For this first essay, I want you to take use New Historicism Criticism to help analyze the short story, “Big Black Good Man” starting on page 237 of your Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing textbook. This means that you will want to consider the time period in which it was written. Since New Historicism allows for readers to connect to modern culture (the time period in which it is read instead of when it was written), you are welcome to make that connection as well. In addition, you will want to identify a theme within the story, some message you feel the writer is trying to convey. How does the writer go about developing this theme to make a societal argument? I can’t help but point out the relevance of Richard Wright’s story in today’s time period. Since I’m asking you to apply New Historicism, you might want to discuss the current events surrounding the protests regarding the death of George Floyd. There are many news articles out there that you could reference, like this one: “George Floyd Death: Why US Protests are so Powerful this Time.” (Links to an external site.) In writing this essay you will want to research the time period as well as identify a theme in the story you have chosen. Looking up what literary critics have to say will help you to explore the content of the story and shed light on problems you may be having with analyzing the text. You will need to bring in a minimum of four sources to help you explore the themes and cultural context (New Historicism Criticism) of your chosen story. One of your sources must be our Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing textbook since you will need to directly quote the story. You may be thinking: Hey, this is similar to the Literary Analysis #1 that we completed earlier this week; can I include information from it in my essay? The answer is, YES! You are welcome, and encouraged, to use any information from the literary analysis assignment that you find useful in working towards this essay. A Word about Sources Your sources must be reliable and reputable. I highly discourage using websites for sources. Sometimes, students will try to use sources like bartleby.com, owlcation.com, supersummary.com, enotes.com, etc. Do not use these sources or others like them!
