Category: E3 2-3 Page Draft (Page 2 of 2)

Humaiya Sawda
Essay #3
English 1121 (Prof Scanlan)
May 9, 2020

Transition from Haiti to America

In “ New York Day Women” by Edwidge Danticat, there are two main characters. The two main characters are Suzette ,who is a youthful Haitian lady who works in New York’s Midtown and also her mother. Suzette’s mom is a Haitian outsider who is stuck in a rut. This story is about Suzette, the storyteller of “New York Day Women,” is having a run of the mill day in New York City when she sees her walking around the streets of Manhattan. Suzette is shocked, in light of the fact that as far as anyone is concerned her mom has never been outside of Brooklyn. As Suzette tails her mom, her psyche is loaded up with memorable statements of things her mom has advised her before. She was getting to know her mother in this process as well. To Suzette’s eyes, while her mom’s body may have arrived in America, her essence never made the excursion. Suzette has looked as her mom battles to grapple with certain “American” practices, such as “eating out” and providing for Goodwill. In this story, There are instances of the genuine and genuine battles foreigners have while showing up in the United States. In the wake of seeing firsthand her mom’s challenges with American culture, envision Suzette’s stun when she sees that equivalent lady enduring and flourishing in Manhattan. Suzette’s mom strolls the road certainly “with a cheerful step,” as though she has lived in New York her whole life. While reading this story I found that the cracks between the moms and daughters are significant, and that gap hole between the moms and daughters were augmented by the contrasts among Haitian and American culture and by the multifaceted nature of the political connection between the nations. This implies feminist ethics since it revolves around motherhood and the sacrifices a mother makes for her children.

In the article, “Women like and unlike us” by Davinia Yalimaiwai goes into topics such as motherhood and immigrant parents who come to America for their children. It is stated on page 58, “Thus, the daughter depicted through different characters in Danticat‟s stories has ambivalent relations to the ethnic culture of her mother because the daughter has yet to understand the sacrifice the mother made in migrating to America.” “New York Day Women” displays a solid feeling of motherhood, which permits the primary character to develop into an all the more all around characterized lady. The sacrifices the moms suffered in coming to America were exclusively for their daughter‟s fates. Also, it baffles the immigrant mother when she understands that her fantasies are not in a state of harmony with her bicultural daughter‟s. It is stated on page 60 “In order to gain a better life, many families migrated to America, especially New York and Florida.” She touches base on sacrifices which is also a part of motherhood. This thought of a transnational regular worker is seen in “New York Day Women,” where Suzette‟s mother‟s binds to Haiti are solid to such an extent that she fills her whole carport with garments that she anticipates sending back to her family. At first Suzette can just observe her mother‟s binds to Haiti. As the story unfolds, be that as it may, Suzette sees her mother‟s binds to the United States, also a nation she buckles down in for her little girl to succeed. Periodically, the bicultural little girl turns into a scaffold between the mother‟s culture and the standard American one, and this is seen with Suzette in “New York Day Woman”. “New York Day Women” displays a solid feeling of parenthood and also feminist ethics which permits the primary character to develop into an all the more all around characterized lady and it also helped her realize all her mother had done.

In “New York day women”, feminist ethics is shown in many ways. For example, Suzette’s mother told her to give up her seat to a pregnant woman or an elder woman whenever she sees them on the train. ( page 332 ) Another example is when Suzette saw her mother taking care of children in the park . ( page 332 ) These two examples are showing she always helps out other women and also has caregiver qualities such as a mother. In “Mothering the motherless: portrayals of alternative mothering practices within the Caribbean diaspora” by Amanda Putnam, she discusses Black Women are regularly depicted in contemporary western societies as the matriarchal establishments of their families, ingraining faith, culture, and insight in their kids. Benefiting from their moms’ beneficial encounters, black children learn approaches to endure and outperform snapshots of prejudice and mistreatment inside their day by day presence. The mother’s quality conveys urgent information to resulting family ages. This generational knowledge reinforces the family, empowering youngsters to succeed regularly where their moms proved unable. It is stated “Merle Hodge’s Crick Crack Monkey and Edwidge Danticat’s Krik? Krak! offer similar collective mothering practices,….Their purpose is to help the daughters acquire qualities which will allow them to develop into strong adult women.” This is implying that female substitutes give a common mothering impact to the motherless little girls. Then again, the little girls, discovering not many or no resources accessible for their mothering, start to make social connections to their past themselves. Through both collective mothering and self-mothering, the little girls re-associate with the normal world, acquire basic understanding and information, just as increase another, yet changed, female lineage. This ethics is shown by Suzette’s mother.

During this short story, Suzette’s mother strongly displayed feminist ethics. However, Edwige Danticat has many more ideas in her short story such as virtue ethics. In “New York day women”, Suzzete’s mother always tried to incorporate practices in Haiti in America. For example, on page 334, she states “Why should we give to goodwill when there are so many people back home who need clothes? we save our clothes for the relatives in Haiti.” But, later on she decides she wants to get to know the city where her daughter stays. Suzette’s mom is a character brimming with virtue ethics; she is somebody who appeared to contemplate how she ought to be in her new home. Before she restricted herself to specific spots to make a trip to, that most likely helped her to remember Haiti. In “Palimpsests of Ancestral Memories: Black Women’s Collective Identity Development in Short Stories by Saskia Furst, it is stated “Danticat and Brand narrate the lives of Caribbean women who have journeyed abroad in search of a better future, and the protagonists also continue to develop their respective identities through the challenges of leaving their homes.” She is implying that It is principal likewise to women’s’ writing in diverse settings. Remembering Caribbean ladies for her investigations of personality dealings, she brings up a few manners by which composing takes into account reaffirmation and self-advancement, something that is regularly required when living in a spot that one doesn’t think about home (yet). Be that as it may, the story refers to that her character and morals gets from her past in Haiti. This also had an effect on Suzette. Suzette used to be indecisive about giving up her seat to pregnant women or elderly women in the subway but now she does. On page 335, it stated “ Tonight on the subway, I will get up and give my seat to a pregnant woman or a lady about Ma’s age.” Both of them definitely transitioned to virtue from the beginning to the end.

In this essay I observed the Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat portrayal of mother and little girl relationship between two societies in two of the narratives in her short story, Her story centers around issues with history, gender and immigration, and they concern mother-daughter connections. Normal for Danticat‟s stories is the emphasis on women and their identity quest. This observation of her and the short story gives clear proof that Suzette’s mother utilizes her encounters, the encounters of others to prepare stories that greatly open the readers attitude to positive morals that would enable people to join together, and produce beneficial outcomes. Nonetheless, this observation was really evolved to show that the fundamental morals Danticat appears to accept more than any is of feminist ethics.

Joyce Wu

English 1121 (Prof. Scanlan)

May 14, 2020

Research Paper 

Evolution Over Time 

In “A Good Fall,” by Ha Jin, the central characters are Ganchin and Master Zong along with Fanku and Cindy. This story is about Ganchin, a Chinese immigrant that lives in New York who works at a temple. Ganchin decided to be a monk and a kung fu teacher because he had experience in that field and needed to make a living. Master Zong took advantage of Ganchin before and after he fired him. He decides to not give him his passport and salary. The conflict appears when Master Zong wants Ganchin to go back to his country. Fortunately enough there were people in the story that helped Ganchin along the way. Fanku provided him a place to stay, food and a bit of money. Cindy gives him advice and offers help through every single process. This situation escalated when Master Zong immediately took action and kidnapped him to the airport. The story conveys ethics in actions shown are reasons of legality, solidarity and morality. 

Ha Jin’s “A Good Fall” is about the challenges that Ganchin took risks to shape his life by making sacrifices. When someone has the intentions of doing something bad, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a bad person but the ethics they follow. Therefore, while Master Zong wasn’t a great person towards Ganchin, he followed Utilitarianism of what is right and wrong. I believe Ganchin is a great person to anyone and follows virtue ethics more than a utilitarian because he focuses on characteristics rather than consequences. In order to prove this, I will first describe the airport scene in our life using our class handout. Second, I will use Jerry A. Varsava’s article “An Interview with Ha Jin,” and Kera Bolonik’s article “Next Stop, Main Street; Ha Jin’s new stories go where the new immigrants do: Flushing’s Chinatown” to compare the ideas of “evolving perceptions” to give readers a feel of his struggles and immigrant process. These two articles will help me understand virtue and utilitarian ethics on behalf of people’s motives (Master Zong’s bad intention) and (Cindy and Fanku’s good intentions). 

The most important thing to notice is that the story starts off with Master Zong and Ganchin, their actions differ from one another. Master Zong is aggressive towards Ganchin because he is an immigrant and doesn’t have citizenship. From the class handouts, each ethic is proven by a certain theory and everyone may follow that due to their living backgrounds of where they came from or grew up in. Ganchin came from China and acts very resservant because he’s unsure who to rely on. Luckily, he saw Cindy who was his fellow martial arts student. She was encouraging and giving him advice. Cindy was born in America and had a stronger mindset of the America’s big dream to never give up. After the talk Ganchin and Cindy had, he realized that Master Zong was preventing him from getting a citizenship. The whole time he kept his documents on his hands. And the moment at the airport, this scene provides a point of Master Zong’s ethics following Utilitarianism. He believed what he was doing was considered right because Ganchin was an illegal immigrant in the United States. However, with Ganchin’s situation of coming to the United States is to have a better life. He is following more of virtue ethics. This creates the balance in the phase of people’s line “there will always be good and bad” or focusing on a symbol of yin and yang. Ganchin thought to himself he must escape when Master Zong isn’t looking. Based on our class notes, the question of “how we should live ”, Ganchin at that moment had thought that to himself and made his own decision, which he did. In “A Good Fall,” Ha Jin describes scenarios of what Ganchi thinks Master Zong may do. For instance, “Master Zong might be able to get him on the plane, claiming he was mentally ill, dangerous like a terrorist, and must be sent home for treatment” (344). Master Zong’s ethic is shown here because it’s believable of something he would say. He was self aware that Master Zong’s utilitarianism can ruin his plan. While he did get away by getting into someone’s passenger cart, he was stopped by a man when helping the couple take their stuff out. Ganchin couldn’t understand the man, instead he said thank you and went off. This reflects virtue ethics because he was more focused on himself than anyone else. 

  Evolving perceptions is like an immigrant coming to the United States having their reasons based on the things they want in life (tangible or intangible). In the article, “An Interview with Ha Jin,” Varsava is basically interviewing Ha Jin, an immigrant writer and human rights advocate. From Ha Jin, Varsava finds out that he was a Red Guard and his family suffered from having a place to live. The idea of him seeing “evolving perceptions” from then to now. It seems that he carries the traditional hard work. In comparison, Bolonik describes his background and his current life. The social advocate carries with him since a child so his actions have been full with good intentions. What this means is that Ganchi followed virtue knowing what type of people he should be due to the circumstances. The way he wanted to make a change for the people he was surrounded by. Similarly, Fanku and Cindy made the decision to help Ganchi because that was what he felt was right and an act of friendship. Varsava stated “Ha Jin has more recently disavowed this self-assigned role, preferring to accentuate the priority of his own independent “personal voice” and, equally, the limits of literature as “social struggle.” This means that Ganchin is able to differentiate between the questions of what sort of person should I be and how I should live. 

Marchella Prado
English 1121 (Prof. Scanlan)
Essay 3 Draft
May 15, 2020
Ethics and Character Decisions

In Ha Jin’s short story “A Good Fall,” important scenes occur where characters such as Ganchin and Master Zong follow an ethical code during moments of problematic times. Master Zong was head of the temple that Ganchin was a monk/kung fu teacher in. Ganchin’s visa expired which led him to be an illegal alien. Master Zong wanted to send Ganchin back to China so he kidnapped Ganchin. Ganchin escaped the airport and eventually found a building to attempt suicide. The author, Ha Jin explores the experience of Chinese immigrants and the challenges they face in the United States. Holley E. Martin’s Article “Falling Into America: The Downside of Transnational Identities in Ha Jin’s A Good Fall,” explores the idea of “transmigrants” being tied to China and exiled to having an American identity. In another article “An Interview with Ha Jin” by Jerry A. Varsava explores Ha Jin’s writing which elaborates the moral behind “A Good Fall.” Master Zong follows utilitarian ethics while Ganchin follows virtue ethics when it comes to the most important scenes of “A Good Fall” where they had to decide what they had to do in the moment of stress. While both Martin’s article and Varsava’s article focus on two different concepts, I think both articles will help explore the reasons behind the ethics followed by both characters. In order to show this, I will examine Martin’s article and her ideas of transmigrants being tied to China and exiled to having an American identity and how that connects to both scenes. Then, I will examine Varsava’s article that will allow us to get a better idea of Ha Jin’s purpose of a “A Good Fall.”
From the start of the short story, it was obvious that Master Zong was evil and only cared for himself. Master Zong and the help of another man had grabbed Ganchin from his arms and shoved him in the BMW that was going to send Ganchin to the airport. “They just didn’t want to sully China’s image by letting an ocher-robed monk roam the streets of New York. That would tarnish the temple’s reputation as well” (344). Master Zong only wanted to send Ganchin back home for his own benefit. He decided to follow utilitarian ethics when Ganchin told him he wasn’t going to go back. Master Zong is one of the characters who does well financially and socially which is unlikely according to Martin who says “But, even English and a good job are no guarantees of success in the U.S., because a character cannot distance him or herself from a Chinese identity” (6). But Master Zong has been taking advantage of Ganchin for his own utility. The Chinese identity seems to form a negative image especially when Ganchin mentioned the reason why Master Zong kidnapped him. The importance of China’s image has huge meaning in the story. Thinking about it, Master Zong could have let Ganchin figure things out on his own but instead he took the opportunity to kidnap Ganchin and fly him back home all on his behalf as if the kidnapping was acceptable with the fact he paid the ticket and all.
Ganchin was going through it after being fired from the temple. He had to find a way to survive. He felt useless living in the U.S that he eventually thought the only way to solve his problem was to kill himself. When in search of a perfect building to jump from, Ganchin decided to follow virtue ethics. Suicide was the way out for Ganchin. Martin goes on to discuss the whole situation of Ganchin and the attempted suicide. “The disturbing conclusion, however, indicates that in order to succeed in mainstream America, Ganchin does not just have to change; he has to break himself, literally smash up who he used to be” (11). She goes on how immigrants who are poor and uneducated can have the tendency to feel trapped. “.. overburdened by obligations to those back in China” (11). Having that weight on your shoulders can let one feel exiled from having an American identity. But with Ganchin’s failed attempt at suicide, it later worked in his favor. He didn’t have to worry about deportation or the worry of money. Ganchin’s martial arts instincts had benefited him on something that would have been the worst mistake of his life. To keep in mind, he was an ill man. To survive a jump like that especially under those circumstances was a tad bizarre.
As well as the characters in his story, Ha Jin himself was an immigrant and self-exile. As so, he decided to become a spokesman in English for those oppressed in China. The purpose of his writing especially in “A Good Fall” is based on his own experiences and knowledge of Chinese immigrants and the challenges they face. Varsava’s interview with Ha Jin brings clarity on the purpose of his short story. To how he was raised, to who his family was, to his writing, and the meanings he had towards his writing. Which allows us to understand the ethics followed within the characters of “A Good Fall.” Ha Jin was asked about his work and will more of it be set in the United States and is the United States a figure of setting in his stories such as “A Good Fall” and he responded “Yes, all the stories are set in Flushing, New York, which is an immigrant community” (26). Having such a specific area of setting for his story sets the struggles that immigrants face especially when mentioned how NYC is one of the most expensive places to live.
Both Martin and Varsava helped explore utilitarian and virtue ethics, allowing us to understand the background towards the idea of immigrants being exiled, to Ha Jin’s purpose as a writer. Having Ha Jin explore the experiences of Chinese immigrants living in the United States indicated the ethical code that both Master Zong and Ganchin chose to follow. Under certain circumstances, certain actions and decisions were made during moments of stress. Each character handled their own situation differently, having Master Zong only think of himself, to Ganchin thinking the best thing to do is kill himself. Both Master Zong and Ganchin could have handled their situations differently but as we’ve discovered, the struggles of being a Chinese immigrant had impacted their lives and how they chose to handle it.

Stepfan Hospedales 

Essay 3 Draft

English 1121(Prof. Scanlan)

May 15, 2020

                                                              The Message to the World 

      In Edwidge Danticat’s “New York Day Women,” the main characters are Suzette and her mother. In this short story, Suzette follows her mother throughout the day to see how well she has adjusted to the big city, and how her experiences growing up in Haiti prepared her for a new life in New York City. With the frequent flashbacks of wisdom passed down from mother to daughter, Suzette transitions to a better person with a different mindset, similar to her mother. The story also displays a pure relationship between a mother and her daughter, and how deep their love is for each other.  Robyn Cope’s article “‘WE ARE YOUR NEIGHBORS’: EDWIDGE DANTICAT’S NEW NARRATIVE FOR HAITI,”dives into what Danticat seeks to do with her writing, that of humanizing Haiti and giving the country a voice.  Contrarily, Achy Obejas’ renowned speech honoring Danticat; dubbed as “Bearing the Unforgivable: A Tribute to Edwidge Danticat,” highlights Danticat’s writing style that speaks on its own. Obejas speaks on how Danticat’s stories have a way to make her readers question life, the unknown things around us, our relationships, and ponder what our morals and ethics are. While Cope’s article suggest that Danticat push for her readers to be of global ethics (giving Haiti a voice), Achy sees Danticat’s writing as a way to draw more people of the world to be of virtue ethics, a door for readers to really think about what’s around them, question and understand their relationships, be aware of the lives of others, while also figuring out one’s’ character. To prove this, I will examine the short story “New York Day Women” to display the ethics shown by Suzette and her mother, and the morals Suzette’s mother display throughout the story. I will also dive into Danticat’s early years to draw connections to the short story. Finally, I will look into some points supporting Cope’s argument using the short story to concoct a counter-argument.

                     The ethics shown by Suzette and the flashbacks that display her mother’s ethics shows Danticat’s message to readers of the human capacity to be virtuous and be of good character. Throughout the story, Suzette follows her mother all over the city, not to be nosy specifically, but out of concern for her mother who at first seems she wasn’t ready for a new life in New York (Danticat 332). Suzette’s mother is a character full of virtue ethics; she is someone who seemed to ponder how she should be in her new home. Before she limited herself to certain places to travel to, that probably reminded her of Haiti. However, she transcended that level of thinking to where she realizes how she wants to live (a sign of virtue) and began to be a part of the city as her daughter observes while following her on that specific day. The wisdom she contains acts as her moral compass to help traverse the city and do many things like shop and babysit (Danticat 334). However, the story cites that her personality and ethics derives from her past in Haiti (Danticat’s possible way of implying Haiti builds character (Global awareness)). Let it be noted that Suzette’s mother’s way of living and her past influenced Suzette to be of a different mindset. Initially, Suzette could be viewed as a utilitarian person (self interest). She wouldn’t give up her seat for any elder person or pregnant lady without reason; it depended on the situation (Danticat 332). A minor detail like that can be seen as nothing much, but it is the little details that determine someone’s character. With this detail, conclusions are drawn that Suzette lacks virtue. Luckily, her character development with the help of her mother grows and undergoes a transition from a utilitarian person to a virtuous one with just one decision. Although, the decision she makes about giving up her seat to an elderly woman or a pregnant lady no matter what is a small choice, it gives insight to the capacity humans possess to be a better person than before. It is like throwing away a small piece of paper. By throwing it away, the area is additionally cleaner than before. This is what Danticat looks to do in her writing, to influence readers to be better than yesterday.  This coincides with what Obejas stated in her speech, “it ask us to consider our own capacity for the unforgivable, our ability to bear the unforgivable, and the measure of our own powers of forgiveness.” This ultimately means Danticat wishes for her readers to look into their own tank (figuratively) and examine their lifestyle and ethics.  

                Danticat’s writing style, as shown from her writing, focuses on women and relationships, with a big emphasis on ethics. “New York Day Women” contains these elements heavily. But why is that? Why does Danticat put so much effort in her writing to talk about relationships and women the most? Well, according to the short article “Edwidge Danticat-HAITIAN AMERICAN AUTHOR,” written by The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, Danticat wasn’t a social person. The article stated, “she found adapting to life and school in the United States difficult. Partly as a way to escape these unpleasant situations, she wrote stories, a practice she had started at an early age.” A conclusion can be drawn that Danticat’s focus on relationships stems from the ones she sought when she was younger. It is quite possible that she writes about this to attempt to better the relationships in any setting. Therefore, she would eliminate the problems most young people, more specifically immigrants, face adapting to a new life in the United States, and changes the people’s mindset to be virtuous. Suzette’s mother was a prime example of this because she herself, although she is not a child, she also faced adapting to the United States as well (for daughter’s sake). However, the article also mentions that Danticat’s dive into relationships centered on generations of Haitian women. Danticat possibly uses her platform to write about this to give readers greater senses of global ethics opposed to virtue. Nevertheless, the short story displays a relationship, a mother-daughter one between Suzette and her mother. It showed how much they love another. Suzette literally followed her mother throughout the whole day worrying about her. She holds her mother in high regard and uses what she taught her to be a better person as well. Suzette’s mother’s love for her daughter is also a beautiful sight. At the end of the story, she revealed why she has never gone to a PTA meeting, “You’re so good, anyway. What are they going to tell me? I don’t want to make you ashamed of this day woman.” (Danticat 335)She stayed away from an area in fear that she would embarrass her daughter, which is love and display of a virtuous character. Someone of virtue focuses on enhancing relationships, because it is good for everyone. According to the article about Danticat by Wikipedia, she was actually away from her parents for quite a while:

  When she was two years old, her father André immigrated to New York, to be followed two years later by her mother Rose. This left Danticat and her younger brother, also named André, to   be raised by her aunt and uncle. When asked in an interview about her traditions as a child, she included storytelling, church, and constantly studying school material as all part of growing up. (Wikipedia 1)

                Since childhood, Danticat discovered the importance of relationships, hence her focus on it. Because of her experiences, she understands how strong a bond between family entails, and how much it is needed for good character. For many years, her relationship with her parents was severed due to long distance. Danticat’s way of bringing forth these bonds, especially in the short story, serves as a message to pursue, and ponder the relationships, friendships (things a virtuous person considers).  Obejas would agree with this statement, because she herself drew a similar conclusion. She stated:

          With each new book, her already very personal and independent path grows longer and wider and                    makes room not just for more of her stories but also for those of so many others, for so many of us                     who are women, women of color, women of the Caribbean, island people, mothers and daughters,                        immigrants, wanderers, exiles. (Obejas 2)

What this means is Danticat’s own personal life plays a key factor in the message she tries to convey with her short story of strengthening relationships to be a more virtuous person.

              Throughout the short story, both Suzette and her mother displayed a mindset of virtuous people at one point. However, it would be foolish not to consider the other ethics that Danticat may be leading with, which is of global ethics. It is true that most of the wisdom that Suzette’s mother shares with her daughter is from her past experiences in Haiti. Additionally, it is shown that her positive morals also derive from Haiti, “Why should we give to Goodwill when there are so many people back home who needs clothes? We save our clothes for the relatives in Haiti.” (Danticat 334) This statement describes her awareness of the situation Haiti faces. A global ethicist addresses ethical questions and problems arising out of the global interconnection and interdependence of the world’s population, or in this case Haiti. Therefore, Cope’s statement about humanizing Haiti is spot on. He states, “Her compelling, personal portrayals of a long century of politically incited human tragedy affecting Haitians and the Diaspora.” It is these factors that Cope insist that is what Danticat writes to humanize Haiti, because of what goes on in the country. However, in that same article Cope reveals that Danticat herself stated that is not her intentions, she explained:

 I am uncomfortable with that idea, mostly because I think

if people looked around them honestly, they wouldn’t really

need anything to “humanize” a group of people. We are your

neighbors—both when we live here in the United States and

when we are still living in Haiti. . . . On the other hand, I

guess that’s what is great about fiction. You get to understand

the people you read about in a novel sometimes, more than

you do your friends. You get their deepest thoughts, their

aspirations, their pasts, their futures, so when you read you’re

getting into a very intimate relationship with a book and its character. (Cope 4)

This proves Danticat writes in hopes her readers become more of a virtuous character. It is not that she seeks to humanize Haiti, but to humanize her readers to be more of virtue, so more can see Haiti as their neighbors. Ultimately, Cope’s argument was derailed by the words of the author herself, who seeks for her reader to ponder their lives, and of others. 

                        Edwidge Danticat’s writing sure does give readers a lot to contemplate. Her stories give different ethics for readers like Cope and Obejas to consider, with the work of fiction. This examination of her and the short story provides clear evidence that she uses her experiences, the experiences of others to concoct stories that sublimely open readers’ mindset to positive ethics that would help communities unite, and produce positive effects. However, this examination was truly developed to show that the main ethics Danticat seems to believe more than any is of virtue ethics. It is fundamentally the forerunner to a positive effect as displayed by Suzette and her mother. In the end, Danticat’s message is that being a virtue ethicist is something that can be beneficial, which in turn could lead to change, not just in Haiti but the entire world.

PEER REVIEW TEMPLATE AND EXAMPLE:

Peer Review for Literary Research Essay

Prof. Scanlan

[Copy and Paste these questions into a comment for the essay 3 draft you wish to peer review, then after reading the draft carefully, answer these questions as fully as you can. Please remember to be helpful, suggestive, and curious rather than overly critical]

1. Does the student state the story title and author in the first paragraph? Yes/No

2. What characters does the student examine?

3. What scene(s) does the student examine?

4. What type of ethics does the writer examine?

5. What is the writer’s thesis and method? (It is okay to paste it in)

6. How many peer reviewed articles/chapters does the writer use?

7. Does the writer quote from the peer reviewed articles/chapters? Be specific.

8. Are the peer reviewed articles/chapters part of the writer’s thesis?

9. Cut and paste two of the most confusing sentences and explain why they are confusing.

Example: Please feel free to use some suggestive phrases and the helpful/encouraging tone.

1. Does the student state the story title and author in the first paragraph? Yes/No

Yes

2. Which characters does the student examine?

Sean examines the boy’s parents, the soldier who finds the boy/man, and the kidnapped man.

3. What scene(s) does the student examine?

The writer (Sean) examines the moment when the man remembers where he hid his horn knife in the fireplace. In addition, Sean examines the narrator’s speculation at the end of the story, which doesn’t make the narrator seem very nice—but that is important for the ethics.

4. What type of ethics does the writer examine?

Sean examines Global Ethics, especially the idea of colonization and the unfair treatment of different cultures.

5. What is the writer’s thesis and method? (It is okay to paste it in)

Sean’s thesis is: “While the obvious choice is to pursue virtue ethics in Borges’s “The Captive,” a less well-known choice is Global Ethics. The reason that Global Ethics is more rewarding is because the setting and context of the story point to Spanish colonization of Argentina in the late 1700s and that sets up the double kidnapping in the story. In order to explore Global Ethics, I will first address the question of who is to blame in the two kidnapping scenes in terms of Global Ethics using the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Second, I will use the ideas of Ed Folsom and Barbara EcksteinEckstein (student should provide article/chapter titles) to discuss storytelling, stereotypes, and violence in colonial fiction (as these ideas relate to the story’s ethics). Lastly, I will question the mysterious narrator who seems to come alive in the story’s conclusion.”

6. How many peer reviewed articles/chapters does the writer use?

Sean uses one peer reviewed article (by Ed Folsom) and one peer reviewed book chapter (by Barbara Eckstein).

7. Does the writer quote from the peer reviewed articles/chapters? Be specific.

Yes. Sean uses Ed Folsom’s article to make a good point about global fiction as it relates to violence and global ethics. He uses Barbara Eckstein’s book chapter to provide evidence that the boy/man’s return to his newer indigenous family supports the idea that the narrator believes that this is the most ethical choice, even though the original parents are harmed.

8. Are the peer reviewed articles/chapters part of the writer’s thesis?

Sean does refer to both Ed Folsom and Barbara Eckstein. The two authors are not discussed that much in the thesis. Maybe this is okay, but I was wondering how they were different from each other.

9. Cut and paste two of the most confusing sentences and explain why they are confusing.

Sentence 1: “Ed Folsom suggests that short stories about colonization are “backwards looking and deploy a way of training readers to replicate negative stereotypes” (46), but I think they really about the present.”

This sentence confuses me because Sean does not explain why these historical stories are about present. Also, I was hoping that Sean could explain more about what Folsom means by “replicate negative stereotypes.” I sort of think this is right, but I would like more explanation.

Sentence 2: “As you can see from this comparison of two scholars of global ethics, the ways that families treat their children are always going to harm.”

This sentence was confusing to me for two reasons. First, I think the sentence was not quite finished—I felt that there were more coming after the word “harm.” Who was going to get harmed? Second, I was confused because the two authors do not really discuss children that much, the two discuss war and violence more. Maybe one or two more sentences discussing the connection between war and the story would help.

***This was a great draft. Thanks for allowing me to review it!

-Reviewer’s name