Choose one of the following prompts for this discussion board:
1) Using Freud’s tripartite (three part) model of the mind, examine the three main characters in Oates- “Mark of Satan.” Define each character as either the ego, the super-ego, or the id and why you believe the character falls into that description. Use one character, and only one character, for each term. Use textual evidence to support your interpretation in the form of a direct quote from the text and provide analysis of how the evidence supports your claim.
2) Choose one symbol from either text in Module 7, “Mark of Satan” or “A Dream at Night,” and describe what psychological insights it illustrates for a major character. For example, the bazaar in Joyce’s “Araby” allows the narrator’s mind to become swept up in romance and chivalry (this text is provided as an example only–do notwrite on a previous text). Use textual evidence to support your interpretation in the form of a direct quote from the text and provide analysis of how the evidence supports your claim.
3) “Freud declares that the literary work is therefore the author’s dream or fantasy” (Bressler 132). Examine one text as a unique representation of either Oates’ or Ch’en’s dream or fantasy. Use textual evidence to support your interpretation in the form of a direct quote from the text and provide analysis of how the evidence supports your claim (the way the text fits the movement).
4) Come up with your own psychoanalytical reading of one text. Focus on character, dreams, ghosts, etc. to illustrate the unconscious at work in the text. Try to have at least two different aspects to evaluate, how they connect together, and how they illustrate psychoanalytic concepts. Use textual evidence to support your interpretation in the form of a direct quote from the text and provide analysis of how the evidence supports your claim (the way the text fits the movement). Also, use correct MLA for source integration.Plagiarism of outside content/ideas will result in a zero (0) for the initial post. Finally, remember that literary analysis: 1) makes interpretive claims; 2) that are debatable; 3) that are supported with evidence from the text(s) (this must include direct quotes from the text); 4) that argue for a thesis about the text (this will probably fall into your topic sentence); and 5) that explore the complexity of the text.
You will be graded on how well your responses follow this model for literary analysis. And remember that these are formal academic assignments. “I” and “you” should not be used in initial posts (“I” and “you” are fine for follow-up posts as they are less formal), nor should you announce intent in the topic sentence: for example, do not write, “In this discussion board I will discuss “Ysrael”; or, “The text I chose to review for this assignment is “The South.” Consider your claim, interpretation, or argument in the topic sentence.