Essay Outlines and Theme

1. Alice Munro's Boys and Girls is a microsmic representation of the troubles associated with traditional gender roles.

               1.Avoidance of 'traditional' female roles
                       1. Father refferring to her as a 'hired man'
                       2. adventurous stories (shooting, horsebackriding, etc), singing
               2. Expectation forced upon the narrator by other characters
                       1. Mother wanting help in kitchen
                       2. Her treatment by her brother changes as they get older
               3. Eventual Accepance
                       1. "I didn't protest that, even in my heart. Maybe it was true."
                       2. Decorating room (with lace, a dressing table, etc.)



1. Chinua Achebe's Dead Men's Path is an ironic comment on the frustrating juxtaposition of the old and the new.
           
            1. Michael Obi's self-righteous tendencies
                      1.His wife's obsession with the modern
                      2. "...show these people how a school should be run."
           
            2. Exoteric views of the people.
                      1. "He was outspoken in his condemnation of the narrow views of these older and often less educated ones [headmasters]"
                      2. "What would the Government Education Officer think of this when... use the schoolroom for a pagan ritual during the inspection."
            
            3. Retaliation to Michael
                     1. Visit from the village priest
                     2. Death of a young woman in childbirth
                     3. Destruction of the schoolyard, and a scathing report from the inspector.