Requirements:
1. Write one paragraph proposal due 6/4
You may either write on Alvarez or on Diaz.
2. Write a polished, word processed 3 page draft for a peer critique.
Make 3 copies for 6/9
3. Make revisions according to Peer Critiques
4. Submit 5-6 page revised essay due on June with drafts
Please note: No extensions.

Approach:
1. Pick the text you want to analyze and situate the novel within the "tradition" of Latino fiction.

Potential ideas might include:

• memory
• language--code switching, moving back and forth between Spanish and English
• family--an integral part of the latino experience
• community--border
• history--story of where a family comes from; a reflection on political and economic tensions. You have to  understand your past in order to understand who you are.  Characters collide with their past and they finally confront it.
• Writing about writing
• Storytelling and lies--connect members from various generations
• Religion and Spirituality: Santeria (sacrifices, prayers, and offerings)--Aguero Sisters, Yo; representation of Catholicism
  (Western notions: theosophy and transcendentalism)
• Acculturation and assimilation
• Class
• Need to legitimize oneself

3. Announce the thesis in your introduction, support the thesis in the body, and make sure you have a  conclusion.

4. Once you have narrowed your topic, you should then elaborate on your interpretation.
To deal with the novel, assume that your reader knows the text intimately, especially the plot.  Jump into your analysis, in media res-- in the middle of things.

5. Begin your paper by announcing your thesis (intro).

6. Structure:
Here is one way to map out the pages:

Intro--1 page
Overview of important themes/literary elements
Statement of thesis.
 

Body--4-5 pages
Elaboration on four examples to support thesis

Conclusion--1 page
3 paragraphs that recount your ideas. Wrap it all up.