Peer Review: Interpreter of Maladies

- Write a letter to your classmate in complete sentences and paragraph form.
- Focus on higher level revisions, such as your classmate's thesis statement or the structure of their argument, rather than sentence level revisions like spelling and grammar.
- Write about what's already working and offer specific, constructive suggestions for revision.
- Your letter should be about 550 words.
Original Essay Requirements: (I think it will help you to write the peer review)
Assignment: Literary short stories often derive some of their richness from ambiguity, with authors leaving them open to multiple interpretations. In an essay, make an argument for a specific interpretation of Jhumpa Lahiri's short story, “Interpreter of Maladies.” Make sure to place your argument in the context of the wider “conversation” about the story. Remember to argue a single thesis in your essay, and to include supporting reasons and a meaningful ending.
Your essay should NOT be a series of answers, but considering the following questions may help you to get started.
1. What do you see as the main conflict of the story? If the conflict is between two (or more) characters, does Lahiri's text seem to take a side? If the story is driven by a character's inner conflicts, does the character eventually come to a satisfactory resolution?
2. Do cultural differences cause misunderstandings between the characters in the story “Interpreter of Maladies”? If so, why is this significant? If not, what is driving these misunderstandings?
3. What literary devices does Lahiri employ in order to create meaning? Does she employ any significant symbols in the story?
4. Do any of the characters undergo a significant change over the course of the story? If so, what is the significance of this change?
Your essay should be about 1,000-1,500 words in length and incorporate meaningful quotes from Lahiri’s text(s) AND cite at least one scholarly source. You must cite any words, facts, ideas, or details from the assigned text(s) or any other sources using in-text citations as well as a Works Cited page. Some students find the KnightCite Citation Service helpful in creating a Works Cited page. Please use MLA style formatting throughout.
MLA Citation Information for “Interpreter of Maladies":
Lahiri, Jhumpa. Interpreter of Maladies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 1999.