English 300
Dr. Stewart

Analyses (Fiction, Poetry, and Constructed Response)

All essays should be:

• Typed using Times New Roman 12
• Double-spaced
• Have 1" margins
• Have page numbers at the top of each page
• Include quotations for support
• Include works cited entries

Fiction Essay: You will write an analysis of either:

• Raymond Carver's "Why Don't You Dance?" (eCollege doc sharing). .
• Charles Chesnutt's "The Passing of Grandison: (eCollege doc sharing).

In that essay, you will need to:

• Identify a theme
• Explain how that theme is demonstrated through one literary element
• Provide textual evidence (quotations from the the fiction) supporting how that theme is demonstrated through a literary element
• This essay will need to be a minimum of 1700 words not including works cited (give word count at the end of the essay)
• Provide a works cited entry (you don't have to list it on a separate page)
• Upload it to eCollege dropbox

Poetry Essay: You will write a compare/contrast analysis of 2 poems of your choice, but the poems must be by traditionally known authors. That is, don't just pick something from the internet by a mystery writer. In that essay, you will need to:

• Identify a theme common to both
• Explain how that theme is demonstrated similarly and differently through a literary element (hence the compare/contrast) through one literary element
• Provide textual evidence (lines from the poems)
• This essay will need to be a minimum of 1700 words not including works cited (give word count at the end of the essay)
• Provide a works cited entry (you don't have to list it on a separate page)
• Upload it to eCollege dropbox
• Either provide a link, upload a copy, or give me a hard copy of the poems to eCollege drop box

Constructed Response: You will write a compare/contrast analysis of 2 works of literature (can be one poem and one short story; can be two short stories). In that essay, you will need to:

• Identify a theme common to both
• Explain how that theme is demonstrated similarly and differently through a literary element (hence the compare/contrast) through one literary element
• Provide textual evidence (quotations)
• This essay will need to be a minimum of 2000 words not including works cited (give word count at the end of the essay)
• Provide a works cited entry (you don't have to list it on a separate page)
• Upload it to eCollege dropbox
• Either provide a link, upload a copy, or give me a hard copy of the texts to eCollege drop box

Tips on Writing your Essays:

The Introduction

Your first paragraph will probably begin with some kind of important observation that helps readers contextualize the theme of what you're about to write. It might also introduce the title(s) and author(s) of the works about which you are writing and a brief summary of the texts. It will also probably include the theme and thesis at the end of the first paragraph. (Your thesis will include the theme and literary element. Your thesis should be a "blueprint" or promise about the argument. In other words, it should outline the order in which you will discuss the terms).

Avoid introductory statements that are broad generalizations and have little to contribute to a reader's understanding or insights: "Literature can be interpreted in many different ways." I might be tempted to write "duh" beside a statement like that. Don't worry, however, I won't.

The Body:

The body of the text should include short summaries, paraphrases, and short quotes (evidence) from the text as you set out to prove your thesis or claim.

The evidence should show how/why the evidence proves the claim, not just tell that it proves the claim.

The paragraphs that prove the claim should be fully developed with sentences that connect the argument in the thesis with the evidence using key words and/or phrases.

The Conclusion:

The conclusion should do more than restate what you have set out to do. Rather, it should make a connection to something outside the paper as a way of showing how important the theme and the texts are for the reader. This could also be called the "so what factor."

The Thesis Statement:

• proposes an argument or makes an interesting claim about a poem or story
• must be provable
• goes beyond the obvious
• analyzes rather than simply summarizes
• gives a focus to the various elements of your paper
• does not just say what the text says
• does show how the text works
• does not try to discuss the emotional effect of the poem on a general reader
• does discuss what the work means, and how it gets its point across
• doesn't retell the story of how you came to finally understand the poem
• proposes motivation or explanation for a character change (if the thesis is a character analysis)

Below is the fist paragraph of an essay written by a former student. You can see how this student takes his time setting up the remainder of the essay in the first paragraph.

Skeletons in the Closet, Bodies in the Attic:
Power and Perversion of Love in "My Last Duchess" and "A Rose for Emily"

Absolute power has the potential to corrupt absolutely. That is, power and authority have a way of making those who possess these in too great a quantity lose their grasp on their own humanity and engage in activities that society generally frowns upon. To demonstrsate, in Robert Browning's poem, "My Last Duchess," a Duke tells the story of his last wife and the jealousy and anger she unwittingly inspires in him when he perceives that she treats him no differently than she would a common man. He has her portrait painted. Soon after, she dies. There is no concrete evidence that he has murdered her, but if that is indeed her demise (and readers can infer as much), the Duke has silenced her. Further, because he never allows anyone to view the portrait except by his leave, he reestablishes control and power over what he sees as one of his prized possession. William Faulkner's short story, "A Rose for Emily," presents a similar situation. Emily is a character whose slow and tragic fall from power in her town causes her to kill a would-be lover. Again, the evidence is circumstantial, but Miss Emily has means, motive, and opportunity. And one can't forget that the body of her lover, long dead, is eventually found locked away in her house. She also apparently sleeps with the corpse, at least occassionally. Similar to the Duke in "My Last Duchess," Miss Emily exerts power over the object of desire in both life and death. These stories share several similarities, but most important, they address the same theme: jealously erases any potential for an even or equal relationship. While several literary devices are prevelant in both texts, it is through characterization of the Duke in Browning's poem and Miss Emily in Faulkner's story, that the authors demonstrate the significance of their shared theme.