Ethnic American Literature, fall 2007
Essay #5
Due in class Nov. 14

Choose one.

Option 1:
The full title of this work is The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. Is this a fitting title? Feel free to focus only on one smaller aspect of the title, rather than explicating it in full (for instance, it would be fine to write an essay only about the idea of the “woman warrior,” leaving out the subtitle, or vice versa).

Option 2:
The Woman Warrior includes many elements that are also part of Beloved. Ghosts play a prominent role in both books; Kingston begins by saying “You must not tell anyone,” while Morrison concludes, “This is not a story to pass on.” Compare and contrast these two works, focusing on ghosts, injunction against speaking, or another aspect that they have in common.

Option 3:
Ya-Jie Zhang writes that The Woman Warrior “is, after all, an American story, not a Chinese one” (18). Do you agree or disagree (or would you classify the work as something else)? You might wish to compare and contrast the book with your own experience in answering this question.

For all questions:
This essay should be 2-3 full pages, double spaced, paginated, with normal margins and font (Times New Roman, size 12, is standard). Do give your essay a title. Document all sources (including the primary texts) in accordance with MLA style. Keep in mind that I do not accept late papers, and plan accordingly.