Write a literary essay on Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee

 
Write a literary essay on Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
Novel: Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee
Be aware that you will be writing about a novel, which in its broadest sense is any extended fictional narrative almost always in prose, in which the representation of character is often the focus. Good authors use the elements of fiction, such as plot, theme, setting etc. purposefully, with a very clear goal in mind. One of the paths to literary analysis is to discover what the author’s purpose is with each of his choices. Avoid the problem that many students have, which is to hold the erroneous assumption that  simply retelling what happened in detail is good enough (no, it is not). Plot summary is necessary, but not the intended goal in a literary essay.
Criteria:
In addition to being written at college level, your essay must meet the following criteria.

Include an introduction with a clear thesis statement, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Use at least three quotes from the book.

When citing your sources, use MLA style for literary essays. It is helpful to keep your handbook open to the MLA tab as you write.

Minimum 850 words (more complex topics might require more)

Language: This is a composition class — your writing and grammar count.

Use specific supporting details from the book and at least two from outside sources.Go to the Miami Dade Databases (not Google) for your sources.

The following are not acceptable sources:

Class Lecture Notes
Textbooks
Study Guides (SparkNotes, Cliff Notes, BookRags etc.)
Wikipedia/ Encyclopedias
Dictionaries
Popular Magazines (People, Glamour etc.)
Popular information websites such as about.com or Ask.com
Personal Blogs

Why not? Because for one, they are not original sources. Encyclopedias and textbooks are useful to provide an overview or introduction to a topic for complete beginners. These are meant to get you started on a subject. They are not research documents.Wikipedia:  Many instructors forbid reference to Wikipedia at all. Some professors do allow its use, and the use of encyclopedias in general, but don’t do it. It’s generally reliable for checking routine facts and extremely specialized topics, but Wikipedia, actually all encyclopedias suffer from the problem that they are not a primary sources. Wikipedia has the added problem that although it is working on correcting errors, it still has weak quality control. It is susceptible to deliberate sabotage, vandalism, even censorship.  So don’t use it if you’re not familiar enough with the subject matter to spot biases or errors, and don’t cite it in any academic paper at all.
Required Procedures:

Read Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee in its entirety before beginning your paper. Take notes as you read. Mark some interesting passages and save necessary source information (such as page numbers) for your in-text documentation and your Works Cited list.
Think about the topic and approach you chose located in the Topics and Approaches page. Do not simply repeat or summarize the story.

Write your well-constructed thesis, topic sentences, supporting details roughly before beginning.

Do some research. It’s important to know a bit about apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa before you begin the paper. Take notes and save necessary source information for your Works Cited list.

Use at least two outside sources from scholarly sites or journals.
Look at sample papers to refresh your memory concerning the format in Rules for Writers, 8th edition. 
Write a minimum 850-word (or more if necessary) for a good literary essay.
Use formal language and the third person, avoiding personal anecdotes and eliminating all references to yourself at all (I believe, in my opinion, etc).

Revise, edit, and proofread, proofread, proofread. It’s easy to make mistakes. Correct them before you submit your paper.You may also use any of the writing labs and centers in any MDC campus, where a tutor might help you. There are some sites that help you catch grammar errors, such as GrammarRater, but remember, they’re not human and don’t read for content, so they miss things (often).

Remember: While you assemble your sources, keep your handbook open (or your online source handy). There are too many details to remember everything.

This is the student now: I already have a topic and approach, a thesis statement and the works I have to cite. YOU MUST FOLLOW THEM AND USE THESE RESOURCES AS I ALREADY SUBMITTED THEM
 
I chose the topic: the function of setting to reinforce theme and characterization. 
The reason I did this is because I am Cuban and I am familiar with the Apartheid era in Africa. Many of my family’s friends passed away or came back with a disability from Angola’s war.  From 1975 to 2002 there was a bloody civil war in Angola. Apartheid troops occupied the entire southern region of the country in order to reverse the independence of people of that region. In that war, Cuba contributed with 50,000 soldiers, and helped Angola win in the decisive battle of Cuito Cuanavale against Apartheid forces. This victory over racist troops marked the beginning of the end of Apartheid. Because it triggered that Mandela negotiated with the Angolans and Namibians the independence of South Africa, and later with the ANC (Nelson Mandela’s party) his liberation and the end of the racist government.
I hope I can find more information about Apartheid but in South Africa, and illustrate in my essay how it influences the novel Disgrace.

Question: 
Should Apartheid be considered as the main setting in which the novel Disgrace takes place or should Cape Town be considered instead?
Thesis Statement: 
Cape Town is among the largest cities of South Africa, the second one to be more precise. This is the city where the novel Disgrace takes place. It is particularly different from other South African cities because almost half the population is Caucasian, which brought race conflicts during Apartheid era. Therefore, it is as important when establishing a relationship between the setting of such novel and its plot, to take into account that we are not just in the face of Apartheid, but in that of Cape Town’s racial segregation regime.

Works Cited
Chehabi, H. E. “South Africa and Iran in the Apartheid Era.” Journal of Southern African  Studies, vol. 42, no. 4, Aug. 2016, pp. 687–709. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/03057070.2016.1201330.
Coetzee, J.M. Disgrace. New York: Penguin, 1940. Google Book Search. Web 8 Oct. 2018
Geyer, H., and Faizel Mohammed. “Hypersegregation and Class-Based Segregation Processes in Cape Town 2001-2011.” Urban Forum, vol. 27, no. 1, Mar. 2016, pp. 35–58. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s12132-015-9264-6.