You will write a short analysis essay (roughly 2000 words — the Part I brainstorming stage does NOT count as part of those 2000 words) on a choice of any of the assigned texts from the second half of the semester (The Chocolate War or Thirty Talks Weird Love).
Each essay should address a carefully-focused subject of the work in question, and:
pose a clear and specific critical question/problem that connects to work we have covered; it should also be a questions/problem you would like to address (without writing the question explicitly – it is embedded in your Introduction)
present a clear and specific response to that question (thesis!)
offer clear and specific evidence from the text as support for your response (citing the book directly, to prove the thesis) . You do not need secondary sources to from your thesis, and should be quoting from the one novel you have selected only.
For the critical question/problem, you should use our Literary Terminology Skill Sets – the assigned materials and Discussion Boards – as a way into the text to determine what the question/issue/problem is.
For the response to that question, it is about developing a sound thesis statement. It is wise to revisit the Thesis Activity Chart Worksheet for additional practice.
For the clear and specific evidence, follow the formula for any piece of evidence in any writing:
explain it;
connect it to surrounding points/paragraph;
connect it to overall research question/thesis.
