“What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie

Assignment Overview: Write a well-organized, effectively developed, 3-5-page analysis of one of “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” by Sherman Alexie. The paper should critically analyze the way the text engages a significant social issue or how the story addresses issues or problems of social responsibility. You should anchor the paper’s argument with a clearly articulated thesis statement and use careful analysis of textual evidence (from the short story) to support your claim (thesis). As you develop your essay, you should think about how the social issue, or matter of social responsibility you write about, appears in your world. In other words, is the issue from the story one that might be observed in your own local community, your state, your nation, or in the larger world? Is the way the issue is portrayed in the story similar to what you observe in your world? Comment briefly on the similarities and/or differences. Responsible Integration of Sources: Students must properly integrate material from two secondary sources into their analysis in a way that gives credit to the authors whose ideas and language they are incorporating. This is not a research paper or a summary of the work of literature, but a paper in which you draw on secondary sources to communicate an interpretive argument about your chosen text through the lens of social issues or responsibility. Since this essay includes the integration of outside sources; it, therefore, requires you to demonstrate personal responsibility as you use the words and ideas of other writers in an accurate and ethical manner.