WEEK 4:  Promises, Promises Essay Topics

 

 

Please write a 2-3 page essay that responds to ONE of the following questions:

 

  1. In Jiang Fang’s “Prince Huo’s Daughter,” Li Yi breaks his promise to be true to the woman he loves and ends up living a life filled with suspicion and jealousy.  Write a 2-3 page essay that examines Li’s promise, its impact on what happens in the rest of the story, and the point Jiang Fang is making about honesty, loyalty, and integrity.  In developing your thesis, consider whether you believe Li is responsible for everything that happens after he leaves Jade, or whether she, herself, is in part responsible.  You might also consider whether you believe Jade’s curse really brings about Li’s downfall, or whether his own guilty conscience destroys his life. Remember, your thesis should reach beyond the scope of the story; it will be yours and yours alone – there is no one RIGHT answer to this question.

 

  1. In Grace A. Ogot’s “The Rain Came,” Chief Labong’o feels that promises made to his people must take precedence over the love he feels for his daughter.  At the same time, his daughter, Oganda, feels that she must sacrifice herself to fulfill the promise made by the ancestors.  At the end of the story, Oganda is rescued from death, and yet still the promised rains come.  Write a 2-3 page essay that explores the ending of the story, focusing on the point Ogot is making about promises and our responsibilities to each other.   Oganda’s life is not, in fact, sacrificed, yet the gods still bless the people with rain.  How do you interpret this?  Remember, your thesis should reach beyond the scope of the story; it will be yours and yours alone – there is no one RIGHT answer to this question.

 

  1. Both “Prince Huo’s Daughter” and “The Rain Came” deal with broken promises.  Yet in “Prince Huo’s Daughter,” Li Yi’s broken promise results in both Jade’s death and his own ruined life, while in “The Rain Came,” an unfulfilled promise saves Oganda’s life and brings healing rain.  Write a 2-3 page essay that compares these two stories, focusing on the promises that are central to each.  In devising your thesis, you might consider the very different attitudes of the two central characters, Li Yi and Chief Labong’o, or the two young women, Jade and Oganda.  What points are these two authors making about promises and responsibility?  Remember, your thesis should reach beyond the scope of the story; it will be yours and yours alone – there is no one RIGHT answer to this question.

 

 

 

Essays MUST be typed and double-spaced.

 

Essays MUST contain direct quotations from the stories.

 

Don’t forget your Works Cited page!

 

DUE:  Monday, 5/5 (all classes)