For this fiction analysis, you will use a secondary source to help you analyze your primary text, which will be either “Young Goodman Brown,” “The Yellow Wallpaper,” or “The Cask of Amontillado.” Choose one of the following prompts, then read the source mentioned in the prompt to include in your paper. Here are links to the secondary scholarly articles:
For “Young Goodman Brown: ““Young Goodman Brown’s ‘Evil Purpose’”
For “The Yellow Wallpaper”: “Gilman’s Gothic Allegory: Rage and Redemption in ‘The Yellow Wallpaper'”
For “The Cask of Amontillado”: “Poe and the Gothic of the Normal: Thinking ‘Inside the Box”
In your paper, address the prompt question, using a quote/paraphrase/summary from your primary text or a secondary source in each body paragraph to back up your thesis. You should quote from the primary text (the story) at least three times, and you should quote from the secondary source (the article) at least twice. Remember to use a clear thesis that presents your arguable position. State your thesis at the end of the introduction and restate it at the beginning of the conclusion. Put topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph. Limit each body paragraph to one main idea that helps defend the thesis.
In “Young Goodman Brown’s ‘Evil Purpose,’” D.J. Moores argues that Brown’s journey into the forest represents his dive into his subconscious mind to face the repressed parts of his personality. Moore states that, during this journey, Brown fails to acknowledge and own the uglier parts of himself and instead projects them onto everyone around him. Considering (but not necessarily agreeing with) Moores’s ideas, do you believe Brown goes to heaven at the end of the story? You may read the story as a dream vision or as if the visit to the witches’ coven really happened.
Johnson argues that Gilman’s narrator creates an imaginary Gothic world to subvert traditional gender roles and assert her autonomy. Do you believe “The Yellow Wallpaper” is truly a Gothic story? Why or why not? Examine at least three Gothic elements in your answer, such as the supernatural (ghosts), haunted mansions/castles, insanity, hopelessness, bad weather, a heroine in distress, a controlling male antagonist, etc.
Hartnell-Mottram argues that Fortunato from “The Cask of Amontillado” dies due to his inability to see the dangerous reality of his situation because he is trapped in the paradigm of normal life. What role do you believe Fortunato’s perception of reality had in his death?
Here are some simplified instructions for writing your fiction analysis paper
Reread the story and article listed in the prompt you choose for your paper. The short stories are available in your textbook, and the articles are linked in the weekly modules and above.
Choose your answer to the prompt question, and jot down reasons that prove your answer. For instance, if you choose prompt 2, you could argue that yes, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a Gothic story because it contains madness, the supernatural, a haunted house, and hopelessness.
Choose at least three reasons that back up your answer to the prompt and use them to write your thesis statement, something like: “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a Gothic tale because the narrator goes mad, experiences the supernatural, and is trapped in a haunted house.
Fill out the outline template for your paper, adding your chosen quotes for each body paragraph. Do this by splitting your thesis into topic sentences — each body paragraph will be about one reason in your thesis. So, I would have a paragraph about madness, one about the supernatural, and another about the prison-like haunted house.
Create the works cited page for your paper. It should include a citation for the story and the article.
Draft your paper, using the information you included in your outline as a skeleton.
Remember to edit and proofread when you’re done!
The completed paper should be double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font.
The paper should be formatted in MLA format, which is covered in Portable Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing.
Remember to include a works cited page that has an MLA citation for the short story you’ve chosen to write about, along with its accompanying scholarly article. For this assignment, you must use an assigned short story and article.
Include in-text citations (parenthetical citations) after each quoted line from the story or article and after each summary or paraphrase of source information. For short stories and scholarly articles, parenthetical citations include the author’s last name and page number, like this: (Davison 26).
The paper must have a clear thesis statement at the end of the introduction paragraph (the first paragraph) that provides an arguable position that directly answers the question in your chosen prompt.
Body paragraphs must align with the thesis — meaning that each body paragraph makes an argument that backs up and helps develop the claim/argument you make in your thesis. Body paragraphs should each start with a topic sentence that announces the point that paragraph will make, and they should each contain at least one quote from the short story or scholarly article. Note that each quote should not exceed two lines of text.
The conclusion paragraph should begin with a restatement of the thesis and end with your final thoughts on the topic.
Remember to revise and proofread your paper before submitting the final draft to help make your ideas shine! You will receive my editing notes on rough drafts. If you also take your paper to the tutoring centerLinks to an external site., provide me with evidence that you did so to earn an extra +3 points on your paper. The writing tutors are all super friendly, amazing people, so please drop in and say hi!
Ensure that your final paper is at least 900 words, excluding works cited page.
