Paper 2: Discuss
one of the issues presented in the book The Yacoubian Building by
Alaa Al Aswany, e.g. How does the author portray Egyptian society in the 21st
century? Why do you think that the book was controversial in Egypt and the Arab
World? What is the role of sexual
desires and homosexuality in the novel? What are the roots of radical
Muslim movements as portrayed in the book? Other topics can be: gender
relations in the book; class differences; role of women in Egyptian society;
police brutality and corruption in Egyptian society, etc.
The paper
must be at least 1000 words (typed,
double-spaced) each, including in-text citations for all quotations, as well as
a “works cited” list including all Internet sites you have used at the end of
the paper, all in the proper MLA style. Please include a word count at the
bottom of your essay. You MUST write out and sign the honor code at the end of
your essays. You MUST submit a hard copy of your paper on the day it is due.
You must use at least 3 scholarly sources (books or
articles). Do not use any web resources that are not scholarly (no popular web
sources such as TV stations or daily news papers). The novel itself is a
primary source that you must list on your Works Cited page, but it is not a
scholarly source. Paper 2 is due on Thursday,
April 19.
