GRSJ 224C Final Essay Prompt Feb. 29: In-class outline (10%) Apr. 11: Final essay (25%) Final essay prompt: Answer the following question in an essay of approximately 2500 words: Larissa Lai's long poem Iron Goddess of Mercy illustrates the idea that subjectivity is interdependent and formed in relation to others, i.e. that subjectivity is a social process, as opposed to a fixed and defined identity. How and why does the poem work to illustrate this notion of subjectivity? To answer this question, your essay could discuss one or several of the topics the text takes up, e.g. Asian Canadian identity and migration, kinship and family history, gender and sexuality, militarism and anti-war politics, neoliberalism, colonialism, globalization, literary and academic life, mythological and spiritual figures, and any others not mentioned here. Essay requirements: 1. Thesis: Your essay should include a clearly defined 1-2 sentence thesis statement (statement of your argument) that appears at the beginning of your paper. This thesis statement is your overall answer to the essay question; the rest of the essay will support and develop this argument. 2. Literary examples: Your essay should focus primarily on close readings of three poems of your choice from Iron Goddess of Mercy. During the in-class outline assignment, you will have an opportunity to annotate your three poems and develop your working thesis statement on the basis of your close readings. 3. Critical examples: While the essay will focus primarily on close reading, you should also support your argument by referring briefly to two critical texts from the following list: . Cheryl Suzack, "Transitional Justice, Termination Policies, and the Politics of Literary Affect in Chrystos' Not Vanishing" · Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality, Volume One ( · Judith Butler, Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence, chapter two ("Violence, Mourning, Politics") · Simon Torracinta, "Make Kin, Not Borders" · Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, chapter one ("Concerning Violence") · "A Rush of Language" interview with Larissa Lai in Rungh magazine · Dina Al-Kassim, On Pain of Speech: Fantasies of the First Order and the Literary Rant, introduction . M.E. O'Brien, "The Family Problem Now" . Hortense Spillers, "All the Things You Could Be by Now if Sigmund Freud's Wife Was Your Mother: Psychoanalysis and Race" You are not required to refer to sources beyond what we read together in the course, but if you do use any outside materials (interviews with the author, scholarly work on Lai, optional readings I have posted on Canvas, etc.) these should be properly cited. 4. Format: The essay should be 2500 words and submitted in MLA format with a Works Cited list and in-text citations.