2. AGENDA
• Essay #2:
• The Prompt
• Reviewing and
revising your thesis
• Ways to Proceed
• The Introduction
• Review for Exam #2
3. Essay #2: Prompt
The Writing Assignment
In a thesis driven essay of 4-7 pages, analyze one or more aspects of one of the
stories we have read this quarter. Aim to convince readers that your
interpretation adds to the conversation among those who read stories and write
about them. Back up your analysis with reasons and support from the story. Use
the critical strategies or lenses that we have practiced this quarter.
“Araby” by James Joyce
“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin
“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel García Márquez
“ The Bet” by Anton Chekhov
I encourage you to read the complete assignment on
our website under “Essay Prompts,” and “Essay 2.”
5. Check your tentative thesis:
Do you have evidence for each point?
Make any necessary quick revisions to your thesis.
6. Reviewing your thesis
With a partner, or in groups of three, review each other’s thesis
statements
Writers: Take turns reading your tentative thesis statement
aloud. Then take notes as your partners tell you what your
thesis statement leads them to expect from your essay.
Listeners: As the writer speaks, write down what you think are
the key terms in the thesis statement. Remember that each of
these key terms stands f or an idea or a link in the chain of
reasons arguing for the overall thesis. Tell the writer what the
ideas are that you expect will be developed in the essay. Also
indicate if you think the writer will have difficulty supporting any
of these ideas, if you do not see how the ideas work together.
Point out ideas you think are obvious or uninteresting.
11. Directed Summary
• A directed summary provides readers of
your paper with the information they
need to understand your argument and
explanation.
• State the title and author of the literary
work near the beginning of the first
paragraph, perhaps in the first sentence.
This is essential so that the reader knows
which work you are discussing.
12. • Hook the reader. In the first sentences, write
what is particularly interesting about the work.
This thought-provoking information must also
be relevant to the topic you will discuss in
your essay.
• Assume that the reader is familiar with the
work about which you are writing. Do not
include too much plot summary in the
introduction or in the rest of the essay. Do
include the part of the story that will
support your thesis.
13. • Use transitions throughout the introduction.
Because there are so many aspects of the work
that have to be included, the introduction can end
up fragmented and confusing. Make sure that it
makes sense on its own as a paragraph. Clearly
transition from your introduction into your
thesis.
• State the thesis near the end of the introduction
(your introduction might be more than one
paragraph). The thesis should clearly state what
the essay will analyze and should be very
specific.
14. Write a smooth transition
from the introduction to
the thesis statement
15. Try writing your
introduction
1. Title and author
2. Hook the reader with a thought-provoking aspect of the
story, one that connects to your essay or, better yet, your
argument.
3. Assuming the reader is familiar with the text, include a
brief summary that provides support for your paper.
4. Use transitions to keep the introduction clear and
organized.
5. Transition to the thesis.
6. Include your thesis near the end of the introduction.
17. Exam #1 100 points: Class 19
Class Presentations: 1-16
SHORT STORIES
• “Araby” Joyce
• “The Story of an Hour”
Chopin
• “A Very Old Man with
Enormous Wings” García
Márquez
• “The Bet Chekhov
POETRY
• “My Papa’s Waltz” Roethke
• “There’s a girl inside” Clifton
• “The Fish” Bishop
• “A Black Rook in Rainy
Weather” Plath
• “Memories of West Street and
Lepke” Lowell
• “To His Coy Mistress” Marvell
CRITICAL THEORIES
• New Criticism
• Feminist Criticism
• Psychoanalytic Criticism
18. Exam Review:
Presentations 4-20
1. Passage Identification: Work and Author
2. Identify the Writer
3. Character Identification
4. Terms: Fill in the blank
5. Theory Identification
6. Essay Question
19. Work and Author
1. Passage identification by work and
author:
The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
20. Identify the writer
• This writer’s fiction did not attract significant
attention outside literary circles until the
publication of his masterpiece, Cien años de
soledad (1967; One Hundred Years of Solitude,
1970).
21. Identify the character
• "Some distant lamp or lighted window gleamed
below me. I was thankful that I could see so little.
All my senses seemed to desire to veil
themselves and, feeling that I was about to slip
from them, I pressed the palms of my hands
together until they trembled, murmuring: "O
love! O love!" many times."
22. Terms: Fill in the Blank
• _____________ refers to the
perspective from which the story
is told.
23. Identify the Theory
• This theory maintains that a literary work contains certain
intrinsic features, and the theory “defines and addresses
the specifically literary qualities in the text."
24. Short Essay
1. Explain New Criticism. You might consider the following:
What made New Criticism new? What is the critical focus
of New Criticism? What kinds of questions do New Critics
ask? How does it intersect with other critical theories?
2. Briefly explain one of the extrinsic theories. Use one poem
or short story to demonstrate your points.
3. Discuss the use of religious symbols in one of the works we
have read this quarter.
1. Discuss the role of setting in any one of the works we read
in this section
