At The Auction Of The Ruby

Rhetoric
Writing Assignment 4 first draft due Sunday, 19 October 2014, 8:00 pm final draft due Wednesday, 22 October 2014, 12:00 pm
DESCRIBING MEANING OF SHORT STORIES
Please write a persuasive essay that focuses on either or both of The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula LeGuin or At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers by Salman Rushdie (both stories are found on the course website under “readings for homework”. You are encouraged to create your own argument that pertains to the story you choose but, if you need assistance in finding a topic, you may take and defend a position on one of the following statements:
 The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas is primarily about the decision to withdraw oneself from modern society. The bulk of
 The many strange details in At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers are more than as another way that
Salman Rushdie convinces the reader of the dystopian world that the narrator inhabits. They are central to the theme of the story.
 The many allusions to The Wizard of Oz are not particularly necessary for the conveyance of the theme of At the Auction of the Ruby Slippers.
Recall that there are two important keys to writing a humanities essay that we have not yet encountered in this class. First, straightforward arguments are usually uninteresting. Second, close reading of the text and construction of an argument that is consistent with the entirety of the text is at the core of humanities writing. Ground interesting arguments in specific passages of the text that you quote for the reader. These two criterion will receive special focus when your essay is graded. They'll be part of the evaluation