English 1302: Essay 2 Instructions Analysis of a Theme in a Short Story Write an analysis of a theme in one of the following short stories: 1. Tillie Olsen, “I Stand Here Ironing” 2. Amy Tan, “Two Kinds” 3. Alice Walker, “Everyday Use” 4. William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” 5. Raymond Carver, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” 6. Eudora Welty, “A Worn Path” • See the discussion of theme on pp. 128-131 in Making Literature Matter. • Your thesis should reflect three points (aspects of theme) that you are going to focus on in your paper. Another approach to thematic analysis is to illustrate three methods by which an author develops a theme. • Quote liberally from the short story (citing in-text, MLA style). Look up how to quote short prose passages, as well as how to block longer passages of prose. Remember to introduce each quote with an independent clause (followed by a colon); the introduction to a quote provides you with an opportunity to state an opinion and make clear why the quote is significant. • You will need a works cited page (MLA format), in which you cite the short story. • You are to use only TWO sources for this paper—the short story itself AND one peer- reviewed article from a scholarly database from the HCCS Library Databases (such as JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, or ProQuest). The article should be either a critique of the short story or a discussion of themes in the works of the writer of that short story. • Quote at least twice from the peer-reviewed article in your paper. Length: 3 pages (minimum), double spaced, 12-point font, one-inch margins Submit your paper electronically, in the Assignment link in the class site in Eagle Online Canvas. Your paper will be subject to a Turnitin Originality check. See the Scholastic Dishonesty policy on the Syllabus for further information on what occurs when there are significant matches detected by Turnitin to materials that are not documented as required. Review of the 500-word theme: I. Paragraph I—Introduction—100-125 words (or 5-12 sentences) • Lead-in (mention the title of the work, the author’s name, and the date of composition) • Provide a brief synopsis (2-3 sentences, with the gist of the work) • Thesis statement—list the points to be developed in the body of the paper II. Paragraph 2—First Body Paragraph—100-125 words (or 5-12 sentences) • Follow the topic sentence with support—and in a literary analysis, that means quotations, quotations, quotations! III. Paragraph 3—Second Body Paragraph—100-125 words (or 5-12 sentences) • Follow the topic sentence with support—and in a literary analysis, that means quotations, quotations, quotations! IV. Paragraph 4—Third Body Paragraph—100-125 words (or 5-12 sentences) • Follow the topic sentence with support—and in a literary analysis, that means quotations, quotations, quotations! V. Paragraph 5—The Conclusion—100-125 words (or 5-12 sentenc ...

1. English 1302: Essay 2 Instructions
Analysis of a Theme in a Short Story
Write an analysis of a theme in one of
the following short stories:
1. Tillie Olsen, “I Stand Here Ironing”
2. Amy Tan, “Two Kinds”
3. Alice Walker, “Everyday Use”
4. William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”
5. Raymond Carver, “What We Talk About When We Talk
About Love”
6. Eudora Welty, “A Worn Path”
• Seethe discussion of theme on pp. 128-131 in
Making Literature Matter.
• Your thesis should reflect three points
(aspects of theme) that you are going to
focus on
in your paper. Another approach to thematic
analysis is to illustrate three methods by
which an author develops a theme.
• Quote liberally from the short story (citing in-text,
MLA style). Look up how to quote
short prose passages, as well as how to block
longer passages of prose. Remember to
introduce each quote with an independent clause
(followed by a colon); the
introduction to a quote provides you with an

2. opportunity to state an opinion and make
clear why the quote is significant.
• You will need a works cited page (MLA
format), in which you cite the short story.
• You are to use only TWO sources for this
paper—the short story itselfAND one peer-
reviewed article from a scholarly database from the
HCCS Library Databases (such as
JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, or ProQuest).
The article should be either a critique
of the short story or a discussion of themes in
the works of the writer of that short story.
• Quote at least twice from the peer-reviewed article
in your paper.
Length: 3 pages (minimum), double spaced,
12-point font, one-inch margins
Submit your paper electronically, in the Assignment
link in the class site in Eagle Online
Canvas.
Your paper will be subject to a Turnitin
Originality check. See the Scholastic Dishonesty
policy
on the Syllabus for further information on what
occurs when there are significant
matches detected by Turnitin to materials that are
not documented as required.

3. Review of the 500-word theme:
I. Paragraph I—Introduction—100-125 words (or 5-12
sentences)
• Lead-in (mention the title of the work, the author’s name, and
the date of
composition)
• Provide a brief synopsis (2-3 sentences, with the gist of the
work)
• Thesis statement—list the points to be developed in the body
of the paper
II. Paragraph 2—First Body Paragraph—100-125 words (or 5-12
sentences)
• Follow the topic sentence with support—and in a literary
analysis, that means
quotations, quotations, quotations!
III. Paragraph 3—Second Body Paragraph—100-125 words (or
5-12 sentences)
• Follow the topic sentence with support—and in a literary
analysis, that means
quotations, quotations, quotations!
IV. Paragraph 4—Third Body Paragraph—100-125 words (or 5-
12 sentences)
• Follow the topic sentence with support—and in a literary
analysis, that means

4. quotations, quotations, quotations!
V. Paragraph 5—The Conclusion—100-125 words (or 5-12
sentences)
• Mirror the introduction—restate the thesis, restate the major
points without
being repetitive
• End with an important thought, a provocative idea, a quote
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without permission.
Contradiction and Culture: Revisiting Amy Tan's "Two Kinds"
(Again)
Kirsten Dinnall Hoyte
Minnesota Review; Spring 2004; 61/62; Research Library
pg. 161
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further

5. reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without permission.
Writing Essay 2: An Analysis of a Short
Story
Develop a Thesis:

6. ◦ Remember that your thesis is a statement of a claim that is
"arguable,"
meaning it's not a statement of pure fact that nobody could
contest. An
analytical essay takes a side and makes an argument. Imagine
the
paragraphs you will develop to support your thesis.
◦ Examine your notes and brainstorming lists to see what
patterns/categories
you can develop. Develop a thesis based on what you can
develop in the
strongest way.
Write your Introduction
Your introduction should begin by mentioning the title and
author of your short
story. Try to make your introduction engaging but not too
overzealous. Avoid
summarizing the assignment instructions. Also avoid
summarizing the plot of the
short story; assume your reader has read the story as well.
Engage your reader
by making statements about what you think is significant about
the story, in
general. State your thesis, generally as the last sentence in the
first paragraph;
the thesis should list the major points that will be developed in
the body of the
paper.
◦ Avoid filler and fluff. Don't start a paragraph with huge
generalizations such as,

7. "In modern society" or "Throughout time."
◦ Do not refer to the author of the short story by his or her first
name only. Use
the full name initially, and then later the last name. Omit titles
(Mr. or Ms.).
Writing the Body Paragraphs
Each body paragraph should be like a paper in miniature —with
an introductory
sentence, a middle section containing evidence and quotations,
then a
concluding sentence that transitions to the next body paragraph.
Quoting must be exact (verbatim) and ADEQUATE. One or two
quotes in a
paragraph are insufficient. EACH quote should be introduced,
with an
independent clause followed by a colon. This introduction is
your chance to tell
why the quote is significant (thus, including analysis).
Quoting is a strong way to support your claim, as it presents the
reader with the
precise wording of the text you are analyzing.
Use MLA in-text citation format PRECISELY. After a quote
from a short story OR
an article, cite the author’s last name and the page (Templeton
30). If you use
the author’s name in the introduction to the quote, then cite just

8. the page (30).
YOU SHOULD HAVE PAGE NUMBERS FOR ALL ARTICLES
FOUND IN
SCHOLARLY JOURNALS—DOWNLOAD THE .PDF FILES,
WHICH WILL HAVE
PAGE NUMBERING.
DO NOT cite lines or paragraphs after quoting from a short
story. Cite
pages in your text.
Do NOT refer to a short story as a “poem.”
Refer to authors/critics/various authorities by their names.
Avoid the construction
of “the author says” OR “it says” in your writing.
When secondary sources are used, you can quote them, but note
the format for a
quote within a source. In the example below, Templeton is our
source, and she is
quoting Weigand; further, the only source on the Works Cited is
Templeton’s:
Herman Weigand notes that Nora doesn’t have the instinctual
feelings of a
“mother cat.” (quoted in Templeton 28).
Note that periods go AFTER citations, AND a quote within a
quote goes in single
quote marks:
Jane M. Healy, a noted educational psychologist, takes issue
with “interactive”

9. software for children, arguing that “some of the most popular
‘educational’
software . . . may be damaging to independent thinking,
attention, and
motivation.” (20). �
Spelling argues that during the 1970s American automobile
manufacturers met
consumer needs “as well as could be expected” (26), but not
everyone agrees with
him. �
Note how to block a long quotation (the following is from a
play—hence the use
of italics for the title—and notice that the quote is introduced,
as well as followed
with a comment):
In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, the most poignant
defense of Willie
Loman comes from his wife, Linda:
He’s not the finest character that ever lived. But he’s a human
being, and a terrible thing happened to him. So attention must
be
paid. He’s not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old
dog.
Attention, attention must finally be paid to such a person.
(56)
Indeed, as Miller’s intent is to illustrate that “terrible thing”
(56), Willie Loman
becomes a universal symbol.

10. �
Refer properly to titles.
◦ Titles of articles should be in quote marks (with no italics):
“Big Data on
Campus,” “Digital Media Ethics.”
◦ Note the use of single quote marks (for a quote within a title
or a title within
a title): “Symbols in ‘A Worn Path’”
◦ Titles of works that those articles appear in (journals) should
be in italics:
The Explicator, The English Journal, English Studies.
◦ Take care to copy the exact wording of titles.
◦ The title of your own paper should have NEITHER quote
marks around it
nor italics. However, if the title of the short story is i nside your
own title, it
is referred to properly: An Analysis of “A Worn Path”
◦ The title of your paper should not be JUST the title of the
story. Your
paper’s title should indicate what you are doing in your paper:
Eudora
Welty’s Use of Irony in “A Worn Path”

11. ◦ Avoid unoriginal titles like the following: Essay 2
◦ Commas and periods go BEFORE end quote marks.
Write your conclusion.
Your conclusion is where you remind your reader of how you
supported your
argument. This is also where you can show connections in
thinking/ideas to
larger concepts. This could mean stating how your argument
affects other claims
about the text, or how your claim could change the view of
someone reading the
text you analyzed. Always mention the title and author of the
short story again in
the conclusion, as a matter of form.
MLA Works Cited Page
1. A Works Cited page is REQUIRED.
2. You need two sources on this page—the short story AND the
article you
are using in your paper.
3. The Works Cited page is on the page that follows the last
paragraph of
your paper—so if your last paragraph is on page 3, the Works
Cited would

12. be on page 4.
4. Put the title (centered) at the top of the Works Cited page:
Works Cited
5. Alphabetize the items in your Works Cited list.
6. EACH Works Cited entry should be formatted with a hanging
indent.
MLA Format for an Article from a Scholarly Journal
found in an HCCS Library Database:
Alonso, Alvaro, and Julio A. Camargo. “Toxicity of Nitrite to
Three Species
of Freshwater Invertebrates.” Environmental Toxicology, vol.
21, no.
1, 3 Feb. 2006, pp. 90-94. Wiley Online Library, doi:
10.1002/tox.20155. Accessed 27 May 2009.
Langhamer, Claire. “Love and Courtship in Mid-Twentieth-
Century
England.” Historical Journal, vol. 50, no. 1, 2007, pp. 173-96.
ProQuest, doi:10.1017/S0018246X06005966. Accessed 27 May
2009.
Titles
Refer to titles correctly, using quotation marks or italics as
required: The New
York Times, The Atlantic, Dante’s Inferno, Shakespeare’s
Hamlet,
Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130,” Donne’s “The Flea,” “Missing

13. Fathers: Twelfth
Night and the Reformation of Mourning.” Note that commas and
periods go
inside end quote marks. �
Do NOT cut and paste from EasyBib (which often has
errors) or from database
reference lists. Also, JSTOR has title pages that
are intended to give you
information—however, that information is NOT to be
cut-and-pasted into your
paper.