English 1102 Literature and Social Justice
Comparative Literary Essay
Length: 1200 words (+/- 10%)
Grade: Rough Draft for Peer Edit 3% + Essay 27% = 30%
Instructions: Write a critical essay that compares two works discussed in class. Use a minimum of
three on-topic peer-reviewed secondary sources, such as literary journal articles or peer-reviewed
books/book chapters. These scholarly resources are available through the library catalogue and the
library’s online databases such as Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, and Project Muse, or by
searching specific journals. You are also welcome to use readings shared in class in addition to three
sources you research yourself.
The emphasis of your essay is on close reading and literary interpretation of the texts; social,
political, and cultural context should support rather than supplant a detailed literary analysis. More
research is better, as long as your own argument is clear. The readings you choose should ground
rather than replace your own argument, so use quotations judiciously, explicate fully, and cite all
sources used (direct or indirect). Additional sources from reputable non-peer-reviewed publications
are ok if used sparingly. Evaluate sources: avoid web content of questionable value.
The strongest papers will be appropriately focussed and detailed. I recommend reviewing the class
resources on avoiding plagiarism and crafting effective thesis statements. If you want to develop
your own topic or significantly adapt one of the topics below, you must submit your working thesis
statement to me in writing for approval at least five days before the peer edit session so I can make
sure it is appropriately focussed and on track.
Organize, format, and proofread your essay using MLA format. Include a word count on the first
page, below the date. Attach your rough draft and the feedback sheet you received in the Peer Edit
for 3% of your grade. Your peer edited rough draft and peer edit sheet must be stapled to the back
of your essay if you would like those points; it will not be counted if handed in separately. You
must also print out and staple your sources to the back of your essay so that I can fact-check
your source material. Hand in your paper in hard copy, double spaced, in a regular 12 point font
like Garamond or Times, printed on one side of the page, with all parts (essay, draft, peer edit sheet,
hard copy of sources) stapled together.
Topics (choose one):
As Daniel Heath Justice said in class: “who better to write speculative fiction than those who have
survived the apocalypse?” Using close reading and textual details, compare representations of hope
in Parable of the Sower and The Dispossessed. In the Parable, Lauren Olamina and her friends manage to
survive again and again, rebuilding against all odds and when everything is stacked against them.
Lauren’s vision for the future emerges in the face of despair: hope and possibility emerging
chrysalis-like out of the violence and chaos of her life. In The Dispossessed, readers get to experience
firsthand life in an egalitarian society. Shevek feels compelled by an all-encompassing sense of his
own clear purpose to leave his comfortable home and cross an impossible and frightening void.
Compared to Lauren Olamina, Shevek rarely has to fight for his own personal survival or to
establish his self-worth. Yet Shevek’s vision transforms a planet that had rejected Odonian ideals.
Which novel provides more hope?
Using close reading and textual details, compare the role of empathy in Parable of the Sower and
Between the World and Me. In Parable of the Sower, Lauren Olamina has a disorder that causes her body
to experience the real or perceived pain of others. This creates a vulnerability for her, which she
must hide lest others exploit it. She is physically obligated to empathize with others even when it is
unsafe for her, while others who have more power than she does are not obligated to empathize
with her. Marginalized people are often required to empathize with those who have more privilege
on any axis of identity and power, while those in the position of privilege are n ot asked to empathize
with those ‘below’ them in the hierarchy. How is the metaphor of empathy in Parable relevant for
creating a more just world? Who needs to feel more empathy, and who perhaps could afford to feel a
little less? Whose voices need to be centred in order for that needed rebalancing of empathy to
occur? How do works of literature such as Between the World and Me create empathy for experiences
that non Black readers may not have experienced directly?
“Namu, Ma-ma-oo explained later, means whirlwind. The area is famous for whirlwinds” (Robinson
161). “Mom pointed out some indentations in the rock on the beach that she said were the footsteps
of the Stone Man” (Robinson 113). Using close reading and textual details, explore the significance
of placed-based story, names and naming in Monkey Beach and The Innocent Traveller, with attention to
the discussion of the role of names discussed in “Without Treaty, Without Conquest” and “The
Paradox of Boundaries in Coast Salish Territories.” What are the two competing visions of the same
place in these two books? Whose names and stories are given legitimacy when Haisla and British
cultures meet? And what is the significance of this encounter for legal conversations about land
repatriation?
“Here we are, this little group stuck in the middle of all our mortal enemies” (Robinson 221). Using
close reading and textual details, compare concepts of “nation‟ in Monkey Beach and The Innocent
Traveller, discussing the nuanced and multiple understandings of “nation‟ in each work (civic vs
ethnic, Indigenous and western, Canadian or Haisla, etc.); be careful to complicate teleological
assumptions. Your argument should engage with the discussion of the role of totems, and placebased names and stories discussed in “Without Treaty, Without Conquest” and “The Paradox of
Boundaries in Coast Salish Territories.” Where does each novel situate us in our understandings of
land ownership? What understanding of nation are we in in each of these works? You can also refer
to the poem “Leaks” by Leanne Simpson to help support your argument.
Narratives about individual inclusion can mask systemic exclusions, or shore up a self-conception of
white liberal “innocence” rather than working to address racist laws and institutional practices that
impact hundreds of thousands of people. Using the iceburg model to drill down into systemic and
structural violence, and using close reading and textual detail, discuss this phenomenon in relation to
the vignette chapter “Down at English Bay” in The Innocent Traveller and the National Film Board
short “Joe.” Whose perspectives are centred in both of these ‘texts,’ and whose innocence is
naturalized? What laws and practices are hidden by the narrative of innocence or acceptance, and
whose realities are erased? What does it look like to recentre the voices of those who face systemic
violence and erasure? You can refer to Between the World and Me to help support your argument.
Happy writing! Get in touch via email to book office hours if you need help finding secondary sources, want to hammer
out a topic or outline, or have any questions.