The assignment for this week is to write an analysis essay on a topic of your ch

The assignment for this week is to write an analysis essay on a topic of your choosing related to Signs Preceding the End of the World.
Helpfull link:
https://latinamericanliteraturetoday.org/2017/04/myth-literature-and-border-signs-preceding-end-world-yuri-herrera-marcelo-rioseco/
An analysis essay is one in which you identify a question you would like to answer, provide that answer along with evidence from the text and then provide analysis (i.e. explain) how the evidence from the text supports your answer.
This essay is an opportunity for you to identify a thread from our group discussion that interests you or that you would like to explore further. This essay should take one of those topics and develop it into a fully-fleshed out argument. To get started, look over your reading and lecture notes as well as our online discussion from this week. What questions did you want to discuss further? What stumped you that you’d like to explore or figure out? What idea have we discussed that you feel like you can add to or expound upon?
Below are some ideas to get you started. Each idea stems from the discussions we have had on discussion board, so you should have materials prepared, making it relatively easy to launch an essay about one of these topics. You do not have to select one of these topics but you can if you’d like to. Don’t hesitate to email me if you need help.
Is Signs Preceding the End of the World a book about globalization? How so? What does the book say about the processes of globalization and their effect on people?
Where does Signs Preceding the End of the World fit in the genre of “narconovelas”? How does Herrera use tropes from this genre to advance his goal in telling Makina’s story?
How does Herrera use the device of deus ex machina in the novel? Why does he use it throughout?
Does Herrera use myth in the novel? Which myths does he use and how does he call them into the reader’s mind?
You are welcome to re-use material that you have already submitted online, but note that this strategy works best when writers are willing to revise and further develop their previously submitted work. If you plan to re-use a discussion board post or conversation, note that you must heavily revise the language for your essay – posts taken directly from Canvas discussions without revision or formalization will result in the loss of points – and you should be careful to avoid plagiarism the text or even ideas of your classmates from the online discussion.
In general, it’s best to take a thought or thread from Canvas or class and take it much further.
This essay should strive to answer a question and use our primary text heavily in order to provide the answer. I expect that you will quote from the text. You should provide examples throughout your essay that illuminate your answer.
(The Discussion Questions) Only pick 1
Question 1: Gender in Signs Preceding the End of the World:
Compare and contrast how gender roles are represented in Signs versus the representation in the typical narconovela genre that we looked at in the lecture. Makina, the protagonist of Signs, defines womanhood in a significantly different way than is typical in the narconovela genre. Describe Makina’s view on gender and men. Does the behavior of the men described in the book, that she encountered on her journey, give more credence to her beliefs? Select a scene in which gender dynamics are at play and describe how Herrera is playing with the typical representation of gender in the narconovela.
Question 2: The myth of Mictlán
Take a look at the article linked above (and here… (Links to an external site.)). Why has Herrera organized this novel using the allusion to Mictlán? What meaning is he trying to convey by referencing death and the underworld? How does the use of this myth connection the novel to some of the themes we’ve discussed related to globalization?
Question 3: The many forms of power in Signs Preceding the End of the World:
Signs contains many instances of characters who may seem powerless exerting influence or exercising their agency in unexpected ways or ways that subvert genre norms. Select a scene from the book in which Makina wields power or demonstrates her agency. Describe the dynamics of the scene. What is happening? How is the scene an example of Makina using power to achieve a goal? From where does she derive this power?
Compare Makina’s use of power to an example of power seeing in Zadie Smith’s short story, “Two Men Arrive in a Village.” How does the use of power help characterize Makina for the reader?
Question 4: Communication and Language
Signs contains many instances of characters who use communication and language to solve problems. Select a scene in which communication plays a major role in the events of the novel. How is communication/language portrayed by Herrera? How does he accomplish that portrayal? What larger meaning can you derive from the scene in connection to concepts related to globalization, culture and identity?