Question 1 (100 points)
 
Write a carefully focused, well-organized, and well-developed essay of about 750 words on the following topic. Your response will give equal attention to Kevin Major’s novel Gaffer and two short stories from our syllabus.
Remember to plan your essay carefully. Introduce your topic and include a clear thesis statement. Develop and support your argument in 4-6 discussion paragraphs (main points), which make reference to the fiction. Offer an effective conclusion. Take care to avoid simply describing or retelling the story. Instead, offer analysis in support of your  thesis. Do not duplicate comments you have made in your term paper (if you wrote about short fiction). Instead, display your careful reading of and thinking about the fiction.   
ESSAY TOPIC:
Reading fiction allows us to enter cultural worlds different from our own. Globe and Mail  columnist Rick Salutin claims “the purpose of a book is to enter into the experience of others, to be affected and altered by it. If it teaches anything, it’s how to think about the world, not what to think about it.” Discuss with reference to Gaffer and two short stories we have studied this semester. What have you learned?