English Essay

In James Baldwin's, "Down at the Cross", the author introduced a key term, "labyrinth of attitudes." In this essay, discuss how Baldwin's idea of "labyrinth of attitudes" helps you understand some aspects of Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery." In other worda, how does Baldwin's essay help explain some of the issues about community  and comformity raised in Jackson's story? Does it help you unerstand, for example, why the community goes along with the ritual of the lottery? You may approach this question in any way you wish, but make sure you have a clear ARGUMENT in this paper that you attempt to support and develop throughout your paper. Also, it might make sense to discuss Baldwin FIRST- defining some key terms and ideas that you will use in your essay- BEFORE going on to apply these terms to the Jackson's story. IN OTHER WORDS, MAKE SURE YOU DEFINE THESE TERMS CLEARLY FOR YOUR READER. THEN GO ON TO SHOW HOW THESE TERMS MIGHT HELP YOU UNDERSTAND JACKSON'S STORY. 

Essay Format: This essay must be typed and double-spaced: use a standard 12-point (use Times Roman) and leave 1" margins on each side, top, and bottom [set your margin default on your computer to 1-inch]. This has to be in MLA Essay Format but don't worry about the title and page numbering because I will edit it into the essay once I have recieved it.

Additional Instructions: This paper must be 3 pages long (4 pages maximum if you need to go over 3 pages). The formatting for how you need to write each body paragraph in this paper is as follows: Topic sentence (this is the main idea in the paragraph that you want to convey to your reader, and that you will pursue throughout the paragraph as a whole), then introduce the quote you wish to cite (keep it brief, just giving your reader a general sense of the passage to follow, 1 or 2 sentences), then cite the passage you have in mind (a passage that provides evidence for the claim you're making in your topic sentence, then explain the quote in your own words (go into as much detail as possible; that is, don't let the quote speak for itself. This is where you begin to analyze the quote and show how it, again, helps elaborate and develop the major claim in your paper, atleast 2-3 sentences), and then end the paragraph with a transition sentence. Also in the begining of the essay before you start writing the body paragraphs there has to be an introduction. For this introduction at the begining of the essay it should "introduce" the two texts that you will be writing on and the basic argument for the paper. While you should also provide your reader with a general context for your argument, try to avoid overly general introductions. Remember you are writing on two texts, and this introduction must provide some context for the terms you will be using and for your own argument as well. Keep it simple and do not define terms in the introduction. In other words, for the introduction you should do basically 3 things: 1) Introduce the names and titles of the texts you're working with, 2) Provide some general context that connects them, and 3) Offer a clear argument (thesis).  

More Additional Information: These 2 texts are short storys which I will provide for you. Each are a couple of pages long so its very little reading. These 2 texts will be attached in PDF format