Purpose:. You will not be using secondary sources for this assignment.

Texts: Choose one of the following on which to write your essay:

Hurston, “Sweat”

Lessing, “A Woman on a Roof”

Coppola, The Virgin Suicides

Assignment:

Sometimes a single sentence or phrase distils an aspect of a literary work’s theme, as when Thelma muses “I feel awake—I mean really awake” as she and Louise drive through the desert. Thelma’s sense of awakening from a nightmare of oppressive gender conventions eventually leads to her determination never to return to the social relations that confined her.

Find just such a sentence in one of the works listed above and develop an argument based in the theme it suggests. Just to be clear: this single sentence is not your thesis, but it is the springboard to your thesis; it points to the theme and argument you want to make.

It make sense to use your introductory paragraph to acquaint your reader with the phrase or sentence’s context as well as what it leads you to argue.

Please follow the guidelines regarding form discussed in the previous assignment. Again, I welcome your questions and/or drafts at any stage of development.