Dear Class,

Thanks for your hard work today.  As mentioned in class, on Wednesday, we will be spending an hour writing an open book essay assignment.  The prompt will ask you to compare a snapshot from Mukherjee with a snapshot from Joyce.   The essay should 1) analyze the interplay between Elements in each Snapshot, and 2) offer a thesis about how comparing the snapshots helps us understand the authors’ approaches to common themes.

As you’re reviewing your notes, then, remember that the point of this essay is not just to point out similarities and differences between the snapshots (and certainly not to summarize).  The point is to make a claim about the significance of those similarities and differences.  How does paying attention to the snapshots’ similarities, OR differences, give you insight into Joyce’s and Mukherjee’s thematic concerns?  Perhaps they arrange their Elements differently, but arrive at similar insights.  Or, perhaps they seem to arrange their Elements similarly, but arrive at different conclusions about the same subject.

Finally, please bring your copy of The Island of Dr. Moreau, as we will end the class with a brief introduction to that novel.

I look forward to beginning our novel unit, and hope you do too!

best,

Professor Kwong