Assignments
Essay #1
Choose a theme from the novel that you feel best illustrates the novel's overall argument.
Essay #2
What is the significance of Julius's walks? What impact do his walks have on the characters of the novel?
Essay #3
The American stranger could also “embody” America. Though his bearing is never explained, the American is described in ways that suggest almost constant vigilance. He is formal, taciturn, suspicious, and jumpy. Is the novel suggesting that American nostalgia (Erica) been traded for hyper vigilance (the American)? Although Hamid seems to have written a deliberately ambiguous ending, do we have any consensus on how to read the events that conclude the novel? Does the American allow himself to be lulled into a false sense of security? Is Changez untrustworthy? How do we reconcile Changez’s two voices? If the American can, in fact, be read as a representative of America, how could his role be allegorically interpreted?
Essay #4
In what ways does The Sirens of Baghdad offer a more complex and nuanced understanding of the terrorist violence in Iraq than news reports have offered? What does the novel reveal about the emotional, psychological, and cultural motivations for acts of terror?
Final Essay
The final paper is a chance for students to explore, interpret, and decide for themselves how literature has been changed by 9/11, if at all. Using the novels and other reading materials, construct an essay that argues how literature can be defined since 9/11. What categorizes a novel as post 9/11, and why?