Pick one of the readings to write your essay on:

·         Hemingway, “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”

·         Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”

*1) Summarize, but also engage with, the argument in question from your Critical Article of choice.   Present his or her argumentative stance fairly while also evaluating  the merit of the argument being offered. Emphasize at least a section or  two of the article. Does the author make a credible case? Why or why  not? 

*2)  How does the critic approach the author and text in question? In other  words, does the critic offer a particular type of approach  (biographical, historical, psychological) towards O’Connor or  Hemmingway? Try to address this question of orientation/methodology in  your essay. 

*3)  Discuss whether your initial impressions of the reading in question  were complicated or changed by the critical article in question. Be  specific, and reference specific sections from both readings. This  section should be your next to-last paragraph. 

*4)  Consider where your reading and the critical article may fit in with  course goals and themes. For example, how might your assigned reading  and the article fit in with our readings in short fiction and  late-19th-century American literature? On the other hand, how might the  story and article venture off from course subject matter and readings in  American literature? This section should comprise your concluding  paragraph. 

Unite  these questions into a coherent, “flowing” essay with transitions,  topic sentences, textual evidence, a thesis, and other such devices of  expository writing. Use direct textual evidence, which is subsequently  paraphrased, in each body paragraph to substantiate your points.

The majority of your discussion should be based upon the critical article that you’ve found, not mere summary of the story. Feel free to use the first person in your essay.

 Length: 3-4 pages. Double-spaced. “Works  Cited” provided. Cite any and all sources that you use. Format: MLA  citation (both in-text and end-of-text citations).