The Writing Process
Before you start work on this essay, re-read the prompt carefully. Note down 1) what question(s) about Waiting for the Barbarians you want to ask and answer in your close reading, 2) which terms in the prompt you want to understand better or define, and 3) what kind of evidence you will need to support your close reading.
Your assignment is to: “select a passage from Waiting for the Barbarians that contains an extended, complex metaphor. Then argue how the metaphor helps characterize one aspect of empire represented in Coetzee’s novel.”
What questions emerge for you when reading this assignment? It can be difficult to articulate these, especially when your prompt doesn’t pose a question directly. But, this articulation is important because it helps you turn the prompt to your own purpose. For example, this prompt focuses on metaphor in Waiting for the Barbarians. And not just any metaphor, but an “extended, complex metaphor.” Perhaps your first question is “What is a metaphor?” or “What makes a metaphor extended and complex?” Or you may have other questions about kinds of metaphors: their quality, scope, or form of reference.
You may have questions about the “aspects of empire represented in Coetzee’s novel.” What are some of these aspects? One general aspect, for example, is empire’s reliance on hierarchical power structures. What are some specific manifestations of hierarchy in the novel? Hierarchy structures the relation between the old empire (represented by the narrator) and the new (represented by Joll); the bureaucracy; and the relation of power between the narrator and the girl. How do these examples relate to one another?
If you are unsure where to begin, remember that you must choose a passage to analyze! Instead of generalizing about the entire novel, you will only close-read a small portion of text (some of the best papers come from the shortest passages). Choose a passage and re-read it several times. The first few readings will help you focus on an “extended, complex metaphor” or an “aspect of empire” that interests you. Each subsequent reading will help you identify keywords that refer to your metaphor and the ways that the keywords interconnect.
As you read, ask yourself: What does the evidence tell you? What metaphors do you detect? To what do the metaphors allude? Are there patterns in the allusions you discover? Can one word make multiple allusions? Does your evidence suggest patterns in the evidence that support a specific interpretation of empire? As you answer these questions using evidence from the text, you will begin to formulate claims about the metaphor in the passage, claims about how or why the metaphor is meaningful.
These claims help direct you to a working thesis. Your working thesis should: 1) identify the evidence you will present (e.g, “the metaphor of sunglasses”); 2) explain how the evidence characterizes an “aspect of empire” (e.g., “the glasses describe the hierarchical power-structure grounding empire”); and 3) assert why this explanation is important (e.g., “hierarchical power masks the fact that power doesn’t only come from above–but from every side. Because the agents of empire can only see one side, they become capable of horrific violence”).
All three elements (evidence, claim [how or why the evidence is meaningful], and “so what”) produce a working thesis, which, for this prompt, might look like this:
“The first major metaphor in Coetzee’s novel is the “two little discs of glass” worn by the Col. Joll. These sunglasses refer most generally to blindness and seeing. They function to mediate the power relations between the narrator, Joll, and the reader (here, “evidence” is presented. In this essay, the audience can expect to hear more about allusions to mediating and seeing). A casual reading of this passage may indicate that the glasses affirm the hierarchy structuring Joll’s and the narrator’s place in empire. This interpretation, while true, misses many contours of this metaphor: allusions to vision, clarity, translation, distortion, and power (here, the claim is made). Rather than defining hierarchy as clarifying relations of power, these allusions show the opposite. Agents of empire assert power; but they are blind to how power works upon them and through them” (here, the “so what” is articulated).
Keep in mind that this is a “working thesis”–that it will become more specific and complex as you write. Indeed, it might be revised entirely! But it serves as a way to start. Now, you can check your notes on the evidence you collected and decide which evidence is most persuasive.
Once you have mapped your thoughts, it is time to begin writing. The writing process will narrow your focus and make your working-thesis more specific. When your initial draft is complete, return to your working-thesis and revise it based upon what your interpretation has taught you.
Student Learning Goals
- Make specific, clear, arguable claims
- Produce cohesive paragraphs
- Present well-selected evidence that is well-contextualized and explained
- Develop strong warrants
- Understand and perform the assumptions and methods of literary analysis
- Practice active revision, whereby the final submitted drafts exhibit the generation of ideas, careful reflection and working through of numerous revisions, editing and proof-reading, and reflection on the process of writing itself.