Students were reminded of the following topics (first shared in early December). After committing to one of the topics, students worked in small groups to brainstorm quotes and areas of research.
A rough draft of the esssay (complete but perhaps not yet perfectly edited) is due January 15th or 16th; the final draft is due on the 22nd or 23rd.
The
Stranger
Essay Topics
Assignment: Write an essay (3-5 pages) that covers one of
the topics below. Keep the following in
mind:
Ø Be specific
Ø Have a clearly
stated thesis. Answer your prompt’s
question.
Ø Support your thesis
with specific facts from the text and from secondary sources, including quotes
and page citations.
Ø Use MLA style
Remember! You have done a lot of work with this novel
over the past several weeks. That work
can help you develop your thesis and your paper. Use your sticky notes and your journal to
find specific quotes and passages that struck you. Use the individual class assignments as
guides for your thoughts.
One more thing: Don’t summarize. Yes, sometimes you need to summarize a bit
for clarity, but spend most of your time doing analysis.
1.
Research
the philosophy of Absurdism (coined by Camus) and analyze its relevance to The Stranger: Secondary sources must come
from books, multcoed.org databases or OSLIS.
Cite all sources.
2.
Research
Camus’s life and beliefs and write an essay in which you demonstrate how The Stranger reveals and explores much what
was of importance to the author. Secondary sources must come from books,
multcoed.org databases or OSLIS. Cite all sources.
3.
Research the historical relationship between France and Algeria and
analyze The Stranger as a
postcolonial critique of that relationship. Pay particular attention to the
role of Arabs in the novel in your essay. Secondary sources must come from books,
multcoed.org databases or OSLIS. Cite all sources.
4.
Read
Nausea by Jean Paul Sartre, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken
Kesey, or Into the Wild by Jon
Krakauer, and compare the author’s perspective of Existentialism to that of
Camus using your own opinion and secondary sources for support. You must not
have read the novel before this assignment.
Secondary sources must come from books, multcoed.org databases or
OSLIS. Cite all sources.
5. Compare and contrast contemporary
Existentialist excerpts from film to Camus’s piece. How do people today reflect and interpret
Camus’s work? What do they see right and
what don’t they get in your opinion?
Possible pieces to consider: Pulp
Fiction, Into the Wild, No Country
for Old Men, One Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest. There are more that I
found at IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/list/8Iapaxq39RQ/. Check with me before you start
this essay. Cite all sources.
6.
Analyze
the difference between the concepts of “Justice” and of “Law,” and write an
essay in which you explore whether justice is served by the end of The Stranger. You may choose to write
this as a persuasive essay in which you attempt to convince your audience one
way or the other. (Feel free to pretend to be a lawyer who represents Meursault
more capably than the one the court appoints!)
7.
Consider
the importance of personal, moral, ethical, and civic responsibility in your
own life and analyze how well Meursault handles his responsibilities. The essay
asks you to balance personal exposition and literary analysis.
8.
Determined
to remain true to himself, Meursault finds himself at odds with a society.
Compare and contrast the The Stranger
with (an)other literary text(s) you have read. Be sure to keep in mind the
historical and geographical origin of the texts as you explore their
similarities and differences.
Only Essay Topics Having Further Research or Reading Can
Achieve An Exceeds Score (1-4)
