Essay Assignment
Be familiar with the book Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver. This is a short essay.
Choose one of the following topics for your in-class essay. Be sure to provide details from the text to support your thesis and clear and thorough commentary tying your details to the argument. When using quotes, include in-text citations, including page numbers. Provide 2 quotes
Throughout the novel Animal Dreams, the reader sees that Codi spends her life floating from one place/job to the next, never feeling she belongs anywhere or with anyone. As she reaches the end of her year in Grace, she finally finds direction and a place where she feels she belongs. Carefully consider the cause(s) and effect(s) of her feeling adrift in life. How/why does she change throughout the course of the novel?
In many ways, Codi seems to spend the entire novel both searching for belonging and happiness and afraid of committing to anyone/anything that might bring her a sense of home and happiness. Examine examples of her search for belonging and happiness and ways in which she sabotages her own chances of belonging and being happy. Finally, what does she think she will gain from going back to Carlo and what eventually leads to her deciding to settle in Grace?
