“Marigolds” – Evidence Analysis
Now that you have one dialectical journal under your belt, it is time to revisit those skills. You will be completing a
dialectical journal for “Marigolds.”
You will complete the following steps in order:
1. Write topic sentence
2. Gather evidence and write set-up with proper citation
3. Complete analysis chart
4. Type up (MLA format with tables) and turn in to Turn It In by :_______________________________________
Step 1: Before you can start your DJ, you need to create a topic sentence, which states your claim. Once you have made a
claim, you can begin to think about gathering evidence that supports your claim. Take a look at the prompt below and fill
in the story’s theme.
Prompt: Discuss how Eugenia Collier uses characterization in the short story “Marigolds” to reveal
.
NOW, turn the above prompt into your claim and topic sentence:
Topic sentence (must include TAG and connect to prompt):
.
Step 2: It is time to gather evidence to support your claim. From character chart find TWO pieces of evidence to support
your claim. If you cannot, go back to the book. Write evidence set-up with evidence and proper citation below.
Remember the elements of a proper evidence set-up:
 Background information
 What you want reader to see in evidence (What does evidence do? Why did you pick it?)
 Proper punctuation
 Proper citation
Evidence #1
Evidence #2
Step 3: Follow our three-step process for analyzing evidence for an analytical piece of writing.
Step 1: What is your claim?
Step 2: What is evidence (w/citation) to support
your claim? Underline parts of evidence that
support your claim.
Step 3: How does evidence support claim? (along with analysis include literary element, evidence, restated claim)
Step 1: What is your claim?
Step 2: What is evidence (w/citation) to support
your claim? Underline parts of evidence that
support your claim.
Step 3: How does evidence support claim? (along with analysis include literary element, evidence, restated claim)
Step 4: Type it up and turn it in to Turn It In by
___________________________________________________________. Make sure you include proper MLA formatting
with header, heading, title, margins, spacing, and font style. You must include topic sentence and DJ table seen below.
“Marigolds” – Dialectical Journal
Topic sentence (must include TAG and connect to prompt):
.
Set-up and Evidence
Analysis
Set up
Look for:
 Context (tells where in the story the quote comes
from – more than just “in the
beginning/middle/end”)
 A form of the word “Characterization”
 Either “mature” or “immature”
 Do not repeat TAG information as it is already in
the topic sentence
Evidence
Look for:
 Quotation marks around the evidence
 Evidence is ACCURATE and TAKEN
DIRECTLY from text
 Evidence shows either maturity/immaturity and is
about Lizabeth
 No comma/period inside ending quotation marks
 Citation with the page number, followed by period
Look for:
 Complete sentences (at least 4-5)
 Identify literary element
 Restates claim at end
 Explains HOW evidence supports the theme
 They need to refer directly back to the
evidence and be specific to that quote
Example
Example
Collier reveals Lizabeth’s emerging maturity when she
feels ashamed for her childish actions: “The woman in
me flinched at the thought of the malicious attack that
I had led” (124).
This demonstrates that Lizabeth is mature because
she feels ashamed of her childish actions. Through
characterization, Collier illustrates that Lizabeth
realizes mocking Miss Lottie was a hurtful thing to
do. Because she “flinched at the thought of the
malicious attack that I had led,” she is thinking about
how her actions affected Miss Lottie. Collier’s
characterization reveals Lizabeth is maturing because
she is no longer thinking just about herself.