Formal Outline

Secondary Source Documentation of Citations and Use of Single Quotation Marks and Sample Concession Paragraph VII. Topic Sentence

• The following quotation includes an indirect source and requires single quotation marks and clarification in the in-text or parenthetic citation.

In her review of other critical interpretations, Suess notes that Gilbert and Gubar interpret the story “as symbolizing the ‘oppressive structures of the society in which [the protagonist/narrator] finds herself’” rather than simply blaming the narrator for “her own abnormal psychological state” (qtd. in Suess 80).

• Avoid quoting from the short story when citing one of your secondary sources. Instead, summarize the scene in the story and quote the source’s analysis of the story:

When Sonny and the narrator have a heart-to-heart discussion, Sonny describes the pain and suffering of his community in Harlem as powerful enough to create an explosion. Claborn analyzes this discussion between the two brothers explaining that “the window stands between Sonny and the ‘outside’ functioning as a mediating space and critical distance that enables him to make such judgments of the community. . . . Sonny’s insight . . . indicates his and his brother’s attunement to the violent intensity of these affects (qtd. in Claborn 91-92). While inside the narrator’s apartment, the brothers’ discussion of the view out the window demonstrates their ability to share their viewpoints and listen without arguing. This bond between the brothers is heightened even more when Sonny invites the narrator to his performance. Furthermore, Claborn concludes in the final scene when “the music evokes this tragic image-content and stirs the narrator to tears, a deeper feeling of joy seems to prevail here” (Claborn 98). His tears of both sadness and joy while listening to Sonny’s music uplift the narrator and demonstrate the new man that he is becoming and the brotherhood that his fulfillment of his promise to his mother brings to them both. Unlike other references to the darkness throughout the narrator and Sonny’s lives, the final scene when Sonny performs with his band suggests how his music can illuminate the darkness: This final scene of bebop frenzy re-opens the fatalistic circle that encloses multiple generations of the two brothers’ family. It suggests the possibility of a fate different from the one his blues- singing uncle suffered” (Claborn 99).

• Concession Paragraph: Sample topic sentence Unlike my focus on the reconnection between the narrator and Sonny awakening the narrator’s sense of self, John Claborn argues in his analysis that Sonny’s powerful piano playing enables him to transport the narrator and his community out of the darkness of their collective history.