Wise Blood Essay

552 Words3 Pages
Paper 1 prompts English L-204, Fall 2012 Taylor 1. What is the function and significance of the profanity (religious and/or otherwise) used throughout Wise Blood? How does it contribute to the characterization, style, and especially, the thematic content of the novel? 2. What is Wise Blood’s concept of sin? Remember that this should not be merely Hazel’s, Asa Hawk’s, or any other character’s idea of what sin is and how it works, but the concept of sin which the novel as a whole work communicates. (With approval from me, you might also answer this question substituting “redemption,” “belief,” “guilt,” or any other large-concept term for “sin.”) 3. The title of a work is generally understood to encapsulate some aspect of its themes or form, but in some cases the relationship between work and title is clearer than in others. Why is Wise Blood titled Wise Blood? What plot points, formal elements, and especially, thematic concerns in the novel does this title engage? 4. Recall our conversation in class about Faulkner v. Hemingway. How does the style (on the level of specific language, sentence structure, etc.) in which a work is written relate to the story it has to tell – to its thematic concerns, to the way its plot is organized, to the types of character the author represents, etc.? You may write on “The Garden of Forking Paths,” “Why I Live at the P. O,” or “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Remember that in order to answer this question, you’ll first need to establish what the author’s style is (with evidence and specific terminology), but work well beyond that to explore what that style does. 5. Eudora Welty suggests that the plot of a short story is often “a projection of character.” Consider this claim in relation to “Barbie-Q, “Gimpel the Fool,” or “Everyday Use.” What is the relationship between plot and character in the story you
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