Haroun Essay—Advice for 2019

Prompt Options—Choose One Analyze Rushdie’s use of Haroun and the Sea of Stories as a political allegory. Analyze and evaluate the role and value of fiction (stories that aren’t true) using specific evidence from Haroun and the Sea of Stories. What has Rushdie, in Haroun and the Sea of Stories, borrowed from other texts and to what effect? Analyze how and why Rushdie modernizes traditional princess rescue stories in Haroun and the Sea of Stories. What is the effect of a particular social group being marginalized, excluded, or silenced within Haroun and the Sea of Stories and how does Rushdie use language, technique, structure, and/or style to create that effect?

Prompt Options—Choose One Analyze Rushdie’s use of allusions—what he borrows from other texts--in Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Analyze Rushdie’s use of satire and/or irony in Haroun and the Sea of Stories. How could Haroun and the Sea of Stories be read and interpreted differently by two different readers or groups and how does Rushdie use language, technique, structure, and/or style to create that effect? Consider why Rushdie created characters who do not conform to norms in Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Discuss the means as well as the effectiveness with which power is exercised in Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Discuss the role of number imagery or water imagery in Haroun and the Sea of Stories.

Be sure to fully answer the prompt and narrow the focus of your response. Analyze the prompt to determine how you’ll analyze both NOVEL and its CONTEXT Literature: how the author uses language, technique, structure, and style to shape meaning Context: how the text has a particular meaning based on its reception in a specific time and place

Focus on the author’s use and effects of literary conventions Mention “lit words” whenever you can Point-of-view, stream-of-consciousness, narrative voice, etc. Metaphor, personification, anaphora, irony, etc… Rhetorical devices Use adjectives to qualify vague lit words like “diction,” “mood,” “tone,” etc. Avoid wordy passive voice NO: Irony is used when characterizing Princess Batsheat, … (vague, past tense) YES: Rushdie uses irony when…

Organize and fully develop your writing New evidence, new paragraph Use more transitional phrases to switch between evidence pieces BTSs and CSs are needed for each BTS Strong BTSs use “so-what” pieces that develop the so-what in the thesis At least one author’s name should appear in each BTS and CS, if not both

Rubric

Details— Read carefully  Cite Rushdie and any other texts (sites, books, etc.) you consult in a MLA works cited list at the end of your essay. Include your essay’s word count at the end of the essay. Write the number of the question and your own name(s), as well as both teacher’s names, in your paper heading. You should write a thesis-driven multi-paragraph essay to answer this prompt. Use a significant portion of your writing time to outline your response. Cross out any writing you do not want to be scored. Type a DOUBLE-SPACED draft of your response, and then edit and revise the draft before submitting your work. Justify your answer by analyzing quotations from the text for literary conventions and ideas, and elaborate in your analysis to fully explain your ideas. Narrow the focus of the question to make your topic more specific as you compose your thesis. Do not simply summarize the text: analyze text to respond to your question, considering plot, dialogue, point of view, biases, etc. Be detailed, and cite or paraphrase directly from the text. Excellent essays always draw on outside information as well as what we’ve discussed in class to support a thesis. Remember, this is a thesis-driven literary essay assessing how well you analyze Rushdie’s use of language (diction & literary conventions) in its historical and literary context. Keep your focus on a literary argument and essay structure. One person per partner pair should submit your work to turnitin.com before 8AM on Thursday.