If we discussed your blog in class Tuesday, post a revision of your thesis here. We gave you feedback so try to sharpen your focus, your claim.
If you did not post, please do so today. Review the Purdue Owl Guidelines for creating a thesis by posing a question and then answering it (class handout).
Look at topics for Roundhouse posted in previous blogs as well as your classmates' great ideas!
Try to give follow-up evidence (3 examples) that will help you develop your essay.
We will review these again on Thursday!
When did you climb up the stairs to adulthood? Adolescent children are going to the border between childhood and adulthood back and forth to recognize who they are. In the novel "The Round House," a main character Joe develops his character through experience of the cruel accident. Especially the relationship with his father has an influence on his sensitive mind significantly. His father has three faces: face as father, face as husband, and face as a judge. Japanese proverb says the children are a mirror of the parents which means that the children are reflections of their parents like a mirror. Each of father’s places gives Joe different perceptions. Father’s role influences a child’s development.
ReplyDeleteKumi--Tracing the role of Joe's father using the Japanese proverb is a beautiful way to write this essay--and it offers us a lovely comparative lens re how cultures view parent child relationships and what sons learn from fathers. Go forward!
DeleteIn The Round House the theme of jurisdiction is explored. To have jurisdiction means that a legal body, or even individual, has the power or authority ( autonomy) to make not only legal decisions but value based judgements as well. Throughout the course of the novel jurisdiction is explored not only through the lens of the law but also through a personal human element. Both Joe and his father use the power of jurisdiction in an attempt to question and change the grand narrative of Native communities.
ReplyDeleteYour last sentence seems to formulate your thesis well--I would go to scene of "casserole" where father outlines for Joe the reasons he is committed to small changes to take your argument a step further--I especially like your statement about the personal human element as lens...
DeleteIn The Roundhouse by Louise Erdrich, Joe goes through a series of crucial events that force him to grow up faster than a thirteen year old should. Early in the novel, we see that he and his father rely on his mother for everything. Joe deals with the fact that she was raped by someone in the reservation, and watches his mother wither away. [When he finds the money in the river, the first person he runs to is Sonja. Although she helps him put the money into separate bank accounts, she also betrays him by taking more than half of the money for herself. Joe figures out who he can and cannot trust.] After Joe and Cappy shoot and kill Linden Lark, they are haunted by him in their nightmares; Joe also loses his friend Cappy in a car accident. The rape of his mother, [betrayal by a once trusted loved one,] killing a man, and his friend's death are situations in which Joe is obligated to deal with his actions and the harsh realities of life.
ReplyDeleteYou have excellent examples of what Joe experiences--these are facts of his life. Think about how to craft a unifying thesis or argument. What exactly does Joe learn about others? about himself, his strengths?
ReplyDelete