english paper 2

The two different stories capture similar themes and messages despite the fact that they were published in very different time periods. The similar themes tackle common topics but bring out completely different approaches about them. Comment by Magdalen McKinley: To start a literary analysis paper, what you need to do is craft a single introductory paragraph that summarizes the two stories and introduces the themes. The thesis statement should go at the end of that paragraph. You don’t want to have short separate paragraphs like this, because it’s unclear what your overarching argument is. Additionally, it is not clear whether you will be focusing on similarities or differences, since your first two sentences bounce back and forth between the two. Will you be comparing the two stories or contrasting them? In either case, you’d need to state the similar (or different) message or meaning across the stories in a clearer thesis.

Both stories cover family as a major theme and bring about the impact of family relations positively and negatively. In James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” short story, there is a clear depiction of family. After Sony is released from prison, he returns to his childhood neighborhood and moves in with his older brother who is he narrator of the story and his brother’s family which is indisputably part of his family too. The story brings in the difficult times they had to go through as a family before eventually getting a reconnection. (Gale) Comment by Magdalen McKinley: What is this citation for? What does it correspond to?

A Good Man is Hard to Find clearly brings out the issues surrounding a dysfunctional family showing how the members easily irritate each other. The two kids depicted as annoying, the easily upset dad, the busy wife and the unavoidable grandmother bring out a life full of crisis. (Eder)

Family is painted as a beautifully knit unit that brings about the best and the worst in us. In Sony’s blues family is illustrated as a source of anger and bitterness and a source of warmth, security and comfort at the same time. The two brothers are known to clearly love each other but do not understand each other nor can they stand each other’s lifestyles. It is without a doubt that the intense love they have for one another is the same power that creates possibilities of being able to cause each other so much pain and deep hurts. The story illustrates how their bond of love is strong enough to endure the trying times till they achieve a genuine reconnection. The hard path of pain and heartaches the brothers have to go through as they cause each other intense pain brings about how families can cause suffering and make the individuals lives difficult due to the seemingly irreconcilable differences. (Baldwin and world)Eventually, as the two get over their differences, the desperate needs of affirmation members of families need from each other are showed to be strong enough to overcome whatever difficult circumstances they encounter. In the end the brothers find their way back to each other and reaffirm how desperately they need each other that the genuine care and concern for one another surpasses whatever hardships life brings their way. Comment by Magdalen McKinley: Which of your previous sentences references this source? For this paper, and the first one, I didn’t require outside sources because I don’t want you to worry about doing that research. Instead, I want you to engage with the primary text itself. That means coming up with your own interpretation of the story, and citing specific textual evidence to support your argument. You don’t have any quotes here, which would be necessary to support your analysis.

A Good Man is Hard to Find depicts the grandmother as a selfish member of the family who’s case is all to herself. She is depicted as purely self-interested and shows hardly any concern for the rest of the family. As the family settles for a destination for their vacation, there seems to be a general preference for Florida except for the grandmother. She tries to convince her son Bailey and his wife to consider Tennessee for their vacation. John Wesley suggests that the grandmother should stay at home and June Star nastily says that “She wouldn't stay at home to be queen for a day,” implying their grandmother would never agree to that. In return, the grandmother hides Pitty Sing, June’s cat in a basket in the car during the day of the trip. The lack of genuine concern and care amidst family members is illustrated as such a deadly weapon when they encounter a criminal who kills them all one by one. (O'Conor and Asals)The family does not seem to attract any genuine concern or sympathy from each other and the issue of death shows how necessary this is for any family members. Comment by Magdalen McKinley: How is this similar to or different from the family dynamic you highlight above? This would be where you’d want to draw attention to your comparison or your contrast.

The difference in which the family members in the two stories view their responsibility of taking care of each other interestingly shows how vital genuine concern and love is paramount in their relationships. Sonny’s blues indicate strong bonds of love and concern that help the brothers get over their subtle differences embracing their need for each other despite the much pain and suffering they had caused each other. A Good Man is Hard to Find on the other hand brings the place of love and concern amidst family members through showing how bad lack of it can get. The family members endure each other throughout that there is no time they have enjoyed each other’s company. It appears that it is everyone for himself and no consideration for each other and this is depicted n exchange of words. Comment by Magdalen McKinley: Good—this is something you’d need to emphasize in your intro and thesis, and tie back to in your previous paragraphs. You don’t want to wait until halfway through the paper before you arrive at your central claim. Comment by Magdalen McKinley: These points should be woven into your corresponding paragraphs above; they could be topic sentences.

Initially the narrator of Sonny’s blues discovers from the newspaper that his younger brother Sonny had been arrested for using and selling heroine. As he prepares to teach his algebra class he remembers Sonny as a young boy and realizes his students could end up like his brother due to the hardships they encounter in Harlem. What had happened to his brother informs his perspectives of life especially after meeting Sonny’s friends. The narrator only writes to Sonny after the death of Grace his younger daughter after which the two are in constant communication. (Baldwin and world) He remembers how Sonny and his father would fight each other and how his mum had told him to watch out for his brother. The experiences around the narrator’s father had traumatized him to the point of destroying his life. Comment by Magdalen McKinley: What are you aiming to prove in this paragraph? Remember that topic sentences should state a claim that ties back to your thesis. Once you craft a thesis statement for this paper, it will be easier to do that.

The family in a Good Man is Hard to Find does not seem to have encountered difficult issues through which they would have learnt and appreciated the need to standby each other. They all ignore the grandmother concerns of having the Misfit released from prison since the all thought her selfish and incapable of having their interest at heart. (O'Conor and Asals)Unfortunately, the whole family dies in the hands of the Misfit and his buddies.

The stories bring out family as a major theme though there’s a difference on the time periods of publication. They illustrate different aspect and perspectives in families. The two families deal with issues differently and both stories clearly bring about the impact of values and issues families have gone through together to realize the need to trust and care for each other. The stories clearly tackle family as a theme and an explicit topic within which they capture the values and standards held onto in the different families and the resulting consequences.

Hi Poojan,

You can definitely contrast the family dynamics in these two stories, as you begin to do here, and explain what those differences teach us about the importance of family. However, in order to make that contrastive argument effectively, what you need to do here is:

1) Write an introduction

2) Craft a specific thesis that is placed at the end of the introduction and state the particular contrast between the two stories and why that is significant

3) Make sure topic sentences make an argument that ties back to that thesis—they should not be statements of summary, but rather interpretive claims

4) Include much more textual evidence from the story itself.

5) Clarify what you are drawing from the outside sources you cite, and cite them correctly.

I’ve also left some additional notes in the margins. You can revise this paper if you’d like. The assignment sheet and sample papers on Blackboard might help you get a sense of what a literary analysis paper should look like in terms of structure and content, and I am happy to go over this with you if you have more questions. (And, as you’ll see on the assignment sheet, the paper needs to be at least 4 full pages).

Works Cited

Baldwin, James and College Guide world. Quick Guide: Sonny's blues. Los Gatos: Smarshwords Edition, 2015.

Eder, Katherina. Flanery O'Conor "A Good Man is Hard to Find" : An Analysis. Norderstedt: GRIN Verlag, 2012.

Gale, Cengage Learning. A Study Guide to James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues. Farmington Hills: Cengage Learning, 2016.

O'Conor, Flannery and Frederick Asals. A good man is hard to find . New Brunswick: Rutgers UniversityPress, 2011.