Directions: Read The Wedding by Dorothy West and make marginal notes or annotations within the text.  Once you have finished reading and annotating The Wedding, choose 2 of the 6 essay questions and write 2 well-developed short essays.  This assignment will be your first grade for the first quarter so be sure that your responses are clear, thorough, and thoughtful. 

This assignment is due in class on Friday, September 11th.

 

 

Requirements

  

Length: 2-3 pages per essay (double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 font)

 

Format: MLA (Modern Language Association)

 

  Visit  http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/  for proper instructions on how to use MLA format.

 

Focuses: Respond to the writing prompt clearly and concisely – answer the question(s). 

 

Use evidence (quotes and concrete examples) from the text to prove your point.

           

 

 

Essay Questions

 

1. Shelby as a young child gets lost on the Vineyard.  Through this experience she learns she is "colored."  Just before her wedding, she is confronted with the issue of "passing" and her lack of attention to colored men.  How does she react to these experiences?  At what point does she become clear about her intentions to Meade, and why?

 

2. The children--Barby, Tina, and Muffin--voice their young views on motherhood.  What effects might their early experiences have on them as young women and adults?  How do their small voices contribute to the complicated setting of the Oval?

 

3. Who is Lute?  As a father?  As a husband?  As a womanizer?  What does he want? What does he represent within the novel?  How does he embody Shelby's worst fears?

 

4. A wedding does not actually occur in the novel for Meade and Shelby, but other marriages do.  What is the basis for the selection of a spouse according to the novel?  What are the expectations?  How might these factors and expectations relate and/or compare to your selection of a spouse?

 

5. The Wedding serves as a backdrop for the looming issues of race, interracial relationships, complexion, class, and an inherent sense of power and powerlessness.  Discuss these issues within the context of the novel and how they impact its main characters.  What points does the author make?

 

6. The novel's narrative and dialogue move the story along with a wealth of descriptive details setting the atmosphere for memorable scenes.  Which details do you recall, and how do they serve their scenes?  (You may want to focus on 2 or 3 specific scenes and discuss their details).

 

 

*** If you have any questions about this assignment or about the course, please feel free to email me at baulier.m@gmail.com.  I am also happy to proof-read and make suggestions in regards to your writing via email. ***