Passage Analysis

Passage Analysis: Due at the end of the semester, Dec. 5

Choose one of the following passages, and write a detailed passage analysis. See your handout for information on how to do this

1. Page 5, beginning with “Grandfather’s name is also Alexander” until the end of the section on page 7.
2. Page 8, beginning of the page, until the end of page 11
3. Page 44, beginning with “Yankel had lost two babies” until the end of page 49
4. Page 64, beginning with “Let us eat” until page 67, ending with “had a thing to do with the potato”
5. Page 95, beginning with “From space” until the end of the section on page 99
6. Page 131, beginning with “She hadn’t cried” until page 135, ending with “the last breath of the drowning victim”

Bonus Assignment: Also due on Dec. 5^th if you choose to this assignment. It will be evaluated out of a possible bonus 3% added to your final grade.

The bonus assignment is a creative writing assignment. You will write a vignette that depicts a moment in one of your grandparents’ lives that demonstrates that you understand Everything is Illuminated’s approach to telling history (i.e. poetic, not strictly “accurate,” or suggesting that history is subjective or cannot fully be known, postmodern rather than realistic, etc.). Write about your grandparent as if he or she is a character: this is a work of fiction, not a work of biography.