Use one of these prompts to write one essay, 3-4 pages, of clear and focused literary analysis. Due April 6 by noon. There will be someone in our usual class to collect submissions from 9-10, and your TA will inform \you of where the 10-noon drop-off point will be. Please make every effort to submit a hard copy (printed paper). We would rather not have emailed copies.

I. Anna Akhmatova’s “Requiem,” written over a long stretch of time, revisits the same kinds of themes from many different perspectives: the past (on the lines outside the prison), the future, as an address to the son, to madness, to death, in comparison to the crucifixion, etc. Using no more than 4 of these stanzas, which shift the focus or point of view of the poem, evaluate the poem with attention to what you feel Akhmatova attempts to do in the poem. Do all the shifts contribute to the same intention, or does each one represent a different goal of the poet?
The author of the essay switched the terms of the prompt around a little to envision, instead of temporatl or spacial shifts, a shift in teh pronouns which Akhmatova employs throughout her poem. The result is some keen insight into the emotional and psychological state of the Author of the poem as she is reconstructing her experience. Read the essay entitled "Confronting Emotions" by Kalla Pearson.

V. In two of the short stories we have read, from two very different authors, the international spy-thriller is utilized as a kind of template. Jorge Luis Borges’s story “The Garden of Forking Paths” features a Chinese protagonist in quest of a means to deliver a message to his German superiors, while Salman Rushdie’s “Chekhov and Zulu” derives its plot from two secret operatives for British interests. Both stories, however, have a core concern that is very far from the aim of the typical spy thriller.
Using only one of these two stories, explore the intent of the author outside of the expectations of the spy novel. Why does the author choose the template of the spy novel over which to write his primary concerns. You might explore such issues as the exploration of identity in the story, the subversion of story-telling conventions, the challenge to the usual hierarchy of power and authority, or other relevant issues.

The essay entitled "Chekov and Zulu:" The Search for Postcolonial Identities" by Eliseo Jacob uses the author's knowledge of 20th Century history and the conflicts that arise in identity in the postcolonial condition to offer an in-depth picture of the kinds of psychological struggles the two title characters experience in the stories.

The essay "'Chekov and Zulu': the Case of Missing Identity," by Anne Crawford traces the various, sometimes mysterious codes utilized in the story, including th Indian codewords, the literatry references, and especially the popular cultural references. In her analysis, the author suggests that popular culture functions to create identity in the same way print media is suggested to create shared identities by Benedict Anderson in his influential book Imagined Communities.