English 1B Fiction Paper #1: Dynamic Characters
Working with any two of the short stories we are reading for this course, you
will argue that one character from each story is a dynamic character.
Specifically, you will identify one character from each of your two
selected stories who fits the definition of a dynamic character and
explain how these characters change their perspective significantly
enough during the story to warrant the “dynamic character” label.
You will find links to the stories from which you may choose inside the content modules for weeks 1
and 2. If you wish to read ahead, a list of authors and titles is appended to this prompt.
This paper is more argumentative than comparison-contrast; however, when choosing your two
characters, try pairing ones who have something in common, as it will help focus your paper’s central
idea. For example, your characters might respond similarly to different situations or might react
differently to the same type of conflict. Or they might both change in the face of adversity, but one
experiences positive change while the other experiences negative change.
Structure
Your final draft of this paper should reach 1,000+ words; all drafts should consist of multiple
paragraphs and follow standard academic essay structure.
In your paper’s introduction paragraph, accurately identify both stories (authors and titles); briefly
and in your own words define, illustrate, or otherwise contextualize dynamic characters***; and
name the characters being written about. End your introduction paragraph with an explicit thesis
statement that—in your own words—claims these two characters are indeed dynamic and
briefly indicates the fundamental changes experienced by these characters that prove your
claim.
***If your definition of a dynamic character extends beyond a brief retelling of the
content module’s definition (which doesn’t require citing), it should come from a
credible reference source and should be cited and listed accordingly; HOWEVER, it
won’t count as this paper’s requisite outside source (more about that below).
Then, in each of your paper’s body paragraphs, show in detail how and how much your characters
change in the manner indicated by your thesis statement. In the development of your body
paragraphs, you may choose to discuss other literary elements, but do so only as needed to show
the degree and significance of each character’s transformation. For example, you might discuss
the role of point of view in a first-person narrator’s coming of age or the elements of plot in how a
character deals with conflict, or you might reflect on the theme accompanying or irony associated with
a character’s development.
Development
Most of your support for this paper should come from the two stories themselves, but you are
expected to also search for and logically incorporate into your paper material from at least one
credible scholarly article about one of the stories, preferably an article found in the library
databases.
NOT credible are student papers, most blogs, “notes” websites such as eNotes, LitCharts, and
CliffsNotes, and sources from open source or test prep websites such as Wikipedia, Shmoop,
123HelpMe, or Studymode; also not credible is the output of generative AI. And please do not include
references to any literary work other than your two short stories.
When using outside sources, make sure the claims of others are also backed by textual evidence. In
other words, don’t try to pass off inferences—whether yours or your source’s—as facts.
Your paper is not going to look the same as your classmates’ papers—even if you write about the
same characters—and that’s great! Each literary analysis produces its own unique set of results.
What meaning do you construct from the stories? How well can you support your conclusions?
Which legitimate literary scholars out there concur? What from the stories supports their claims?
Concrete, logical support is much more important than being “right.”
As this is an academic essay, you are expected to avoid writing from the second person (you, your,
you’re, and yours) or the first person singular (I, me, my, and mine) point of view. Instead, write in the
third person (preferably) or the first person plural (the collective “we”).
You are also expected to avoid most informal diction, speech-like devices, clichés, colloquialisms,
and wordy expressions. For more specific guidelines on development, see the writing
conventions information later in this document.
Grading
This essay is expected to follow all guidelines stipulated in the syllabus, including the submission and
formatting requirements. Its overall grade will consist of the following:
On-time, on-task submission of the first draft assignment, second draft, peer reviews, and final draft assignment: 50 pts
Final draft uses appropriate syntax, diction, style, and voice: 7 pts
Final draft demonstrates effective unity (explicit thesis statement; no irrelevant sentences): 8 pts
Final draft employs effective support; all inferences backed by facts; meets minimum word/source count: 10 pts
Final draft maintains effective coherence: logical order, effective transitions, fair and accurate source integration: 10 pts
Final draft offers correct MLA formatting, citations, and works cited list: 5 pts
Final draft sentences are free of distracting errors in grammar, usage, punctuation, and mechanics: 10 pts
Total points possible: 100
89.5%-100% = A 79.5%-89.4% = B 69.5%-79.4% = C 59.5%-69.4% = D 0%-58.4% = F
You will find specific instructions for this paper’s first draft assignment, second draft, peer review, and final draft
assignment in Canvas during the particular week in which each part is due.
If you seek help with this paper from a WRC instructor or tutor—whether virtually or in person—be sure to have
this prompt handy for reference.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
WRITING ABOUT LITERATURE GUIDELINES—MLA 9 FORMAT
Research Resources
Inside the RCC Library, there are many resources available in the Reference Section, such as these:
Authors Digest
Book Review Digest
Contemporary Authors
Contemporary Literary Criticism
Critical Survey of Poetry
Critical Survey of Short Fiction
Cyclopedia of Literary Characters
Encyclopedia of World Literature
Guide to American Poetry Explication
Masterplots
Short Story Criticism
Short Story Index
Something about the Author
Survey of Contemporary Literature
Twentieth Century Literary Criticism
What is really helpful about these sources is that they usually contain multiple articles by well-known critics for
each author or story you look up. This can be a real time saver.
Most of the library’s resources are also available online. You can find reference and journal (scholarly) articles
on literature through RCC’s online library holdings catalog by searching Databases A-Z from any computer
(instructions for off-campus access pop up as soon as you click on a database). Try a subject search of your
author’s name (i.e. William Faulkner) or a particular work’s title (i.e. “A Rose for Emily”), and don’t forget to limit
your search to full-text articles.
Also, remember our library’s e-book holdings. Look for books on the subject of literature or literary criticism, or
look up your particular author or title by name (it is better to use the “subject” or “keyword” searches; otherwise,
you end up with the work itself or works written by the author instead of information about the author or title.
And you don’t have to completely avoid the Internet when searching for sources. There are legitimate sites
dedicated to particular writers and works. These sites often contain helpful links to other sites. Just avoid sites
that have missing/dubious credentials (i.e., someone’s Edgar Allan Poe “fan” page) or that summarize
extensively (i.e., CliffsNotes). Also be cautious of Google Scholar, as it often takes you to student essays,
which would not be credible sources for this paper (and if you do come across student work—consider
searching up some of their listed sources to see if they might be useful).
For more on finding sources, see the “Literary Research” tutorial on our Online Resources page, the
shortcut for which is located at the bottom of our Canvas course home page.
Writing Protocol
1) Operate under the assumption that your reader is familiar with the texts with which you are working
and with basic literary concepts. You are not writing a book report. DO NOT provide detailed plot summaries
or complete author biographies of every story, poem, or play to which you refer. You are also not writing a
textbook, so do not define basic terms such as plot, characterization, or setting unless directed to do so. The
references you make to works of literature you are analyzing and interpreting are intended to act as evidence
to support the claims you are making in your paper.
2) Assume your reader is not enrolled in our class. Avoid making references to our class in your paper (“In
yesterday’s story, we learned about…” or “This week’s content module defines a developing character as….”).
3) Always write about literature in the present tense: “Emily’s keeping company with a Northerner shocks
the townspeople into sending for her kinfolk, but after several weeks of interacting with those relatives, the
town begins to view Emily more sympathetically.”
4) On first reference, use an author’s full name; after that, use his or her last name only.
5) Don’t editorialize unnecessarily. Unless your personal reaction to the story, poem, or play is a crucial part
of your paper’s central argument, keep it out. If you write in first person at all, stick to first person plural (the
collective “we”). For more stipulations, see each paper’s prompt.
MLA Documentation
MLA formatting periodically updates, and even if you learned an older format, you are expected to use the
latest, which for this class is MLA 9. Rest assured that even if you learned MLA formatting a while ago, very
little has changed regarding in-text citations other than block quotes now being indented a half inch instead of
a full inch. Even the works cited list changes are fairly straightforward.
What follows are some reminders about basic MLA citation format:
1) If you cite an entire work rather than part of the work, include the author’s name in the text instead of in a
parenthetical reference:
Interestingly enough, Margaret Atwood offers an often-humorous portrayal of stalking in her short story, “The Man from Mars.”
2) Remember that short story titles take quotation marks, not italics. Also, for parenthetical citations, include
the story’s author and, only if it is a print source, the page number from which your quote or paraphrase is
taken:
Miss Brill notes some park visitors seem to have “just come from dark little rooms or even—even cupboards” (Mansfield 121).
3) In your works cited list, if you are citing a work from an anthology, you need to start with the author and the
title of the work, followed by the title of the anthology, the editor or compiler of the anthology (if applicable), the
publisher and date of publication, and the inclusive page numbers of the entire short story, poem, etc.
Chopin, Kate. “The Story of an Hour.” Literature to Go. 3rd ed., edited by Michael Meyer, Bedford/St. Martins, 2017, pp. 15-16.
Remember, there is a MLA formatting handout in the “Tutorials” section of our Online Resources page
inside our Canvas class that reiterates and illustrates these and additional guidelines.
For more about MLA formatting, please follow these links to visit resources from the Purdue OWL or
the MLA website or the Easybib blog.
And for specific assistance with works cited entries, you can also follow one of these links to use a
citation generator:
Easybib Citefast
Appendix: The List of stories you can chose from
Theay-Lee Chai’s “Saving Sourdi”
• May-Lee Chai’s “Saving Sourdi”
• Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”
• Dagoberto Gilb’s “Uncle Rock”
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
• James Joyce’s “Eveline”
• Maggie Mitchell’s “It Would Be Different If”
• Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”
• Amy Tan’s “A Pair of Tickets”
• John Updike’s “A & P”
• Fay Weldon’s “Ind Aff, or out of Love in Sarajevo”
• Tobias Wolff’s “That Room” ◎ Search M2
List of Short Stories from Which You May Choose
ay-Lee Chai’s “Saving Sourdi”
Lee Chai’s “Saving Sourdi”Tobias Wolff’s “That Room”
Part 1: Proposal
Please copy and paste this template into a blank document; then specifically answer all of the following questions in complete sentences. If you have a difficult time answering these questions, it might indicate that you need to need to think further about your topic selection and how to make your topic more meaningful for YOU.
(1) Which two stories have you chosen and which character from each? Please include each story’s full title and author and each character’s name.
(2) What makes each of these characters dynamic? Please explain using the definition of dynamic characters discussed in the content module.
(3) What is your preliminary thesis statement? Please follow the prompt’s guidelines for what to include in this thesis statement, and ensure that this is a properly constructed thesis statement, not an announcement of purpose. If you need guidance, see the “Tutorials” section of our Online Resources page and the WRC-LAB Canvas modules.
(4) What are your preliminary main points in support of that thesis statement? Please remember that the essay’s body should be dedicated to showing how, how much, and how permanently each character’s perspective/outlook/value system evolves during the course of the story, because of the events in the story.
(5) What is your tentative choice for your outside source, and why? How and where did you find this source? Please remember that this source must be a published, scholarly, credible article about one of your two short stories, preferably from the RCC library holdings or databases.
Part 2: First Draft
Rough drafts are just that–rough! They are wordy, unformatted, unedited, experimental, incomplete, and absolutely necessary! They allow you to see how your ideas develop and how you are expressing your purpose to your intended audience. They show you where the gaps are that you need to fill and help you figure out what to fill those gaps with. They also show you what you are doing well! Most importantly, they give you something to revise. After all, you can’t improve on something that doesn’t exist.
Using your thesis statement and main points from your completed proposal to guide you, please do BOTH of the following:
(A) Write an ORIGINAL, relatively complete (500+ words) first draft that (1) is on topic with the prompt, (2) is fully written (not in outline form), and (3) contains some integration of your two stories and some inclusion of your outside source.
(B) After you have completed your first draft, highlight, underline, bold, and/or label your thesis statement and each of your main points in support of your thesis statement.
Grading for this assignment:
5 points for your on-time submission of a proposal written ONLY by you that fully and knowledgeably answers each question (see numbers 1-5 in Part 1 above).
10 points for your on-time submission of a first draft written ONLY by you that completely fulfills all the assigned tasks (see letters A and B in Part 2 above).
15 points = 100%
