ENG 121: Staff

Read carefully the attached passages from Jorge Luis Borges's "The Garden of Forking Paths" (pp. 2117-2118) and Naguib Mahfouz's "Zaabalawi" (p. 2215) and then write a substantial, well-developed essay (4-6 pages, i.e. 1000-2000 words) comparing/contrasting, analyzing, and addressing their significance and implications.

While you are free to determine the specific focus of your essay, you may want to consider the following questions: Are there any common images, situations, or symbols employed in the representation of the visions of Yu Tsun and Mahfouz's narrator? What are the literal and possible symbolic meanings of the protagonists's overall visions and of the specific details used by the authors in their representation? What are the roles and significance of figures such as Richard Madden, Stephen Albert, Wanas al-Damanhouri, and Zaabalawi? What do you make of the use of images of gardens, water, trees, music, stars, the sky, etc.? Is the common imagery related to common underlying ideas, values, or purposes in the stories? What do the protagonists in the stories learn from their respective visions? What messages do the authors seem to be attempting to communicate to their readers? What do you make of the fact that the authors of these stories belong to quite different cultures (Argentinian, Egyptian)? What is the relation of the authors to the cultures within which they wrote? Are there values and ideas implicit in literary works which may transcend cultural differences? Are there other works which you read this semester which may offer similar insights?

Formulate a clear thesis; offer full explanations; draw the relevant conclusions/implications of your arguments; make sure to support all your claims with textual evidence in the form of precise and well-explained observations of the details, situations, characters, and language in the text(s) discussed. Contextualize, historicize, and make comparisons to other works whenever relevant. Remember that in whatever you choose to say, your essay must demonstrate accuracy and skill in reading and writing, logical thinking, substantial analytical accomplishment, and awareness of different levels of meaning and the complexities of signification in literary texts.