ARGUING
THE
N A T I O N : CRITICAL REASONING
ENGLISH 102
Basic Requirements:
Introduction and Body Paragraph: 2/25
Working Draft: 2/27
Final Draft: 3/8 via turnitin.com
Turnitin.com: Course ID: 6044656 Enrollment Password: 89285
Format:
Write a 4 page paper on the topic below (page length does not include block quotations). All
drafts must be typed, double-spaced, have standard one-inch margins, and in 12point Times Now Roman Black ink only. Paper format (including textual citations) should
follow MLA style. If you have a question regarding formatting, please see the Owl at Purdue link
on our course website or Rules for Writers. You are required to include a “Works Cited” page at
the end of your essay. If you do not turn in a draft on time, you will not receive a
passing grade on the assignment.
Assignment Prompt:
In order to get started you may want to consult the study questions for the course. However,
your answers must be more in-depth than a typical study question response and must not
simply recapitulate our class discussion. Your paper must bring something new to our previous
discussion. In forming your analysis, you may want to consult the introductions by James Nagel
and Tom Quirk.
1. Select one of the short stories from the list below. How does the story you select define its
sense of realism? How does it distinguish this brand of realism from romance? What is the
argument that the text makes for realism? In answering these questions, perform a close reading
of the story. You must offer support for your interpretation in the form of textual evidence that
you analyze. Part of your analysis must concern the relationship between the content of the
story and its formal characteristics. Like all papers, this one must have a well-reasoned thesis
that is supported carefully with textual evidence.
Stories: Alice Dunbar Nelson, “The Goodness of Saint Rocque”
Ambrose Bierce, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
Harold Frederic, “My Aunt Susan”
Edith Wharton, “The Other Two”
Sui Sin Far, “Mrs. Spring Fragrance”
Henry James, “The Real Thing”
2. Select one of the short stories from the list below. How does the story you select make an
argument for a particular social cause (e.g., Civil War reconciliation, racial tolerance, women’s
rights)? How does it attempt through form to persuade its audience? What is the significance of
the issue that it raises? In answering these questions, perform a close reading of the story. You
must offer support for your interpretation in the form of textual evidence that you analyze. Part
of your analysis must concern the relationship between the content of the story and its formal
characteristics. Like all papers, this one must have a well-reasoned thesis that is supported
carefully with textual evidence.
Stories: Charles W. Chesnutt, “The Wife of His Youth”
Ambrose Bierce, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Abraham Cahan, “A Providential Match”
Guidelines for a Successful Paper:
A helpful metaphor for paper writing is that your argument is like a building, so make sure that
every piece of evidence (quotations from the text and the analyses of those quotations) that you
use as a brick in your building fits well and is strong. Make sure that you cement your evidence
into your argument through the use of strong topic sentences that reflect the main point of the
paragraph and concluding sentences that tie each paragraph back to your thesis.
Textual Evidence: Any good literary analysis must use many specific details to support the
conclusions that it reaches. Make sure your own claims about the novel are supported with
specific quotations from the text. In addition, remember to explain as completely as possible the
significance of the quotations you choose to cite. How does a particular quotation relate to your
larger argument about the text? Quotations should always be accompanied by detailed analysis.
Close reading is a crucial part of this essay; you must explain how specific elements within the
material you quote help to establish that which you claim the quotation establishes. Remember
to connect the steps in your thinking for your readers – the connections obvious in your mind
usually aren’t obvious to us, and we want to understand the point you’re making. Quote
selectively; cite only those passages that support your argument most effectively. Try to avoid
using too many long quotations (over three lines); try to say more about less. One recipe for a
good paragraph is something called the Paraburger:
State the argument of the paragraph (TOP BREAD)
Quote the text that you will use to make your point (SPECIAL SAUCE)
Analyze the significance of the quoted text to make your case, requoting where necessary
(MEAT/VEGGIE PATTY)
Tie the point of your paragraph back to the main thesis of your paper (BOTTOM
BREAD).
Arguable Thesis and Organization: Be sure to include a thesis stating your main claims about the
novel(s) near the beginning of your paper (ideally in the first paragraph for this paper). Think of
your thesis as a promise to the reader concerning the points you will make in the rest of the
paper. Your thesis should focus and organize your essay; every paragraph you write should
develop your thesis in some way. Tie every paragraph back to your thesis, thereby reinforcing
the role the paragraph plays in your larger argument. Make an outline before you write to help
you connect your thesis to the supporting paragraphs. Also, try making a paragraph from your
thesis statement and all your topic sentences – if that paragraph is coherent, then you’re topic
sentences (and hopefully also your paragraphs!) are on track. Try to conclude your argument
with comments that do not simply repeat what you’ve already said, but point the reader to other
connected ideas or issues.
Avoid Generalizations: Take the time to define key terms in your analysis in your own language.
Always “earn your terms”—don’t just repeat expressions or phrases from lecture, but make sure
that you define what you mean by key images or ideas. For example, if you cite a term from
Lukács, you still need to explain how exactly this term fits into the context of your particular
argument (what do you mean by “variation”?). Try to build a convincing case for your
interpretation of the text using specific logic and evidence. Focus on specific word choices and
phrases in your analysis.
How To Write a Thesis Statement
1st story: Describes a topic; gives the facts; makes an observation. This level of thesis makes
observations that are non-controversial (i. e. no reasonable person would disagree with them). A
person reading such a thesis immediately thinks: “Yes, this is true.”
2nd story: interprets, gives a point of view on, and/or adds controversy to the facts of the first
story. By adding controversy, I mean it takes a position on the facts that is not obvious, a
position which reasonable person could disagree with. A person reading a 2-story thesis thinks:
“That's an interesting point of view; now prove it to me.” By controversial, I do not mean this
thesis has to be absurd or idiosyncratic; you'll never be able to convince your reader of that kind
of argument. Rather, I mean it takes one position out of a number of positions.
3rd story: relates the 2-story thesis to the bigger picture, explains its significance, sets it a new
context. This is the most difficult type of thesis to describe (and write) because it can take so
many forms. I find it helpful to think of this story “opening out” - as if though a skylight - to a
wider view. It is the answer you get when you ask of a 2-story thesis, “so what?” The reader
should say: “I see why this argument matters.” The pitfall in this type of thesis, that you want to
be careful to avoid, is that it can get too ambitious, and try to make a bigger claim that you're
able to substantiate (e.g. “My analysis of Sonnet 18 shows that all Western poetry is morally
bankrupt and self-serving.”
Examples
1st story: Anne Bradstreet's “The Author to Her Book” employs metrical substitution, imagery
that depicts her writing as illegitimate child, and an allusion to Greek mythology.
2nd story: Anne Bradstreet's “The Author to Her Book” employs metrical substitution, imagery
that depicts her writing as an illegitimate child, and an allusion to Greek mythology in order to
convey her vexed relationship to her writing.
3rd story: Anne Bradstreet's “The Author to Her Book” employs metrical substitution, imagery
that depicts her writing as an illegitimate child, and an allusion to Greek mythology, which
allows her to convey her vexed situation as an author. This vexed quality, ultimately reflects on
the larger situation of gender and writing in the new world.
4th Story!: There's no need for your essay to read like a list. Revise your thesis so that it flows
more naturally.
Anne Bradstreet's “The Author to Her Book” reflects her vexed situation as an author, a
relationship that largely reflects the prevailing attitudes about writing and gender in the New
World.
In this example, you would still discuss those aspects listed above in the body of your essay, but
there's no need for you to give a run down at the beginning of your paper.
As you can see, each story depends on the one below it. It is difficult, to say the least, to build a
three-story house without a first story. The same holds true with a thesis: a two-story thesis
needs a first story, and a three-story thesis needs a first and second story.