EBOLA
Exceptionally brilliant, original literary analysis
Instructions: You must type a three-to-five-page paper that discusses a particular aspect of The Crucible that you found interesting or
worthy of comment. Your paper should be a complete argument, making a claim about the work and supporting the claim with evidence
from the text. You should focus on a single issue so you can explore it in depth. Your paper should be typed (Times New Roman, size
12), double-spaced, and follow MLA formatting as discussed in class.
STEP ONE: Choose a topic. Below are some ideas; choose something from the list below or come up with your own.
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Significance of symbols throughout the play (a crucible, the witch trials, the poppet, the courtroom bird, etc.)
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John Proctor as a tragic hero
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Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams as foils
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Theme of hysteria as shown through Abigail, Tituba, and Mary Warren
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Theme of hypocrisy as shown through characters, actions, and examples
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Analysis of the role of women in The Crucible
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Analysis of the nature of authority and abuse of power in The Crucible
STEP TWO: Derive a thesis statement to determine what you will be arguing. Remember: S.O.B. (Subject, Opinion, Blueprint).
WITHOUT A CAREFULLY CONCEIVED THESIS, YOUR ESSAY WILL NOT SUCCEED.
EXAMPLES:
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Gwendolyn Brooks’s 1960 poem “The Ballad of Rudolph Reed” demonstrates how the poet uses the conventional poetic form of the ballad to
treat the unconventional poetic subject of racial intolerance.
The fate of the main characters in Antigone illustrates the danger of excessive pride.
The imagery in Dylan Thomas’s poem “Fern Hill” reveals the ambiguity of humans’ relationship with nature.
STEP THREE: Write your introduction.
Capture your reader’s interest. You may use a quotation, provocative question, brief anecdote, startling statement, or a
combination. You will also need to include background information relevant to your thesis statement, and YOU MUST
INCLUDE THE TITLE OF THE WORK AND FULL NAME OF THE AUTHOR.
EXAMPLE:
Robert Frost, a renowned 20th-century poet, is known for incorporating simple diction and rural imagery understandable by all readers. One of the many
compelling and recurring motifs in Frost’s poetry is his juxtaposition of opposing images. Using only the titles of some his poems, such as “Fire and Ice” and
“Bond and Free,” the reader can detect how Frost unifies opposites; a closer look into some of his less obvious poems, such as “Stopping by Woods on a
Snowy Evening” and “Birches,” further reveals how he brings together contradictory themes. Although he is considered to be a provincial poet, this motif
demonstrates how he was actually a sophisticated philosopher. Through the comparison of opposing images, Frost goes beyond the calm of New
England’s snowy woods to reveal profound and opposing intangible ideas such as human desire and hate, love and freedom, life and death, and heaven
and earth.
STEP FOUR: Write your body paragraphs. You will need several to support your thesis statement.
1) Topic Sentence: Relate your paragraph back to your thesis statement
2) Subsequent sentences should provide explanation and textual evidence.
a. Textual evidence includes summary, paraphrase, specific detail, and direct quotations
b. Refer to handout on how to integrate textual evidence, or see Mrs. H-D for assistance
STEP FIVE: Write your conclusion.
You want your essay to have a sense of completeness that lets your reader know it’s come to the end. Restate the thesis,
summarize main points you have made, but do not introduce a new topic.
EXAMPLE:
In conclusion, Robert Frost is fondly remembered as a great pastoral poet who wrote poems from which people of all ages and
backgrounds could take meaning. Although some may find his topics of snowy woods and birch trees to be quaint rather than profound,
it is clear through his device of juxtaposing opposites that Frost was in fact a pensive philosopher. His pithy poems that distinguish two
polarized images result in spawning numerous possibilities for each poem’s interpretation, and his longer, more pastoral works reveal his
reflections on grave topics such as life and death and heaven and earth. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Frost did not rely on weighty
allusions or a hefty vocabulary to produce meaningful poetry—he was able to compose deep, philosophical meaning from everyday life.
STEP SIX: Title your paper.
Example: “The Juxtaposition of Opposing Images in Robert Frost’s Poetry”