouraged and will only be accepted with a 5% penalty for each day after it is due.