Essay 3: Literary Analysis

English 52b

Essay 3

Professor Tompkins

April 21, 2016

Prompt for essay 3

You will choose one of the two topics below and write an 800-word critical essay examining how the views and behavior of characters in Little Scarlet were changed during the Watts Rebellion. You are not being asked to sum up the plot. Rather you must step back from the book and think about how the events in the book shaped the beliefs and behavior of the characters that you’ve come to know. 

Consider the steps while developing your literary analysis

1.    Choose a topic (or area of focus, such as a theme or recurring image)

2.     Review the text to collect evidence

·      Take careful notes on any passages that relate to your topic 

·      (Or mark up your text and then write up your notations)

·      Include page numbers in your notes!

3.     Analyze your evidence

·      Look for trends, logical groupings, progressions, dichotomies, contradictions, etc.

·      Interpret your evidence – What does it mean? What does it seem to be saying?

4.     Organize your evidence

·      Select the evidence that you will use your in paper 

·      Put your evidence into logical groupings (paragraphs)

·      Choose a logical order for your groupings (paragraphs)

·      *Try to avoid ordering your evidence in the order it appears in the novel

1. Little Scarlet begins as Easy walks down from his office to explore the rubble left by the Watts Riots/Rebellion. At Sojourner Truth School, where Easy works, he talks about why Black people rioted to a distraught Ada Masters, the white principal of the school. Carefully examine the conversation they had, and follow Easy as he moves through Los Angeles while trying to find Nola’s killer. As he investigates, he becomes aware that his relationships with white people is changing. Analyze and explain these changes, using evidence from the book to prove your thesis.

2. The book takes place in the days following the Watts Rebellion, so it is too soon to know exactly what has been won and lost. Still, as Easy looks for the killer of Nola Payne, he explores the changing relationship of power between Black and white people in L.A. Write an essay that examines the changes that Easy saw and how he understands the events triggered by the Riots. Remember, to answer this question you will stick closely to Easy’s words, thoughts, and deeds.