Your assignment for this essay will be to focus on analysis of two short stories by Tobias Wolff from among those we have read and discussed for this class. In your essay, you will attempt to show a connection between the two stories you choose. Since we will have connected the stories we have read in multiple ways in the journals and discussion, you should have no trouble choosing two: your challenge in the essay will be to demonstrate the connection you see between the two stories.
Once you have established what your thesis will be, that is, what is the link between the two stories that you will demonstrate in your essay, you will need to discuss each story in depth and use textual evidence to support what you say is true about each.
In this essay, you will need to:
1.) Write an opening paragraph that sets up your discussion and establishes your thesis. Be sure to identify each story by title and author in your opening paragraph and engage your reader in the idea or ideas that are central to your discussion. Don’t talk about yourself or the assignment. Be sure your introduction includes a clear thesis statement.
If you’re not sure how to write an effective introduction for an essay like this, here’s an easy template to try:
–Write an opening sentence that introduces a big or relatable idea, something interesting for the reader to think about
–Introduce the stories, perhaps with a sentence for each story that offers a brief summary that doesn’t give away anything important
–Offer your own idea about these two stories, the idea you will use to tie them together
–State your thesis directly
2.) In your discussion of each story, offer the necessary context for the points that you make. What will you need to explain about each story in order to make your point? Imagine your audience has read the stories but may not have studied them as closely as you have. You don’t need to summarize what happens. Direct your reader’s attention through your discussion to the elements (like character, setting, and theme) and passages that support your thesis. Your classmates are a good audience to imagine: they have read the same stories as you have but have not necessarily studied the same two stories in depth and they may not see what you see and think what you think about the stories.
3.) Include textual evidence from each story (exact words from the story in quotation marks) to support your points. Strong evidence is a key component of strong analysis.
4.) Write a conclusion that wraps up the discussion and the thesis clearly. Do this without repeating any sentences from your introduction. You’ve gotten your reader much further along in thinking about the two stories so you can offer a bit more complex connection(s) and ideas at the end.
You should not use any source to write this essay except for the texts of Wolff’s stories that I have provided. As per the course policy the draft you submit must be 100% your own work. I want you to do your own critical analysis, and I’m giving you a lot of room to approach it in any way you want. As long as you offer your own ideas and support your points with evidence, your essay will be successful.
Your paper must be four full pages minimum (double-spaced, 12 point font, no extra margins or spaces between paragraphs). Your paper will not earn a satisfactory grade (C or higher) if it does not meet the minimum requirements for the assignment.
These are the stories I chose and the connections I made for the essay :
How could you connect this story to any of the other stories we’ve read so far by Wolff? You
can approach this question by making one specific connection between this story and one other
story or by explaining a theme/idea or an aspect of Wolff’s style that you see in several of the
stories. Whichever approach you choose, explain the connection as specifically as you can.
In the stories Her Dog and Mortals, Wolff makes a connection between as they share a similar
theme of death and responsibility. Wolff in his story Her Dog, Grace the wife dies and then Joe
must take on the responsibility of Victor “her dog” that he never wanted in the first place. In
Mortals, Mr. Givens sends in a fake obituary of himself getting a journalist fired and unwilling to
take responsibility and admitting his mistake.
I attached the readings for the stories you can have to use.
