This critical paper covers short stories from Bharati Mukherjees The Middle Man as well as The Tenant; A Wifes Story; and Jasmine. The paper addresses this research question: do Mukherjees short stories show us that the experience of displacement, as dramatized by her women characters in this story, is positive and beneficial or difficult and possibly negative? This research question is inspired by two things. First, you all did a wonderful job exploring the contradictions of Olaudah Equianos displacement. Yes, he acclimated himself to enslavement, mastered the skills of capitalism, and even found a deep connection to the Christian religion. But everything good happened to him through enslavement. Did this make his journey from Africa a postive one? Second, we discussed the immigrant myth of the United States: always positive, always a step toward upward mobility, always beneficial for women escaping traditional gender and marital customs. And yet Mukherjee writes about Indian women who have their feet in both worlds, who arent sure where they stand, who are even being exploited and thinking its freedom (Jasmine!). Your paper will allow you to weigh the pros and cons, the costs and benefits, and finally to arrive at an evaluation of the authors vision for immigrant women. You can choose to analyze all three stories but only two are required; one must be Jasmine. Please follow this outline: I. Introduction Explain why you are writing this paper; what you are trying to explore and analyze; what stories you are writing about; what you conclude from your analysis II. Plot summary A Again, a very short paragraph just to keep you from going on and on and forgetting to analyze. III. Analysis A Gear your analysis of the story you choose around the research question and show us what you think about the fate and condition of the woman character. What is happening to her? What conflict is she facing? What are her choices? Include at least one quotation and take as many paragraphs as you need, remembering to focus paragraphs around interesting quotations. IV. Argument A What are your findings and conclusions from you analysis? You can write broadly here, basing your conclusions on what you believe about womens rights and unique situations in new countries, what you learned or know about immigrant women from this story. V. Plot summary B Again, a very short paragraph just to keep you from going on and on and forgetting to analyze. VI. Analysis B Gear your analysis of the story you choose around the research question and show us what you think about the fate and condition of the woman character. What is happening to her? What conflict is she facing? What are her choices? Include at least one quotation and take as many paragraphs as you need, remembering to focus paragraphs around interesting quotations. VII. Argument B What are your findings and conclusions from you analysis? You can write broadly here, basing your conclusions on what you believe about womens rights and unique situations in new countries, what you learned or know about immigrant women from this story. VIII. Conclusion Make sure you answer the research question, and add ideas that you didnt get a chance to present because they werent closely connected to the stories
