GHOST by Reynolds
There’s no prompt for the paper.! Why am I making you come up with your own prompt? Because as future teachers, you need this skill (and if you’re an English major, OF COURSE you need this skill)! It’s not easy—it’s harder! But it’s also more satisfying, because it’s your seed you are planting and growing. If you are going to do the hard work of doing original thinking on a literary text, you may as well identify something that captivates YOU. What do YOU want to explore in these weird, captivating texts?
Okay, you have an idea. How do you know you’re on the right track? Simple!
USE THE BOOK GHOST BY Jason Reynolds (this is the only source)
*In this assignment, you will also deliver a prospectus in which you identify your
1) TOPIC. This might be a character, a setting, a symbol. Aim for a narrow topic, because you won’t have room for writing about all the main friendships in a novel. Depth is required.
2) PROBLEM/CRUX. You can’t just have a TOPIC. Your topic needs to have something about it that makes you curious, confused, even a tad offended. Your crux makes you question why the topic is manifesting in this particular way. So… if your topic was friendship between Fern and Wilbur, the crux might be…why did the author fade out that friendship? or it might be…why did White need to have Fern AND Charlotte, and since Fern’s contribution is arguably smaller, why have her play a part in saving Wilbur? Notice the topic, “friendship” is becoming more investigative.
3) HYPOTHESIS or solution to the problem. All I’m expecting here is a “maybe” thesis. Maybe White adds Fern growing out of her love for Wilbur to show natural human limitations, in some ways regrettable but no different from the changing seasons. Maybe it’s not a tragedy she cares less–it could just be the nature of growing up. Some of your peers might disagree with this–that is good and shows you’re really forming an argument. You can change your mind as you write! Please note: you will not have a real thesis UNTIL you have a draft.
