Speaking of Courage Writing Assignment
The following writing assignment corresponds with the “Speaking of Courage” section in
our novel:
For Friday, March 21st, submit three separate, but well-developed paragraphs responding
to each of three topics in this vignette:
 Setting
 Character
 Theme
For each of your paragraphs, pick a question/idea listed below that you would like to
focus on for that particular topic. For example, for my paragraph about setting, I could
respond to how the setting affects Norman Bowker.
1. Setting:
What do you know about Time and Place? (use the text)
How does the setting affect the character?
2. Character:
Who are the characters?
What do you find out about the characters directly from the text?
In what ways do the characters change from the beginning of the story to the end?
3. Theme
Look at the ideas/themes in the story.
Examples:
Haunted by memories
Thwarted dreams
Treatment of veterans
“If”
Misfit
Each paragraph should have a mini-thesis, or main idea (even if it only applies to one
paragraph) and each paragraph should include a quote –correctly cited- from the text.
You are only writing three separate paragraphs, not an entire essay, so really write them
well! Remember, you are writing only about “Speaking of Courage”.