1. Essay Outline
Judy Brady “I Want a Wife”

2. The Prompt
• In her essay, Judy Brady discusses why she wants a
wife. Also in the text are clues about how she sees
men’s attitudes towards wives and their notions about
family values and responsibilities. In the first part of
your “I Want a Wife essay,” summarize the author’s
ideas and analyze her portrait of a man. For the second
part, transition to a narrative piece that tells what you
want: I want a child; I want a husband; I want a dog; I
want a ……………….. Use Brady’s piece as a model as you
write.
• Suggestions for writing: Shoot for 500 words. The two
parts should be about equal in length.

3. How to Begin
• Length: 500 words = two typed, double-
spaced pages MLA style (TNR 12)
• Divide the parts of the essay = two equal in
length
• Now you have two sections that are one page
each!

4. Section One
• In the first part of your “I Want a Wife essay,”
summarize the author’s ideas and analyze her
portrait of a man.
• What does this mean?
– Define “Summarize”
– Define “Analyze”

5. What is a Summary
• A summary is a condensed restatement, in
your own words, of an author's work. That
work may be an article, essay, or anything
else. Writing a summary will help you better
understand what you read, internalize the
main ideas, clarify them and be able to use
that information more readily in a test or in
your own writing.

6. How to Write a Summary
• Read the essay a second time
• Put it away before you begin to write
• Include the essay or article title and the author's name in the first or second
sentence. For example, "In 'The Penalty of Death,' H.L. Mencken argues . . ."
then provide the information you remember.
• Omit most details, but include all important highlights or main points. Do
not include your opinions, interpretations or evaluations. The summary
should be a thorough, fair, objective restatement of the original.
• Compare your summary with the original. Add anything obvious that you
previously omitted, and make sure that you don't too closely copy anything
from the original. If you have, revise your writing.

7. What is Analysis?
• the separating of any material into its different
parts.
• a method of studying the nature of
something or of determining its essential
features and their relations.
• a presentation, usually in writing, of the result
s of this process.
• a philosophical method of exhibiting complex
concepts as functions of more basic ones.

8. How to Analyze
• Read the text
• Look for examples, ideas, or assertions that
may have underlying meanings. Remember,
we are looking for the complex concept inside
of the basic one.
• Think about what extended meanings come
out of the basic assertions.

9. Transition
• A transition gets you from one part of the
essay to the other.
• Wrap up your summary and analysis by
coming to some conclusion about the text.
• Finally, bring the essay toward the next
section with your thesis: for example, Brady
wants a wife, and for good reason, but what I
really want is …………………………..

10. Body Paragraphs: Reasons you want X
• Make a list of several reasons you want X.
• Put them into two or three groups that make
sense
• Write two or three topic sentences that reflect
your groups.

11. Conclusion
• Bring your essay back to Brady’s by comparing
wants and desires of people. Say something
clever to wrap it up and you are done!