Overview
We're going to spend some time thinking about what it means to craft a literary argument and evaluate fiction (otherwise called 'literary analysis), which will help you practice the skills you'll make use of in this week's essay assignment. Let's turn our attention a lovely little story by writer Rick Bass called "Fish Story."
Here's the link to the story:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/08/fish-story/307539/
First, read Bass's story. Then, read it again. Then, read it again. Why? Because when it comes to making a strong literary argument or writing literary criticism you have to be familiar with your subject first before you can write about it. If you haven't done so already, read through pages 13 - 17 of your textbook to remind you of 'active' reading strategies.
write 1-2 paragraphs, approximately 300 words about ONE fiction element in Bass's story. In order to understand what I mean by 'fiction element', you'll want to review the following pages in your textbook (much of this should be familiar to you after last week):