Final Writing Project
Breece D’J Pancake’s “First Day of Winter”
Prof. Mark A. Tambone
Breece D’J Pancake’s stories are set in the harsh backdrop of rural West Virginia. Pancake often uses the environment to help reveal the burdens and inner-conflicts of his most hardened characters. In “First Day of Winter,” Pancake introduces us to Hollis, a farm boy confronting the ever-present reality of the approaching season and what it means for his fate. Hollis’ endless struggle with his own desires, family guilt, and his inner failings are juxtaposed against the fierce, unrelenting environment (both outside and inside of the farmhouse). This haunting, bare-bones account of Hollis closing down the family farm before the hardest season hits is sure to leave you with a deeper sense of his inner-strife born from a dark sense of “place.”
Format: MLA typed Reader Response paper; 5 paragraphs
Exact quotes from the text to support your claims; one per body paragraph
Analysis Prompt: At the end of the story, Pancake crafts a final image of Hollis succumbing to the reality of his dire situation. Pancake uses funeral imagery to describe Hollis as he takes his nap, and we can assume Pancake wants to convey how dead and hopeless Hollis feels. But why? Develop an argumentative thesis explaining which elements from the story help us to understand/reveal/prove why Hollis feels either trapped, dead inside/hopeless or like he is attending his own funeral.
· Provide support for your claims; Use quotes from the text
· Develop your analysis in each body paragraph but only one point per paragraph
· Discuss his main conflict within the story/why he would feel so dead
· You may want to analyze symbols/symbolism which help to reveal his feelings
· You may want to describe and/or use examples from the text /Pancake’s descriptions of the setting to support your understanding of Hollis’ feelings
· Maybe discuss family relationships, guilt and neglect–are these factors?
When writing, remember:
· Do not use the story’s title as the title of your paper.
· Adhere to MLA format and proofread line by line.
· In the first paragraph please: include the author’s name, title of story (in quotes), a brief summary/synopsis of the story and your thesis statement (which is a reworking of the actual prompt question explaining what you will argue within the paper).
· You must expand your claims and ideas in the body paragraphs, but focus each paragraph to only one specific aspect you want to discuss.
· Use transitions that guide the reader to your exact point. You do not have to write your assessments in chronological order of the story’s plot. You may want to write transitions and signal phrases like these:
After Hollis goes hunting…;
At one point in the story, Hollis…;
Pancake uses the setting to help illustrate the importance of….
· The conclusion is your chance to shine! Engage the reader by suggesting something about the reading that affected you personally, or you may relate the story’s overarching theme to the larger world existing outside of the text. Maybe some all-powerful truth that is revealed in the story also holds true in life. How does the author’s theme resonate with us and our lives especially now as we all remain in lockdown?
This is the short story: “First Day of Winter” : please follow… (blackboard.com)
