Choose ONE and only one of the following questions. Answer it in a complete and thoughtful essay. Your essay should be a well-developed, clear, logical and complete idea developed from a definite thesis statement. Use the text in all instances to support your answer, but do not merely summarize plot. Refer to specifics in the text. Your paper should be 5-7 pages in length; it should be no shorter than 5 full pages.

Essays must be either typed on a typewriter or printed from a computer. This paper is due on Wednesday, October 8. Papers handed in late will receive a one grade deduction for each day/class late. I will be happy to look at drafts. In fact, I encourage you to come in with a draft and/or send e-mail with questions.

You need not use secondary sources for this paper; however, if you do, make sure that you have properly documented and cited any such information. You should cite the primary text (Proulx’s novel) in your paper in support of claims made. Beware of using the Internet for sources unless you have thoroughly investigated the claims, the author, and the intent of such materials.

You must, by noon of the day the paper is due, also upload a copy of your paper to turnitin.com following the process outlined in class. You must hand in a hard copy in class AND upload an electronic copy to complete the assignment.

Read the questions carefully. Support all answers with examples from the text, but do not merely summarize plot analyze!

1) Both Smoke Signals and Annie Proulx’s The Shipping News deal with issues related to family. Write an essay in which you compare or contrast Quoyle (in The Shipping News) with either Victor Joseph or Thomas Builds-the-Fire (in Smoke Signals). In what ways are both dealing with familial issues, and how do both resolve those issues?

2) Local Hero and Proulx’s The Shipping News both deal with the concept of home. Both pieces treat both the importance of home and defining what we mean by "home." Discuss the topic of "home" in both the film and the novel. What do Mac (in Local Hero) and Quoyle discover about their ideas of "home" as the film and novel progress? You might contrast their ideas about "home" and security at the beginning of the pieces with those ideas at the ends.