English 21
Tompkins
Composition 3
Critical Reading
E 21
We have spent a number of classes discussing the forces that shape the actions and imaginations of the characters in Devil In A Blue Dress. For this assignment you will choose one of the prompts below, and respond to it. You are not being asked to summarize what happened in the book. Instead you are being asked to dig below the surface to consider why these characters act as they do. You must back up your thoughts with specific examples from the text. Your grade will how clearly and persuasively you explain your ideas.
1. Easy Rawlins tried to treat others with respect and he expected respect in return. In spite of that, he had to go to work with DeWitt Albright in order to save his house. Once he took Albright’s money, he was committed to finishing the job. Unfortunately for Easy, some of his friends were pieces of the puzzle he had to solve. Examine the forces that put the squeeze on Easy and his friends, and see if they could have done things another way. Find several places in the book where Easy’s values - his principles - were tested. Then examine what he did, and how he justified what he did. .
2. Easy and Mouse had a relationship that long and complicated. When they were young men, Mouse made Easy an accomplice in a double-murder. Even though Easy ran from Mouse after that, In Devil In A Blue Dress he reached out his dangerous friend in order to survive. Examine and write about why Easy felt he had to call on Mouse for help, and what Mouse did when he showed up in Los Angeles. Explain whether or not Easy was justified in calling on Mouse, and whether or not Easy was more like Mouse that he wanted to admit.
Due Dates
April 30: Discuss prompt, freewrite
May 5: Outline
May 7: Begin rough draft
May 12: Rough draft due
May 14: Final draft due
