The english patient , book essay

30% Final Essay on The English Patient, book

Choose one of the following questions, and write a five-paragraph essay using the essay template The principles are the same. You may draw on class lectures to help you write your paper as well as the use of one scholarly article that relates specifically to your topic.

1. Ondaatje has said in an interview that the novel is about a process of healing. What is the nature of that process for each of the characters who gather in the Villa San Girolamo?
2. “Kip and I are international bastards.” How is the position of the exile explored and evaluated particularly in the light of the novel’s ending?
3. How does the landscape of the novel–the Villa San Girolamo, the country around it, and the boundary between the two–reflect the inner lives of its inhabitants? Why do you think that Ondaatje has chosen Tuscany as the setting for his story? What significance do other landscapes, like the desert and the English countryside, hold for the story and its characters?
4. The English patient says, “I believe in such cartography–to be marked by nature, not just to label ourselves on a map like the names of rich men and women on buildings. We are communal histories, communal books” [p. 261]. How does Ondaatje use maps and cartography as a metaphor for people and history? What does geography mean to the English patient and to Ondaatje’s other characters?
5. “I came to hate nations,” says the English patient. “We are deformed by nation-states” [p. 138]. How does the desert negate the idea of nations? What sort of supra-national unity is experienced by the Europeans drawn to the desert, and how does each of them respond to the beginning of war? What alternate view of geography and history does the desert offer?
6. Create your own thesis statement that focuses on Ondaatje’s use of either intertextuality or postmodernism in The English Patient.

As you write your paper, keep in mind how I will be grading you. Print this rubric out.

 

MLA Formatting:

(No title page, no footnotes, proper formatting throughout, in-text citations, proper paraphrasing, Works Cited page)

/2

Expression:

(Appropriate use of words, correct sentence structure, correct grammar, conventional spelling, punctuation, and mechanics:

/4

Introduction:

(Clearly composed introduction and thesis statement)

/3

Body Paragraphs:

(Good topic sentences that are related directed to the thesis, logical, and unified; clearly articulated points that are backed up with direct quotations from the stories)

/4

Overall understanding and analysis:

(Demonstrates a solid understanding of the stories, and uses the text to back up main points in essay)

/5

Conclusion

/2

 

Essay Outline:

Introduction: (State name of author, identify the text(s), and express the main idea of the text(s) in relation to essay question)

 

 

 

 

 

Thesis Statement (Last sentence of the introduction):

 

 

Body Paragraph 1:

(Make 2-3 claims and use at least two direct quotations from the text to back up your claims)

Topic Sentence (a mini-thesis):

 

Claim 1:

 

Evidence (paraphrase and direct quotations):

 

 

 

Analysis:

 

 

Claim 2:

 

Evidence (paraphrase and direct quotations):

 

 

 

Analysis:

 

 

Final Concluding sentence(s):

 

 

Body Paragraph 2:

(Make 2-3 claims and use at least two direct quotations from the text to back up your claims)

Topic Sentence (a mini-thesis):

 

Claim 1:

 

Evidence (paraphrase and direct quotations):

 

 

 

Analysis:

 

 

Claim 2:

 

Evidence (paraphrase and direct quotations):

 

 

 

Analysis:

 

 

Final Concluding sentence(s):

 

 

Body Paragraph 3:

(Make 2-3 claims and use at least two direct quotations from the text to back up your claims)

Topic Sentence (a mini-thesis):

 

Claim 1:

 

Evidence (paraphrase and direct quotations):

 

 

 

Analysis:

 

 

Claim 2:

 

Evidence (paraphrase and direct quotations):

 

 

 

Analysis:

 

 

Final Concluding sentence(s):

 

 

Conclusion (revisit the main theme(s) of the literary text, and your thesis statement, and reiterate your main points as well as suggest the overall significance of the text. Be careful not to simply repeat yourself however. You may comment on the relevance of the literary text(s) to today.