Critical Essay on ‘Sputnik Sweetheart’
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to think critically about a complex piece of literature, applying concepts introduced throughout the course. Looking at Haruki Murakami’s ‘Sputnik Sweetheart’, you need to produce a short essay exploring one of the themes present in the text.
1. Choose one of the following themes:
The Relationship Between Love and Loneliness
The Conflict Between Love and (Sexual) Desire
The Challenges Facing the Artist in Conventional/Mainstream Society
The Effect of Trauma on Memory
2. Develop a thesis statement. Essentially, you need to state how Murakami sees your chosen theme and how he reveals this in the text. Think back to the article you read on ‘Howl’ and how the author stated his/her argument.
For example: Say my theme was ‘Ideas of Beauty’, I would identify what Murakami seems to be saying about beauty throughout the text, and how this is expressed. What is his overall argument? How does he reveal it?: ‘In ‘Sputnik Sweetheart’, Haruki Murakami suggests that there is an important distinction between conventional/objective beauty and that subjective beauty one sees in another when they are in love. He shows this distinction through examples A, B and C.’
3. Prove your thesis statement. Use concrete examples from the text (scenes/incidents that occur, stylistic elements) to illustrate how Murakami explores your chosen theme throughout the text.
Note: You do not need to go outside the novel (i.e. do additional research) to complete this assignment, but you may find it useful to do a bit of research to help you get a bit of a handle on the text. Look at some scholarly articles about Murakami. Please note, I DO NOT want to see regurgitated bits from Sparksnotes, Wikipedia etc. I will be able to recognize them.
Format: Your paper should be in essay format, which means: an introduction where you introduce your topic and explain exactly what you are going to talk about, a body where you prove your argument through a series of examples, a conclusion where you summarize what you have just talked about.
It should be about 4-6 written pages (double-spaced), and should include any works cited or references used (including the novel, itself).
Evaluation: You will be evaluated based on how well you have understood the text, the strength of your thesis statement and your ability to find concrete examples that are relevant to your chosen theme. Clarity will be important.
Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.
[order_calculator]