For this, your final
reaction paper, you have two options. You can select the "serious"
prompt that you know your teacher felt she should probably provide--the one
that connects the novel Bright Lights, Big City to the course essential questions, or
the Big Ideas on language and the post-post modern experience. That one's listed
below marked with a number 1...which causes you to wonder if she doesn't
secretly place more value on that particular option, since you dimly recall a
discussion at some point about binary opposition and subtext, or maybe that was
all just a stress dream you had when you realized how many books you'd have to
read in third quarter.
At any rate, that
quarter's a distant memory, and the tantalizing thought of reading whatever you
want now (or maybe never reading again, at least until college) is teasing at
the corners of your brain, so you're hoping this assignment goes fast.
But wait, there's a second
option: one you find intriguing, despite the subjective (and possibly doomed)
nature of sharing one's attempts at fiction with the world. There's something
about this challenge that draws you in. Perhaps its something like nostalgia,
even though the course isn't over yet. Perhaps it's hubris. Maybe you just need
some caffeine.
Whatever you decide,
others will make judgements based on your decision. That's inevitable. That's
life. (Is anyone else struggling with this decision, or are they just jumping
in and getting it over with?)
At any rate, you have a
choice before you.
Option 1: Consider the way McInerney tells this story,
rather than the actual plot--how might this book be considered a product of its
time? Why might it have caused a sensation upon its publication in 1984? You
will want to be sure to provide some specific examples in your post.
Or, there's always Option
2: You could write some fiction in a way that specifically mirrors this work in
terms of not only point of view, but also style (you know: style--that elusive
yet vitally important quality of writing that's so difficult to pin down). Of
course you'll need to keep your fiction piece school appropriate. That's just
the way it goes.
But even given those
parameters, you could come up with something rather brilliant. Don't you think?
