Topic: The Contemporary Short Story Assignment #3

Order Description
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!!Write an essay that addresses one of the following options. Indicate by the number, or by explanation, the item you have selected. The suggested length for your essay is from four to six typed, double-spaced pages. Use basic essay format, with an introduction, body of support, and concluding paragraph. Be sure to use examples or
incidents and short quotations from the stories to illustrate key discussion points.

1. Using the three assigned stories, discuss what you feel are the key concerns about the relationships between parents and children.

2. Discuss the use of “feminist perspective” in the three assigned stories. Use specific examples and short illustrative quotes from the stories to support your “key” discussion points. (Looking at the father figures depicted in the stories may be helpful here.)

3. Citing examples and quotes from the three stories, come up with your own definition of what “parenting” should or should not be. (Comparing and contrasting the examples of “parenting” that you find in the stories may be helpful.)

4. Interpret the themes of all the assigned stories, and tell how the titles are connected to them.

!!Selected Critical Resources

Joy Williams and Patricia Zelver
Hornby, Nick. Contemporary American Fiction. London, 1992, pp.124–32.

You might want to check for additional resources on the Internet.