Please be sure to complete the assignment by the time given.

In order to complete the assignment you must download a pdf version of “There There by Tommy Orange”

My professor said,

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Essay #2 – Character Analysis of Tommy Orange’s There There

Many characters in Orange’s novel are interconnected through generations or cultures within the American Indian community. Each character in the novel is wildly different yet, as the novel progresses, Orange expertly weaves together their identities through the exploration and inexhaustive depts of indigenous culture. As such, many of the characters share a tension residing at the intersection of their own cultural identity as American Indians and their personal identities.

Essay prompt:

For this essay, choose one character in There There, and then examine how that character’s quest for cultural or personal identity evolves throughout the novel, and then write a thesis-driven essay that shows the extent to the character’s identity, either cultural or personal, was shaped in the story.

Things to get you started:

• • • Is the character dynamic (i.e., change throughout the novel) or static (i.e., stays the same)?
    • Is the character searching for personal identity or cultural identity?
      • If cultural identity, is the character rejecting their indigenous culture or accepting of it?
      • If personal identity, how does their indigenous culture complicate their personal identity?
    • What symbols exist for the character?
    • Is the character reliant on other characters or American Indian cultural symbols (e.g., headdress) or westernized American symbols (e.g., Facebook) for identity?
      • If so, how do these symbols contribute to their identity?
    • Does the character experience generational trauma (e.g. violent and cruel events such as genocide that lead to native communities turning to substance abuse or suicide)?
      • If so, how has this generational trauma affected the character’s identity?

Essay Guidelines:

• Minimum of five pages. (Any essay not meeting the five-page requirement will earn a zero).
• Must use textual evidence from the book.
• Must have a minimum of two outside sources.
• Must follow MLA formatting and guidelines. (Any essay not following MLA guidelines and does not have a properly formatted Works Cited list will receive a zero).
• Must be a Word document (doc, docx). No PDFs, TXTs, Pages, Google Drive, or OneDrive links accepted.
• No emailed assignments. No exceptions.
• Must upload by the due date.

Essay Due Dates: *note: this is a revised date than the one that is listed in the course schedule that was distributed during the first week of class.

• due Sunday, 10/25 by 11:59 PM.
• Final draft of essay #2