Postcolonial Literature
Order Instructions
Postcolonial Literature
Background
While it’s been a fairly brief overview, the goal for this unit was to adopt yet another lens for analyzing fiction and practice writing about it. We have been considering Literature that shares the experiences of communities beyond our borders written by members of the community. All of the writers come from countries that, like the US, were formerly colonized; yet, unlike the US, these nations have much more recently gained independence and so struggle under the weight of Western rule and culture. A key aspect of Postcolonial Literature is that we get an “inside” scoop, a perspective from within the geographical, political, and social borders.
Task
Choose a single literary text (a poem OR a short story) for your primary focus. Using your own interpretation and experience AND one source of your own from the library database, write a thesis-driven essay analyzing your poem or short story as work of Postcolonial Literature. You probably also want to use at least one non-fiction source (essays, speeches, videos from our class) to support your claims about Postcolonialism and/or Postcolonial Theory.
Suggestions:
Use your introduction to prepare your reader for the topic or theme you are going to focus on. You should include the author, title, and overview of your central poem or short story.
Your thesis should make an argument about how the work reflects Postcolonialism and Postcolonial Literary Theory. As always, try to narrow your focus. Consider how the elements of the literary genre (poem or short story) and the elements of Postcolonialism come together to produce a particular affect or theme. If you are still struggling, take a look at this video for some tips and examples for identifying a theme and writing a corresponding thesis:
The body of your essay should use specific lines from the poem/short story to build your claim. This is the bulk of your task: focus on the Literature.
Use any of the secondary sources (speeches, videos) to support your interpretation. Remember, these are the “experts” who told you about postcolonial theory and context, so you just want to use them to show your credibility.
You will need to use the Solano Library databases (Links to an external site.) to find an outside source to strengthen your analysis. You may want to use The Literary Reference Center (Links to an external site.) to find a critical analysis of your poem/story that has already been done. You could use the OED to dig deeper into the specific language that the author uses. Or you may want to use one of the reference databases to learn more about a particular event, person, or time period.
Be sure to fully interpret and analyze the examples you pull from the readings; in particular, explore the language, style, form, and/or context (historical, social, political, etc) of the words, phrases, and passages that you draw into your essay and explain their significance to your reader. Take a look at this Guide to Close Reading (Links to an external site.) for tips on how to really dig into the poem or short story. If you are still having a hard time with this step, take a look at this handout with specific suggestions: Yale Writing Guide (Links to an external site.)
You may want to use the conclusion to talk about how you/we benefit from the Literature in this unit OR how this theme/topic fits into your/our experience of the world today.
Sources:
One fiction selection from the class reading packet for this unit (see below for complete list of poems and short stories you can choose from)
At least one outside source from the Solano Library database
You can also use any of the speeches or videos from this unit (see below for complete list)
Requirements:
4-6 pages
MLA formatting, including a Works Cited page
An original title
Minimum of two sources (per directions above)
Primary Sources to choose from (Literature) – required – choose just one
Poetry:
Asghar “Microagression Bingo”
Ali “The Country without a Post Office”
Bennett “Colonization in Reverse”
Braithwaite “Stone”
Hazo “For Fawzi in Jerusalem”
Lee “Persimmons”
Mahon “A Disused Shed in Co. Wexford” (reading available on YouTube)
Sahib “Gate A-4″
Soyinka “A Telephone Conversation” (reading available on YouTube)
Walcott “The Sea is History” (reading available on Sound Cloud)
Short Stories:
Aboulela “Missing Out”
Ali “Ravalushun”
Marquez “The Autumn of the Patriarch”
Secondary Sources to choose from (speeches and videos) – one recommended
Speeches:
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “The Danger of a Single Story”
Arundhati Roy “Come September”
Videos: (Links to an external site.)
Post-Colonial Theory Lecture(Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
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