War Dances Essay
Choose one of the questions below and develop a thesis in response to your interpretation of the book War Dances. Be sure to refer to the book’s stories and/or poems as you write—in other words, use specific examples. You may also draw from your personal experiences as you develop this essay. Avoid extensive summary, aiming instead for extended analysis of the themes, characters, plot ideas, or structure of the text. The paper should be 4-6 typed, double-spaced pages. The questions below suggest an approach to this essay, but you must, as always, come up with the thesis on your own.
1. Most of our experiences in life are filtered through our own unique perception of events. Much of our perception is affected by our own sense of identity—who we are shapes how we “see” to some extent. Choose one or more aspects of identity (i.e. age, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality) that affect how characters in the stories or speakers in the poems in War Dances experience events in their life. Discuss the relationships between one’s identity and their thoughts and/or actions. Use specific examples to illustrate these points.
2. Many of the stories and most of the poetry have to do with modern-day males’ expression of emotion. Emotionality is sometimes considered the flip-side of rationality, wherein one’s reason can balance one’s feelings. Of course this works well as long as one achieves and maintains a balance. Choose characters in the stories or poems in War Dances that show men dealing with, or trying to deal with, their powerful emotions. What are the challenges? Who/What is successful? What, if anything, does this examination of male emotion in the book show to readers?
3. Human beings are both unique individuals as well as social animals. That is, our membership in group(s) (familial, tribal, cultural, etc.) and our relationships with other people may be nearly as important as our individual sense of identity. Analyze some of the relationships shown in the poems and stories in War Dances. What do these relationships show about the characters/speakers?
4. In the story “The Senator’s Son,” the father tells the son, “[w]e are tested, all of us. We are constantly and consistently given the choice. Good or evil. Light or darkness. Love or hate. Some of those decisions are huge and tragic” (pp.91-2). Choose some of the poems and/or stories from the book where characters are tested. What choices did they make? How did they come to terms with those choices? What does it show? Are there dichotomies other than those from the above quote, which inform your understanding of the themes in War Dances?
5. You likely noticed other themes in the book War Dances. If you choose this question, you may develop an analysis of any theme you found inte
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