In a Stranger’s Backyard and Confession, the final chapters in Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor Was Divine (2002), involve scenes in which characters return to significant places after periods of dispossession. Such returns highlight changes in character and place.

Topic: In a Stranger’s Backyard and Confession, the final chapters in Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor Was Divine (2002), involve scenes in which characters return to significant places after periods of dispossession. Such returns highlight changes in character and place.

Write a 1000-word essay in which you analyze the significance of return after dispossession. Your understanding of the significance of return should be demonstrated through analysis of relevant passages drawn from relevant scenes€”where those passages or scenes might demonstrate a before/after quality. The audience for this assignment consists of your peers and me, readers familiar with the novel.

Outcomes: Successful responses to this assignment require:

€¢ Development of an argumentative thesis;

€¢ Selection of evidence from the text relevant to the writer’s argument;

€¢ Discussion of the evidence selected from the text.

Evaluation: Essays will be evaluated on the extent to which they meet the expectations set out in the assignment and detailed in the Rubric for Essays.

Requirements: Please do not use any secondary sources related to either novel. Insert a footnote at the first mention of the text to provide bibliographic information regarding the edition you are citing. Use parenthetical citation to indicate page numbers of quotations. Useful advice on integrating quotations can be found at online sites such as Purdue University’s OWL and in handbooks such as Barnet and Cain’s A Short Guide to Writing