Writing Assignment Based on Louise Erdrich’s Tracks

Remember, in this class you can choose to write on either book. The benefits of writing on Tracks are that you can do it early and, of course, it's a great book rich with material. I hope half of you do it now.

The goal of the paper is for you to creatively and critically explore some of the themes in the novel or the creative writing strategies used by Erdrich. Push your self with your analysis and creativity.

How long, Bolt? A minimum of five pages. Most importantly I want a genuine and probing effort, not a superficial treatment.

Title: Create an original title for the essays as well as stories. Titles can help shape the meaning of a piece.

Staple? Type?: Heck yea!

Due when? Next class.

Short story options:
1. Pauline goes through a transformation through which slowly, piece by piece, she rejects her identity, ultimately shedding it in favor of a new one, that of Sister Leopolda. She could be said to have internalized the teachings of missionaries, causing her to abandon the ways of the Chippewa and feel isolated from her community. In a three page story show someone in our contemporary society who transforms through a process of internalizing something oppressive in society.

2. Write a story that uses two contrasting voices to reveal two views on a character, such as Erdrich using the voices and perspectives of Nanapush and Pauline to explore Fleur. Remember Fleur’ symbolic meanings. Similarly, think about the symbolic meanings of the character your two narrators explore.

3. Write a story about a major character in Tracks after the novel ends. Draw on what you know about the character and their actions in the book.

Essay options:
1. Discuss how the characters in Tracks are impacted by the idea of Manifest Destiny. (You will need to define Manifest Destiny.) In what ways has Manifest Destiny effected their physical living conditions of the characters? How will their lives be further effected after the novel ends? Draw on specific details and occurrences within the book to demonstrate this. How do they resist Manifest Destiny? Will the characters in Tracks survive?

2. We never get Fleur’s point of view directly, but have to piece her together through Pauline’s and Nanpush’s very different perspectives. For you, in the end, who is Fleur? What does she symbolize? Why does Erdrich choose to make her the subject of the narrator’s stories?

3. Of all the main characters, Margaret seems to have lost the least (all twelve children still live and she finds partnership with Nanapush). At different points she has been described as a “prickly” old woman, both literally and figuratively. How is her personality fleshed out through the novel, and how do you account for her decision about the Kashpaw allotment? Don’t be too general here. Develop a slant and discuss specific instances in the book (including the latter half).

4. What do you feel is the meaning of the title? What is being “tracked” in the novel? Where do the tracks lead?