For my essay I chose to prompt #3  and will be using “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien. I am going to demonstrate that Tim and Elroy’s encounter has a big meaning to the story, Elroy being a wise old man leads Tim to choosing his fate when he takes him to the Rainy River. If it wasn’t for Elroy, the story could’ve possibly ended differently, but I am going to analyze why this relationship lead the story to end in such a way.

I came to the decision to choose the first prompt and will be using “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere“. I chose this story because it felt somewhat relatable and Dina encounters the biggest transition of her life. I will talk about her transitions from a teenager to a adult, poor and rough neighborhood to a prestigious environment, a stated sexual identity to the generated confusion of her sexual identity, and anti-social to coming out her shell. Since we never know what the author is trying to say, I will use the my perspective of specific quotes to interpret what the meaning of her transition has over the course of the narrative.

For my literary analysis paper, I will be choosing to do Prompt #3. It is true that we come to understand ourselves through our relationships with people. This is what took place between Dina and Heidi’s relationship. They are both loners who built a friendship based on their personalities and orientation.  In my literary analysis I am going to state the similarities between Dina and Heidi which brought them close.

For this paper I chose prompt 3 to discuss the relationship between Dina and Heidi and the significance that it holds. After reading the entirety of this work, I felt I needed to figure out why Dina had acted the way she did with Heidi by making the connection between her past life living in Baltimore to her life as a student/resident of Yale University. By doing this I could figure out if her past life had any incident that obstructed her view of people thus giving reason as to why she acts the way she does with Heidi.

I choose prompt #2 and I’m going to write about “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere.” I think  that the central significance of the title is orientation and it’s common theme throughout the story. Dina gets into an Ivy League in the city which means she has to leave Baltimore. In the story, orientation can be defined in two ways so therefore, I’m going to discuss how those two ways help define the story.

I am going to write about “On a Rainy River” by Tim O’ Brien to explore his transition as he faces the fact that he has been drafted for a war he thinks is unnecessary. There are many significant events that happen to Tim O’ Brien that shapes his character and how he thinks of what a coward means. O’ Brien believes that being a coward is different from someone like the reader would think. Also, the fact that Tim O’ Brien asks the reader “what would you do?” makes me really interested in this story.

The essay prompt I chose for my essay is the fourth one,  focusing on the story “On the Rainy River.” I decided to go with Tim O’Brien’s short story because I think that theres much to say about this story in terms of perspective since Tim’s right of passage in the story (his going to war) is subjective in whether or not his choosing to join or flee war is what makes him a coward. I also believe  this story gives us a lot of insight on his “emotional and physiological makeup” since he is constantly revealing how he feels about going to war , and we are made aware of each instance where he thinks he has his mind made up (or changed), and those where he is feeling displaced.  Because Tim’s actions can be interpreted through more than one lens, I believe it will give me a lot write about since I could argue both sides of his choices as being “smart” or  “the best” (perspective).

The prompt i decided to write about was the very first and i’ll be using  “On the Rainy River”. This is mainly because i think this is the text that i understood the best out of all three. It was also the most intriguing and interesting. I chose this prompt with this text because i think it fits perfectly i.e Tim has a transition from being an educated civilian to a military soldier. In this transition he goes through many phases and changes throughout the course of this narrative. He’s constantly battling himself and his mindset in which he really cares about what other people think about him. Apart from that, there is the encounter with Elroy which adds on to his moral dilemma in a more positive way. With all this, i think i’d be able to write a good and lengthy essay on the first prompt apart from the others given.

I believe so far from reading my choices I am going to pick, prompt number 4 with the reading On the Rainy River by Tim O’Brien. I have chosen this due to his reading to be honest. The point of view of his paper is the whole point of his piece of literature. We know emotional and psychological aspects of him. It simple to see the external characteristics of Tim O’Brien. Plus, he’s a coward and I know it because he said it and his emotions displayed within the reading tells me so.

So, this writing prompt would be best for this story and I chose it.

4-5 pages, typed, and double spaced

Draft Due: In Class – Wednesday, March 16^th

Essay Due: Uploaded to turnitin.com by 11 pm on Sunday, March 20^th

In a thoughtful, focused analytical essay exploring one of three short stories we’ve read (“Unaccustomed Earth,” “On the Rainy River,” or “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere”), respond to one of the following prompts:

1. In each of the three stories, we encounter characters that are in transition. Choose one character and explore the meaning of his/her transition. What is the significance of what happens to him/her over the course of the narrative?
2. Use the title of your story as a lens through which to approach the story’s main concerns. What, in your view, is the central significance of the title. How does it instruct us to read the story?
3. We come to understand ourselves better through our relationships with others. Each of the stories you’ve read features an important encounter between two people. Choose one of these relationships and explore its significance. (Ruma and her father, Tim O’Brien and Elroy Berdahl, Dina and Heidi)
4. Discuss the use of perspective in your story. What insight does the narrative point of view give us into the characters’ psychological or emotional makeup? What questions does it raise? What do we learn from the relationship between a character’s internal life and the way he/she chooses to reveal himself/herself to others?

These prompts are your starting points. Once you have chosen a prompt and a text, find a way to articulate your topic in the form of a question.  (It can be very simple, like “What happens to the father/daughter relationship over the course of “Unaccustomed Earth?”)  Then think about the body of your paper as an attempt to answer the question you’ve posed.  Once you’ve written your draft and figured out what it is that you have to say in response to your question, you may find that it makes sense to go back and rewrite your introductory paragraph in a way that lets the reader know where the paper is headed and what your central claim