Analyze the importance of the themes of family and education in the book

Analyze the importance of the themes of family and education in the book

EWRT 1A: Essay #4

Critical Textual Analysis: Timed and Unrevised

Dr. Roseanne Giannini Quinn

Assignment:

Please respond to one of the following prompts in essay form.  Remember, you do need to quote from the text throughout your essay.  The format is like when you are writing an in-class essay.  (You have already had experience doing this for your midterm.)  It is timed and unrevised.

Directions:

You have two hours to complete the essay; you can do it all in one sitting, or you can divide up the time.  While you write, you may use one sheet of notes, which can include an outline, and the book. You are entitled to use one page of notes and the text(s).

Length: The page length is 3-4 pages, typed and double spaced, with one-inch margins.  If you are using a version of the text that does not have page numbers, then you can cite this way: (Canales np).

Focus:

I have highlighted the core of each questions to make it easier for you to focus on while you work.  Save the final part of the question to respond to as the focus of  your conclusion (just like you did for the midterm).

Throughout TheTequila Worm, by Viola Canales, the main character of Sofia is shown through a series of themes during her formative years. In your essay, analyze the importance of the themes of family and education in the book as well as one additional theme of your own choosing. How do these themes represent the author’s young adult heroine in her quest for an independent, emerging adulthood? Finally, in your opinion, what do you think Viola Canales is trying to say about real life through the fictionalized rendering of Sofia and her journey?

Write an essay where you compare and contrast the father-daughter relationship in Viola Canales’s young adult novel, The Tequila Worm, with the relationship that you had have with your own father (or father figure). How is your relationship similar and/or different to theirs? Does their relationship change over time, or stay the same? What about the overall quality of your relationship? Ultimately, what do you think Canales is showing us about what is important to value in father-daughter (or father-son) bonds?

The book entitled The Tequila Worm, by Violet Canales, is written with adolescent readers in mind. In your essay, please write about what makes this novel an important one for the genre of young adult fiction. In terms of characterization and theme, in any way you choose, please discuss what important messages are conveyed to young adults, in particular, throughout this book. Overall, in relation what you discuss, how do you view Canales’s text as being an empowering — especially for girls?