Tropic of Orange Novel by Karen Tei Yamashita

Background: Reading fiction allows readers to see and explore important issues in vivid and unexpected ways. The novel Tropic of Orange by Karen Tei Yamashita engages with the issue of borders through magic realism and a diverse cast of characters in LA and Mexico. Your task for this essay is to zoom in on and analyze what the text reveals or argues about an aspect of borders.
Assignment: Develop an argument in which you interpret the meaning of borders in the novel. To do this, respond to one of the options below:
Option 1: Trace the oranges–the one holding the Tropic of Cancer line and the ones injected with cocaine. What do they reveal about globalization and/or free trade?

Writing Project 2: Analyzing Tropic of Orange

Background: Reading fiction allows readers to see and explore important issues in vivid and unexpected ways. The novel Tropic of Orange by Karen Tei Yamashita engages with the issue of borders through magic realism and a diverse cast of characters in LA and Mexico. Your task for this essay is to zoom in on and analyze what the text reveals or argues about an aspect of borders.

Assignment: Develop an argument in which you interpret the meaning of borders in the novel. To do this, respond to one of the options below:

Option 1: Trace the oranges–the one holding the Tropic of Cancer line and the ones injected with cocaine. What do they reveal about globalization and/or free trade?

Tropic of Orange Novel by Karen Tei Yamashita

Option 2: Study one character, and examine what she/he reveals about borders in the novel. Here are some examples of what each character might represent–but this is open to interpretation, so feel free to use your own interpretation:
●     Buzzworm – connectivity; he’s “on the ground”–in the middle of the action; he wants to build community
●     Emi – technology, future, critique of “multiculturalism”
●     Arcangel – immigration, history, personifies Latin America
●     Rafaela – indigenous peoples, magic, spirituality
●     Gabriel – messenger, nostalgia
●     Manzanar – synchronization (he brings disparate elements together and makes them work together)
●     Bobby – multiplicity, immigration, the American Dream

Option 3: Answer the following question: How does the novel represent, critique, challenge, redefine, or reinforce borders in some way? To answer this, you’ll have to zoom in significantly on an area of the novel that interests you. Identify a character, theme, plot point, or other element of the novel that interests you, and turn it into a more specific question about borders.

Tropic of Orange Novel by Karen Tei Yamashita

Consider these examples:
●     How does Yamashita use magic realism to challenge definitions of geographical borders?
●     How does the character Buzzworm attempt to break down physical and cultural borders in Los Angeles?
●     How does the inclusion of Mayan mythological elements challenge borders between cultures?
●     What does Gabriel and Emi’s relationship reveal about the flexibility of time in the novel?
●     ETC – You are welcome to use any of these questions, but are encouraged to develop a question of your own, based on your observations of the novel.

Whichever option you choose, start by closely observing your topic throughout the novel–create a list of your observations. Then, begin drawing inferences based on your observations. Turn these into an interpretation, and use quotes/paraphrases from your observations to support that interpretation.

Tropic of Orange Novel by Karen Tei Yamashita

A successful essay will do all of the following:
●     It will provide a thoughtful, well-supported interpretation of the novel in an essay of 1,500 words or more.
●     Begin with an engaging opener and provide relevant background in the introduction–including introducing the elements of the novel necessary to set up your argument.
●     Include a clear and specific thesis statement that fully introduces your interpretation of the novel, including a clear claim and an introduction to your life of reasoning.
●     Develop that thesis in unified, developed, coherent body paragraphs with strong topic sentences that clearly introduce main ideas and clearly connect with the thesis.
●     Include well-chosen evidence from the novel to illustrate your main ideas in every body paragraph.
●     Cite quotes/paraphrases according to MLA guidelines for in-text citation.
●     Conclude the essay by drawing the argument to a logical end and ending memorably.
●     Edit to produce sentences that are clear, complex, and varied, and that adhere to conventions of standard written English.
●     Point-of-view: Use only third person point-of-view for this essay.
●     Employ MLA formatting, include a Works Cited page.