English Essay

Format:

Your essay should have four pages typed and double-spaced. Use the ten or twelve font size.  Your essay should adopt the MLA or APA style.  

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The Writing Assignment:

Write an essay interpreting some aspects of a story. Try to convince your readers that your perspective on the story is appealing and reveals a new aspect(s) of the story.  The primary readers of your essay are those who read the story and write about it, possibly your instructor and classmates.  Back up your interpretation with reasons and support them with details from the story. You are not going to use any secondary sources to back up your interpretation.

Guidelines:

Interpreting a story requires your understanding of the story; you need to analyze its various aspects, present your interpretation of the story from your viewpoint, and then help your readers to see some aspect(s) of the story.  It is important that you should assert your own idea about the meaning of the story and that you argue for your interpretation of the story based on that idea. Without your own assertion, your essay may turn into retelling the story, which I do not ask you to do.  Make your assertion plausible -- this means you should argue logically-- contribute to building rich discussion about the story, and then support your assertion with convincing details from the story.

 

This assignment is a typical analytical expository essay in the argument pattern that you have practiced in high school. The essay should be organized topically, so the main idea must be presented in the thesis statement and may be summarized again at the conclusion in different words.  Your thesis must be arguable and clearly stated in the introduction. To develop and support the thesis, you need to provide the reasons (topic sentences) of your thesis. The thesis statement and its reasons (topic sentences) must be logically connected. The primary source of the reasons is the story itself; you should specifically draw supporting details from the story, for example, specific lines or part of dialogue or scenes.  If necessary, quote, summarize, and/or paraphrase passages from the story.  Your own interpretation is necessary before or after the quotes from the story.  Make sure that you avoid simply retelling the story.  Do not use other sources or other writers' ideas to support the thesis of the essay, which means you don't need to do research.  

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In order to analyze the story, you need to know how the author uses the elements of the story.  

The author also uses them to create the theme of the story.

Elements of a Story:

Theme ,  character ,  setting (time, place) , plot, point of view, style, tone,

Plot: a story consists of several events that are connected in causal sequence.  

beginning-> conflict-> rising action-> climax-> falling action-> ending

chronological order, flashback, stream of (un) consciousness.

Point of View: first person, second person, and third person (omnipresent, objective).

figurative language:  imagery ,  symbolism , metaphor, simile (like...),  metonymy  (Closely associated one, crown --> king, the White House, the Big Apple.  The pen is mightier than the sword),  synecdoche  (substitution with another word, a creature means man. What kind of creature are you? Give us our daily bread.  All hands are on deck. a part means the whole).  irony    imagery

A Sample Organization

Introduction

Attract your readers with relevant background information of the thesis statement. 

Lead the readers to your thesis by suggesting relevant literary devices. 

Try to introduce a striking aspect of the story that supports the thesis statement.  

Near the end of the introduction, have a clear and explicit thesis statement that includes your own interpretation, idea, and/or perspective on the story. 

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Bodies: In each body paragraph, have a topic sentence (a reason of the thesis).

Offer your own convincing interpretation of the topic sentence.

Back up your reason with a specific passage(s) and/or details in the story.

Integrate quotations into your writing efficiently.

You may use proper writing strategies here, for example, a chain of reasoning, compare and contrast, and/or cause and effect.

 

Conclusion

Repeat the key terms.

Summarize the main points in different words.

Reiterate the thesis statement in different words.

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Things to consider when analyzing a story:

Setting (time and place), background, character, plot, point of view, symbol, theme, style, figurative language (image/metaphor), your perspective, history, audience, writer, text (style)... 

http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/ (Story on an hour)

http://www.mendele.com/WWD/WWDaraby.html (Araby)

Choose only one of these stories