Analysis Prompt

Ties to Unit Learning Objectives

The work on this page and on the following pages directly supports the following unit learning objective:

apply the theories of Maslow, Kidder, and Pink to your successful analysis of Ghachar Ghochar
Know what to read

Ghachar, Ghochar (novella)
All of the following brief readings on cognitive theories:

Kidder’s Right vs. Right Theory
Actions
—offers three distinct principles and four lenses to use in making difficult decisions (PDF/handout)
Daniel Pink’s Drive —
(Links to an external site.)
TED talk explaining Pink’s ideas about autonomy, mastery, and purpose, which he argues are crucial to understanding another’s motives
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Actions
–long-standing theory about what drives humans to act
(Links to an external site.)
Understand the assignment’s big picture

This semester, we’ve spent some time looking at the benefits and costs, limits and freedoms of living in a civil society. For this last assignment, we’ll be looking closely at a micro-society—a family living in contemporary India—and how they negotiate the benefits and costs, limits and freedoms, of living in that particular micro-civil society.

Understand the prompt

Choose one of the main characters in Ghachar Ghochar, and use one or two of the cognitive theories listed below to help you explain their decisions, behaviors, and motivations.

Use one or two of the cognitive theories listed below to help you analyze your chosen main character’s decisions and motivations:

Kidder’s Right vs. Right Theory
Actions
—offers three distinct principles and four lenses to use in making difficult decisions (PDF/handout)
Daniel Pink’s Drive
(Links to an external site.)
–TED talk explaining Pink’s ideas about autonomy, mastery, and purpose, which he argues are crucial to understanding another’s motives
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Actions
–long-standing cognitive theory about what drives humans to act
(Links to an external site.)
Understand the rhetorical context
Genre: persuasive, multi-source argument essay.
Audience: your peers in the class. They’re familiar with the book, the plot, and the characters, and they’re interested in learning how to understand the motives of the characters from the novella.
You do not need to summarize either the cognitive theory or the novella.
Know the requirements
Essay length: 800-1000 words, not including work cited listings
Sources: 2-6 sources including:
Required: Ghachar, Ghochar plus 1 or 2 provided cognitive theory sources
Optional: 1-3 other related sources you find
Know this information too
Organization

At this point in the semester, you’ve gleaned enough experience to organize this essay for yourself. Just make sure the organization is logical and clear to your readers. (Use key-terms and transitions frequently to help with flow signals.)

Source Integration

Use what you’ve learned from TSIS templates to help you meet the rhetorical needs of this assignment.

Cultural Sensitivity

India is traditionally and culturally a patriarchal system, so, before launching into your analysis, do some research on its relatively strict gender and family expectations. You’ll want to ensure you’re not imposing American cultural expectations upon your understanding of their choices and behaviors.

Student sample essays

Here’s a sample student essay

Actions
to review to see how a past student approached this assignment.