English 11 – Fall 2001

Amardeep Singh

“Introduction to the Global Novel”

 

Paper Topic #2

Length: 4 pages

 

Rough Draft Due: Monday October 29

Final Draft Due: Friday November 2

Bring in 2 copies of Rough Drafts.

 

 

1. The English Patient

 

  1. The Status of Women. The English Patient is full of technical details about mining, desert expeditions, and the historical complexities of World War II, details we might not ordinarily associate with women. Are women really marginalized from the technical and historical aspects of the novel? You might also approach this question as one about women and war: if this is a novel about war, how do women enter into the picture?
  2.  

 

2. Nervous Conditions

 

  1. The value of “education.” In Nervous Conditions, it seems that the education a person receives, the less he or she actually knows. That is to say, education in this community has the effect of cutting people from the others around them, alienating them from their own culture. We see this especially profoundly with Nhamo and Nyasha. How is Tambudzai’s experience different? What is the value of education for her?
  2.