THE PROMPT
Using assigned class materials, identify “The Ohio Way,” explaining how it was a guide to good Ohio citizenship. Then, picking ONE character from The Bluest Eye, compare or contrast the Ohio Way with Morrison’s idea of good citizenship. According to Morrison, what are the costs of striving for or rejecting good citizenship as defined by the Ohio Way?
TIPS
Identify “The Ohio Way.” To identify means to answer several basic questions: “Who; What; Where; When; How; and Why significant.” YOUR GOAL: use at least one example from required sources (lecture videos and/or Builders of Ohio) and explain how the Ohio way defined good citizenship in Ohio.
Pick ONE character from the novel (one who strives to follow the Ohio Way or one who rejects it). Explain the character’s specific behaviors and attitudes. YOUR GOAL: tell me how the character you chose either accepted or rejected the “Ohio Way.”
Explore the complexities of the situation. The lectures often presented “The Ohio Way” from the point of view of middle-class, native-born Anglo Ohioans (“whites”). The novel shows you that same system from the point of view of African Americans. How does good citizenship — “The Ohio Way” — change once you change perspectives? YOUR GOAL:Tell me how Morrison uses Lorain, Ohio, her hometown, to explore the cost of striving for and/or rejecting a concept of “citizenship” that preserves historically and socially constructed racial, cultural, and economic hierarchies.
Use Carmen Chats to help yourself. I’ll be posting about the novel over the next several weeks. Read those posts, yes, but ask questions in Chat as well. YOUR GOAL: Avoid flying solo on this assignment. Use Chats to help yourself and help others.
GRADING
Check out the attached rubric for a guide to the grading. Overall you will be evaluated according to how well you accomplish three tasks:
Your first task is to demonstrate that you read Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and analyzed it, using information from relevant course materials – not another book, not another student’s paper, not a summary for sale on the Internet, not an AI tool. This part is the most basic part of the assignment. Relevant class materials include The Bluest Eye, video lectures, Builders of Ohio, or any other relevant material posted on Carmen, including Chats. Demonstrating that you read The Bluest Eye does not mean every other sentence of your paper is a direct quote or paraphrase of the book. You should instead engage the people, their attitudes, their behaviors, their ideas as Morrison presents throughout the book.
Your second task is to identify the concept of the Ohio Way. To identify means something very specific: answering several basic questions, including Who, What, When, Where, How, and Why significant. Addressing these questions in the essay accomplishes two things. First, you demonstrate your familiarity with and understanding of class materials. Second, you provide a context for thinking about the novel. There are countless ways to analyze any novel. You can’t discuss everything and everyone in the book. “The Ohio Way” provides one context, one perspective for thinking about the novel. In our case, that perspective is the “Ohio Way,” a cultural, political, and social system, a set of rules that outlines good citizenship. The Ohio Way allows community leaders to reward or punish people for following or failing those rules. You should, therefore, ask the questions listed above — Who, What, Where, When, How and, Why — to explain how the Ohio Way helps community leaders retain power. For example, WHO initiated, advocated for, applied, strengthened the Ohio Way? Was it a person? A group of people? An event? HOW and WHEN and WHERE did the person or this organization or this movement or this event reveal the Ohio Way? WHAT does it mean to advocate for (or revealed, etc) the Ohio Way? WHAT beliefs constitute the Ohio Way? WHY is this particular example that you have chosen significant?
Your third task is applying the Ohio Way concept to the attitudes and behaviors of characters in The Bluest Eye. Explain how you see a particular character reflected in the Ohio Way. For example, does Character X fit the model of “The Ohio Way?” How/Why?/Why not? Does Morrison, through that character and the events of the story, tell us what she might think of the Ohio Way? A good thing? A bad thing? How does the character you chose reveal Morrison’s evaluation of the Ohio Way?
FORMAT
The OSU Writing Center has useful guidelines on style and grammar, examples of citation methods, and tips for avoiding plagiarism. See in particular Paper Content and Organization Links to an external site. and Writing Mechanics. See also the syllabus under “Academic Misconduct.”
Please double space. Use a font size and style that won’t tax the reader’s eyes grade (12 and Times New Roman, for example). Observe regular margins (one inch all around, for example).
Avoid excessive direct quoting. Strive to summarize in your own words. Block quotes (quotes that last a few lines or more) or numerous smaller quotes signal to the reader that you are simply cutting and pasting. Proving that you read the book does not mean quoting from the book every other sentence. (See also Task #1 above). More often than not, your citations should point us to Morrison’s ideas that informed your analysis rather than specific sentences cut and pasted onto the page.
Pick one citation style and stick with it. So whatever citation style you chose, you just have two books to cite (Morrison’s The Bluest Eye and Van Tine and Pierce, Builders of Ohio) as well as assigned materials on Carmen Pages. You can find examples of citation formats through the library.
Write 4-5 pages.
CONTENT WARNING
Some content in this book may elicit a traumatic response in some students due to descriiptions of and/or scenesdepicting acts of violence, acts of war, or sexual violence and its aftermath. If needed, please take care of yourselfwhile reading this material. Take a break, talk with a friend, or contact a confidential Sexual Violence Advocate (614-267-7020), or Counseling and Consultation Services at 614-292-5766. Contact me if needed. Expectations are thatwe all will be respectful of our classmates while consuming this media and that we will create a safe space for eachother. Failure to show respect to each other may result in dismissal from the class.
