Write about the Thesis of “Hill’s like White Elephants” by Ernest hemmingway and compare with “The Story of An Hour” by Kate Chopin.
The Fiction Essay must do FOUR things:
1. Declare and support a thesis that presents your opinion concerning some aspect of one or more short stories on our syllabus.
Consider using one of the Critical Approaches presented in our textbook and/or discussed in class. See example thesis statements below:
“Girl” proffers a checklist of how to be a good woman in a West Indies culture. The eponymous “Girl” in Jamaica Kincaid’s short story is not an individual; rather, she is representative of all girls and the obstacles they face growing up in the West Indies.
Hegemony, the force behind the Claudette’s acculturation in Karen Russell’s “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” results in the protagonist’s alienation from her wolf pack as well as the purebred world of humans.
If you want to quickly test the suitability of your thesis, check out this brief but extremely helpful resource.Links to an external site.
2. Address ONE short story from our syllabus; or compare TWO short stories from our syllabus; or compare ONE short story from our syllabus and a work not on the syllabus – this second work may be another short story, a novel, a film, a video game. If you have an idea but aren’t certain if it’s appropriate, please ask me. I encourage creative, out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to your literary criticism.
3. Use at least TWO secondary sources — articles or notes published in academic journals. Additional sources from academic/society web sites (e.g., The Poe Society) may be used as long as they are deemed reliable (NO blogs, student essays, or story summaries). Remember, avoid Gale Database sources that are summary in nature or merely offer surface-level analysis. Reference works include dictionaries and encyclopedias; these may be reliable, but they are NOT peer reviewed and do not count toward the two scholarly sources need for this writing assignment.
4. Reveal your proficiency of MLA documentation (via parenthetical citations and Works Cited entries).
Length and Format
approximately 3-5 page essay; 1,200 words minimum
typed, double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, 1 inch margins (use Page Format template)
MLA citations for all quotes and paraphrases
Works Cited page listing bibliographic citations of primary source(s) and secondary sources
