Final Paper Ideas

I recently stumbled upon an article regarding sympathy vs. empathy; the article suggested that sympathy is more a process than a feeling that a reader undergoes. The article also suggests that "sympathy denies what empathy most highly prizes, namely the fusion of self with other"(Grenier). I think this concept can be directly applied to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. The article also suggests that it is our sympathetic response that is what makes characters feel more real to us as readers. By using this article, "Thinking of Me Thinking of You" as well as Vermeule's article "Why Do We Care About Literary Characters?" I hope to further explore the ideas of sympathy and empathy as presented in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. 


I may also not use The Curious Incident but instead focus on a poem, as the "Thinking of Me Thinking of You" article equates sympathy to metonymy and empathy to metaphor. I haven't not fully decided but I am hoping to make some progress regarding this tonight.