Assignment
Choose ONE of the following topics:
1.) Start by analyzing the appeal of "Supergirl" to the young Judith Ortiz Cofer. (What characteristics make Supergirl a hero to the young Ortiz?)
Next, consider why so many human cultures have created "super heroes"? What function do they serve in the cultural "Zeitgeist" (or, as Cark Jung termed it, the "collective unconscious")?
Finally, turn the essay inward and discuss any of your own childhood recollections of a super hero character. Did the super hero play the same role for you that he or she did for Ortiz and the wider culture?
2.) Analyze ONE of the following themes in "Volar" and/or "Flight Patterns":
Love and marriage
Parenthood
Courage/Heroism
Racism
Work
Loneliness
Your analysis should include at least four quotes from the story: one in the introduction, and one quote in each of the three body paragraphs.
3.) Analyze one of the following themes in "The Grasshopper and the Bell Cricket":
Art and Community
Childhood
Perception and Insight
Your analysis should include at least four quotes from the story, one in the introduction, and one quote in each of the three body paragraphs.
4.) Write an essay that narrates a childhood adventure (either your own, someone else's, or a fictional one) that includes your reflections about nature, art, romance, and/or the power of observations (as Kawabata does in his story).
5. ) Using the model of fiction we discussed in class, discuss how the connection between play, dreams, and art have helped to develop your own imagination and your own understanding of the world.