One. Based on the Stories of John Cheever
Write a comparative analysis of two paired stories focused on one of these themes: The grandiosity of self resulting in solipsism, warped time, and consummation in “The Swimmer” and “Torch Song”; marital symbiosis and its contradictions in “The Country Husband” and “Just Tell Me Who It Was”; egotism, Puritanism (despair disguised as self-righteous superiority), and choosing death over life in “Goodbye, My Brother” and “The Enormous Radio.”
Your 4-page literary analysis should show an ability to make thematic comparisons, find irony, paradox, symbolism, analogy, and imagery in their function to render the stories’ important themes.
In your final page, your fifth page, you will write a salient, concrete profile of someone you know who embodies the characteristics you just described in your literary comparison.
You will need a Works Cited page that cites Cheever, my blog, any interviews you might do with your subjects, and any other source material. Remember: Give your essay a catchy, salient, memorable title.
Two. Open-Ended Option for John Cheever Stories:
Using no fewer than two stories, compare the pathology or dysfunction of at least two characters from Cheever's stories. Same research methods apply.
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