Assignment
The story is attached below.
Instructions:
· How the story reveals something about the time in which it was written/published
· How the story connects to ideas about gender as a social or biological construction
· How the story portrays a theme (Biblical themes, how we learn to understand the world, how technology may save us, how technology will undo us, how the world will end) (These are over-simplified, but hopefully you are starting to understand.)
· How the story reveals a universal and timeless characteristic about people
· How the story offers a social or political commentary on [insert specific topic]
· How does the main character change by the end of the story? Is it for better or worse?
· How the author develops a particular character or idea throughout the story
· How symbols and literary devices are used within the story
· What the story says about [insert topic (some common ones are race relations, gender relations, people's fears of technology, people's memories, people's fears of the government, etc.]
Feel free to answer one or more of the questions found at the end of the readings.
Assignment Requirements:
4 pages double spaced.
12 point font Times New Roman.
MLA citation.
Story: Judith Ortiz Cofer (1952-2016): Volar
Reading Question
1. VOLAR seems simultaneously vague about its general setting and much more detailed about its particular setting, at least when it comes to place (versus time). How does this combination of vagueness and specificity shape your response to the story and our sense of whom and what it is about?
2. What does the story suggest about how the characters have been shaped by their environment? about how they feel about it, and why?
3. What is the effect of the way Spanish is used both in the title and throughout the story itself? What might these uses of Spanish add to our understanding of the setting, the characters, and their conflicts?