"I'm a Fool" (fiction & film): short writing assignment

Anderson's "I'm a Fool" and the Ron Cowan/Lamont Johnson film adaptation of it
Short Writing Assignment
to bring to class on Wednesday, 1 September

You will have noticed a number of differences between the film adaptation and the fiction inspiration for it. Let's use the occasion of writing (a special kind of struggle) to try to arrive at clarity in some depth about something that can initially be only partially clear. Doing this will put us on a better footing for small-group and whole-class discussion when we get together on Wednesday.

Working on the assumption that both works might be moving and insightful each in its own right,

try to formulate what you see as difference in the overall meaning and experience of each work

and to explain how this results from

several of the major differences in the basic explicit facts of the two pieces that struck you.

That way of putting the task sets the aim and then directs you to the exploring and setting forth the foundations for it.

Note that this time we are going in the "opposite direction" from the one you were invited to travel in the writing you did on Hemingway's "Soldier's Home," where you noted some single particular difference between the explicit facts of the two works, and then speculated on the variety of differences that this one introduced by way of implication.

(1) Settle on some overarching basic difference that struck you about the impression the two works left you with.

(2) Try to describe this overall difference in as specific a way as you can.

(3) Now try to put your finger on as many particular, concrete differences between the two works that strike you as having combined to make for the overall difference you experienced.

(4) Try to explain how at least two of these particular, specific, explicit factual differences between the two works contribute to the overall difference you've described. How do we get from the more particular differences you've described to this other, more comprehensive difference that they contribute to?

Here are some of the differences in overall that you might take as your starting point:

the characterization of the protagonist (the unnamed narrator of Anderson's story, the boy Andy in the film).
- In both works, the protagonist's epiphany is important. (At exactly what moment does this happen? Is there more than one? Does it strike you as having the same effect, in each work?) Both qualify as an initiation story. (Can you state how? What do you figure, in each case, is the capacity of the protagonist to grow in insight, on the basis of his experience?) Are there important differences, in the end, in the "bundle of traits" that (as you sort your experiences of the two stories out) go to make up the protagonist?
the characterization of Burt
- Burt will probably strike you as a static rather than a dynamic character in both works. (Why, by the way, is this to-the-point, in each case? How is it not a criticism of Burt's personality?) But does he strike you as "rounder" (in characterization) in the one work than the other? What are his key traits of character, and how are these important to the overall feel of the work as a whole?
our degree of confidence that Lucy Weston has indeed fallen for the protagonist
- Here it might be helpful to review the issues that arise when we are confronted with participant narrators.
- Do you see any differences that this difference hooks up with in turn?

Shoot for at least a couple of healthy paragraphs. (But don't be upset if you're inspired to go on longer!)

Try to be as specific and concrete as possible in your reference to particular details of the two works. And explain your inferences about their implications. (Take a stab, too, at exploring the possible further implications of the implications that come easiest to mind.) Expect to spend at least a half an hour on brainstorming, organizing, and reformulating.

Don't beat yourself to death or tie yourself in knots over this, but try to arrive at an insight that you didn't have when you sat down to write. Do the best you can, but let's all be aware that perfection isn't possible -- especially in a half-an-hour on such a complicated bundle of issues.

Bring your final draft with you to class. It should be typed or printed out.

Expect to show it to 2 or 3 other students in your section, as the basis for small-group discussions that will then be the basis for whole-class discussion at the end of the hour.