Scenario:
Imagine we are all part of a research team for the U.S. Department of Education. We are exploring the role of the study of short literary works in college classrooms. We are given the task of making a recommendation for which one or two short works of literature all college students should read and to explain why.
In this imagined scenario, the literary works that are finalists are the ones that we have read in our class. A list of all the literary works we covered can be found at the end of these instructions.
Some reasons you might consider as part of your recommendation are as follows:
The uses of important literary elements (character, plot, conflict, setting, point-of-view, theme)
Artistic beauty of the language and imagery used
Building empathy in readers
Capturing the diversity of human experiences
Uniqueness
Historical or cultural relevance
Authors interesting or unique biography
Relevance to issues or ideas important in todays world
As you put together your essay, remember to keep thinking back to this central research question and organize your writing accordingly:
Which one or two short literary works that we have covered in class should all college students read and why?
