Life is hard. Humans face injuries, illnesses, deaths, racism, wars, sexism, poverty, injustice, and dozens of other obstacles to happiness which are beyond their control and cannot be entirely overcome. In the fiction we've read, we see characters dealing with these obstacles in a variety of ways. Pick a character from a story (not a play) and examine the way(s) he or she deals with a specific obstacle. In a short (200-400 word) essay, discuss the character, the obstacle, and the pros and cons of the character's specific coping method.
Your essay should support its claims by using examples from the stories (as opposed to conventional wisdom). Here's an example of a claim that would be hard to support: "Flem Snopes deals with economic hardship by manipulating and exploiting his friends, relatives, and fellow citizens. This is a bad choice because friendships and personal relationships are important in life, and Flem's trickery is going to destroy these relationships and leave him unhappy." The reason this claim doesn't work is the story suggests the opposite: Flem's fellow citizens (as represented by the narrator) revere and admire him at the end of the story. Don't claim, then, that Flem is going to wind up lonely and miserable unless you support that claim by summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting specific parts of the story.
You have the option of writing this essay at home or in class.
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