A thesis statement
The first sentence of your introductions should give the title and author of the book. You must have a well-developed thesis statement as the last sentence in your introductory paragraph and topic sentences in each body paragraph. Your thesis should make a claim and should be your own thoughts/opinions about the topic, a claim that you are making throughout the paper. The thesis should have a “so what” to it, meaning it should give me a reason to want to read your paper. You then use your body paragraphs to “prove” your point.
Create a thesis statement, and back up your claim with support/evidence from the text. Support should contain clear, specific examples from the story or stories you are analyzing, as well as documentation for all text references. Include at least one quotation from the story in each body paragraph of your essay, for a total of 4 quotations from the story/poem. *See handouts about how citing poetry is different than stories. It would be a good idea to do an outline before writing the essay.
Follow MLA format: Use size 12, Times New Roman font and 1-inch margins; double space.
Include a Work Cited page. It is not included in the one and a half to two-page length requirement; it should appear on a separate page at the end of your paper. You will automatically lose 20 points for not including a Works Cited page.
Discuss the importance of setting in 1 work from Unit 1. Analyze how the setting (time and place) adds meaning, conflict, and/or relevance to the characters. Do NOT just describe the setting and tell me “in this story the setting is this. In that story the setting is that.” That is not analysis, nor is it interesting. I want to know how and why the setting is significant, what this reveals about the characters, the time period, and the conflict within the story.
