Chose ONE of the following questions and write a well-developed essay using evidence from the texts to support a clear thesis. Submit your completed essay no later than 11 a.m. either electronically or as hard copy.
Question 1
The ability to master rhetoric plays an important role in early twentieth-century novels. For two of the following characters, analyze the challenges they face in communicating with others and the strategies they employ to deal with those challenges:
Lily Bart in The House of Mirth
Benjy in The Sound and the Fury
Yossarian in Catch-22
Question 2
Does anybody really know what time it is? In two of the following works, examine the function of time and chronology both as a thematic element and as a structural element. How does time work in the novels? Why would an author want to subvert straightforward chronology? What does the author’s use of time suggest?
William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury
Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
Joseph Heller, Catch-22