Summarize a critical controversy involving two or more scholars who have conflicting views of sula or the reader.

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For this assignment, you will write a critical argument about Sula or The Reader. You will want to make the following moves to receive an A on this assignment:
1. Introduce the reader to the novel. Summarize a critical controversy involving two or more scholars who have conflicting views of Sula or The Reader. (1 paragraph)
2. Engage with a critic’s view of the novel you have chosen, using one of the strategies in the Learn to Write Handbook, with the exception of #2. (1-2 paragraphs).
3. Make a debatable claim about the novel and support it with textual evidence. (4-6 paragraphs)
4. Anticipate objections to your argument and defend them, making a concession if necessary. (1-2 paragraphs)
5. Summarize your findings: How has your analysis of Sula or The Reader changed the critical conversation? (1 paragraph)
Should you choose to write about Sula, you should read “Debatable Topics in Sula” (in Course Materials). After determining which critical controversy you would like to respond to, you will need to read an article that addresses your topic. If you choose to write about topic 1 (Morrison’s representation of black men), you will want to engage with the article by Mayberry; if you choose to write about topic 2 (Morrison’s representation of black motherhood), you will want to engage with the chapter by Moore; if you choose to write about topic 3 (Morrison’s stance towards liberated black female sexuality), you will want to engage with the article by Galehouse; if you choose to write about topic 4 (Morrison’s portrayal of Sula and Nel’s friendship), you should engage with the excerpt from Barbara Smith’s Towards a Black Feminist Criticism. Once you understand the argument made in the article on Sula, you will engage with it using any of the strategies from your Learn to Write Handbook. You will want to avoid only agreeing with the author of the article; leapfrogging (identifying an inconsistency or oversight in the argument) or piggybacking (agreeing with the author’s theoretical assumptions, but extending them to a character or theme unexamined in the article) will be good alternatives if you do not want to “pick a fight.”
Should you choose to write about The Reader, you will want to address the question of whether the novel can be read as an apologia for the Holocaust. There are several articles in Course Materials that address this controversy from different perspectives, such as Eva B. Revesz’s “Schlink’s The Reader and the Problem of German Victimhood” and Jeffrey I. Roth’s “Reading and Misreading The Reader.” You will want to read both articles before choosing a strategy of critical engagement from the Learn to Write Handbook. Avoid only agreeing with the author of either article; consider using strategy 5 (playing peacemaker) or strategy 7 (dropping out, or finding room in the margins).
Your essay should be at least 5 pages, double-spaced, with a minimum of two secondary sources and a Works Cited page. You should have a heading, double-spaced, and a title that relates to your arg

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