Please see the rubric below to make sure you are meeting all other requirements (click on “view longer description” for each item on rubric).
The essay is on the short story the things they carries by tom Obrien
- The short story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien
LENGTH: 3-5 full pages, formatted in MLA style
- In your introduction, clearly state the main theme you find in the story. Your statement of theme should reflect the complexity of the work. It will most likely involve a relationship between two or more ideas. Remember, a theme is a truth about humanity, human nature, the nature of society, the nature of the universe, etc. (Push your “climbing” higher!)
- Your paper will analyze how the author develops the theme through one or more of the following: imagery, character, detail, connotations/word choices, etc. (You should not merely analyze a particular character as a person, but examine how the author uses that character as an example of human nature.)
- For the body of your paper, write several ABC cycles of development, each clearly focused and unified around a specific, arguable claim that is broken out from your thesis. Support each claim about how the author develops theme by providing specific evidence including plenty of direct quotations from the story or play. (You might need to expand to ABCBC or ABCBCBC in some paragraphs.) Use clear, logical reasoning to connect your support to your claim, and to connect each cycle to your overall thesis.
- Your conclusion should sum up your argument without being simply redundant. It should not take the form of a “moral to the story” or advice to the reader.
AUDIENCE:
Consider your audience to be the academic community at large. I am your immediate audience, but I represent “the reader.” (Therefore, do not use terms such as “climbing and diving” that would not be recognizable to a wider audience.) You should strive to enlighten “the reader,” provoking new insights, adding to the conversation, and increasing the reader’s understanding of the work. Your paper should reflect careful revision and editing.
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