SuperCloverWasp42
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Essay 2Interpretive Analysis Essay: Short Stories
Task: PROMPT IS GIVEN below, MAKE an interpretive-analysis E ssAy on it
Length: 800-1000 :- when developing your argument; being over the word count is a sign that the scope of your paper is too broad. Being under means it is too narrow or underdeveloped (perhaps not debatable). SHould be a PROPER AND GOOD StRUCTURED E SS AY
1. Introduction Paragraph
Make sure it:
i) introduces the topic/problem at hand
ii) provides a thesis with a main claim and main reason (why you’re right/why it matters)
iii) gives a preview sentence that provides the evidence you’ll be using to prove your thesis.
Using only short stories and your ability to convince, show off your critical reading and writing skills by analyzing some short stories.
Develop an effective thesis statement and subject for your interpretation.
Be sure it is clear why your interpretation matters (that it provides a lesson).
Prove your argument using textual evidence from the stories.
Include a works cited page
Texts (stories):
1. “In the Cemetery where Al Jolson is Buried” (Amy Hempel)
2. “Ant Colony” (Alissa Nutting)
– The prompts should inspire ideas, not to be restrictive. Don’t feel the need to answer every question listed. Use them to brainstorm a thesis statement.
– Remember: sustain one main argument (thesis) with one claim and one reason. This is the most important aspect I’m looking for on the essays in this class. Be sure you’re arguing one main point even if you discuss more than one story. Don’t use that grocery list model I talked about where you have one main claim and a number of reasons. Stick to one claim, one main reason and then find multiple pieces of evidence to back it up.
PROMPT:- “There were creatures that seemed to consider themselves neither important nor beautiful” (Nutting 65)”: Looks, Superficiality, and JudgmentThe narrator in “Ant Colony” sacrifices relationships with others and her own health in order to be beautiful. In “Al Jolson,” the narrator is worried about appearances in a slightly different way: how it looks to others that she shows up too late and how it looks when she leaves her sick friend, but she does also mention that girls “arrange their wet hair with silk flowers the way they learned in Seventeen. They pose” (35) to impress men who are also quite concerned with how their cars look, which means the society she’s in is concerned about superficial details as well.
Using at least two stories, make an argument about the value of or problems with caring about looks (either in terms of beauty or fear of judgment).
– Some possible questions to answer that may help you make a debatable argument: Are characters who care less about beauty better off? Why are characters concerned with beauty convinced it is valuable to be attractive? Should characters worry so much about what people think of them? Should they just do what they want? What do characters gain if they care about factors other than good looks or doing what society expects of them? Again, don’t answer all the questions. Develop a focused thesis and prove it with evidence from the stories
