The
Sunflower:
Assigned Author Commentaries
Each
student is responsible for reading and evaluating FIVE authors’ commentaries
included in the back of The Sunflower.
Students must begin with the one assigned to them below (according to their
playing card), then they may select any other four authors in the book. The
five assigned commentaries, as well as the entire novel, are to be read
completely by the first date assigned on the syllabus (usually around
session 12 or 13). Note: It is strongly suggested that you read The
Sunflower first before any of the commentaries to ensure that your initial
opinions of Simon’s experiences are your own. The views of the other authors
may influence your thoughts, so it is necessary that you draw your own
conclusions before considering others’ ideas.
Along
with the reading of the five commentaries, students are expected to read the
brief biographical information for their authors found at the very back of the
book. Students are then asked to type up and submit all of the following
information for each of their five authors:
·
Identify any relevant information pertaining to each author’s religion,
gender, age, nationality, and/or race (based on what is explicitly stated or
what you can infer).
·
Identify any relevant information regarding each author’s career or
life’s work.
·
Identify other information provided that may connect each author in
some way to the issues of the novel (i.e., genocide, prejudice, sociology,
psychology, education, theology, etc.)
·
If any or all of the above information is not available in the back of
the book, go online and “Google” each
author by full name (in quotation marks) to see what similar information is
available.
·
Return to each of the authors’ commentaries and underline the complete
thesis statement of each essay. It may be a single sentence or many. It may comprise
the first few sentences of the commentary, may be found at the end of an
introductory paragraph, or may not occur until the very end of the entire
commentary.
·
Identify and number all major points of support used by each author
throughout their commentaries. These points must be clearly identified and
distinct from all others. Do not renumber points which are repetitions of
previously mentioned information. All distinct evidence or reasons should
receive a separate number.
·
Finally, for each author’s commentary, write a 75-word evaluation in
which you claim its effectiveness or ineffectiveness as an argumentative essay.
You must justify your evaluation based on similar criteria of effective writing
used to prepare your own essays (as in the first three sections of the essay
feedback sheet online).
After
you have completed the tasks below, feel free to supplement your viewpoint by
reading as many of the authors as you’d like, though the assignment only calls
for the reading of five. The more you read, the greater perspective you will
gain in preparation for questions on the midterm
and Essay
Two.
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Martin Marty |
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Dennis Prager |