Assignment task:
You will prepare a report or presentation materials about one aspect of your ethnic background and research the literary heritage of that group/nation/people. I leave the final format up to you, but there are some elements which should be present.
While the format is left open, this should be a work of some significant length and detail. If working with a presentation format, make sure to include the notes that you would work from in giving the presentation. (Or you could record it.)
Elements to include:
- Which country's or culture's literature you are going to investigate.
- Images that help your audience relate to your content.
- A brief statement of your heritage and why you choose that particular one.
- An overview of the types of literature and themes that have come out of it traditionally. Is there a dominant mood or style which typifies that culture's literature?
- Who are some of the significant writers from that country/culture? Who may have attained international attention?
- Find a work by a writer from that country/culture, read it, and comment critically about it. This may be a novel, a play, a collection of shorts stories, or several poems.
- Include an excerpt from the work (or the whole thing if space permits for a poem or short story). Did you enjoy it? Were you able to read it in the original language or was it a translation?
- What can you tell me about the writer and the work? Give a brief biography and picture.
- Where do you see the themes and ideas of this group of literature fitting into the world? Are there universal truths or elements that everybody could benefit from or find familiar?
- Include references for the work(s) or facts about the writer.
- Also, make sure to include how you see yourself as part of this culture and its influences. Had you done so before? Does it change your way of thinking about that culture or yourself?
- How has this culture's literature been "whitewashed", if at all? Please watch the following TedTalk to understand this concept:
YouTube Video: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The danger of a single story | TED
Cited in MLA Format.