Socratic Seminar Paper 1-Literary Analysis
Remember to format paper according to MLA standards. Reference your Writer’s Guide for
further information on MLA. Paper Length: 2pages-rule of 3rds applies
This Socratic Seminar paper is over Chapter 2 of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald—
pages 528-535 in your textbook. Choose one of the “Literary Analysis Frames” for your paper
and follow the format below. If you choose to combine frames they must be from the same
category (i.e. ‘Character’, ‘Setting’, etc.). The outline below should help give you an idea of the
format your paper should follow. Please remember that paragraphs must consist of at least 5
sentences. This is a formal paper so there should be no contractions and no use of first or
second person.

Look at ‘Characters’ #1-What motivates each character to act as he or she does?
o Thesis 1: “Different things motivate each character to act as he or she does.” 
o “A variety of things motivate Adam to act as he does.” 
 These theses are too vague. Instead try---o “Money, love, and status motivate Dexter to act as he does in the story “Winter
Dreams”. 
Introduction
 Identify author and title of work you are writing about
 Identify and explain the focus of your analysis
 Thesis-don’t forget to underline!
(3+) Body paragraphs –must have at least 3 key supporting points to support your thesis
 Identify key supporting point 1 and support with evidence from the text.
 Identify key supporting point 2 and support with evidence from the text.
 Identify key supporting point 3 and support with evidence from the text.
o A minimum of three pieces of evidence from the text means you should have a
minimum of three in-text citations as well! No works cited is needed since your
only source is the textbook. If using both texts don’t forget to indicate both
author and page number of source.
Conclusion
 Write thoughts about the story as a whole
 Sum up key points
 Restate thesis