Paper Writing Reprise

1. Paper Writing Reprise

2. Thesis Statements • A thesis statement says what, how, and why—that is, what effect you’re analyzing, how that effect is produced, and why it matters to the text as a whole. • This means it should combine an analysis of content with an analysis of form. • Example: “In this scene, mixed metaphors of sleep and water create a dichotomy between activity and passivity that demonstrates how Antonio manipulates Sebastian.”

3. Another Example • Bad: “One theme of Machinal is motherhood.” • Still bad: “Machinal shows that motherhood can be a traumatic experience for women.” • Still bad: “The diction, imagery, and tone of Machinal show that motherhood can be a traumatic experience for women.”

4. GOOD: “The experience of the Young Woman in Machinal shows that motherhood can be traumatic for women by using diction that associates childbearing with animals and fragmented syntax that reflects the Young Woman’s trauma and insanity.”

5. Essay Structure • In a thematic reading,do not necessarily move through the play in order. • Instead, divide your argument into body paragraphs based on the ideas or literary devices you’re talking about. For example, have one paragraph about water metaphors throughout the passage, another about sleep metaphors throughout the passage, and another about the dichotomy between activity and passivity throughout the passage.

6. Another Example • Instead of dividing your essay into 1 paragraph per passage of the play, divide it into topics based on the devices used to create the theme, such as animalistic diction or fragmented syntax.

7. Paragraph Structure • Begin every paragraph with a topic sentence. A topic sentence should summarize the paragraph’s argument, not just state a fact or observation. • Bad: “Next, Prospero goes to visit Caliban.” • Bad: “Caliban talks about the animals he encounters on the island.” • Good: “Caliban’s speech uses animal imagery to demonstrate his connection to nature.”

8. Another Example • Bad: “In the next passage about motherhood, the Young Woman is being interrogated in court.” • Bad: “The Young Woman’s soliloquy at the end of Episode Four shows that she is traumatized by childbirth.”

9. GOOD: “The fragmented syntax of the Young Woman’s soliloquy at the end of Episode Four shows that she is traumatized by childbirth.”

10. Introductory Paragraphs • DO NOT EVER begin a paper with a sentence that contains the words “throughout history” or any synonyms thereof! • Bad: “Throughout history, people have written plays.” • Bad: “Throughout history, women have borne children, and sometimes people have written plays about it.” • Bad: “Childbearing has always been a contentious subject.”

11. Instead, begin your paper by mentioning the title and author of the text and introducing the topic you will analyze. • GOOD: “Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal shows how many contemporary conditions affect women, including marriage, industrialization, and motherhood.”

12. Then get more specific: • “In the experience of the protagonist, motherhood is traumatic because she is not attracted to her husband or interested in the future of her child. Therefore, she feels trapped and ashamed after the birth of her child.”

13. Then finish with your thesis. All together now: • “Sophie Treadwell’s Machinal shows how many contemporary conditions affect women, including marriage, industrialization, and motherhood. In the experience of the protagonist, motherhood is traumatic because she is not attracted to her husband or interested in the future of her child. Therefore, she feels trapped and ashamed after the birth of her child. The experience of the Young Woman in Machinal shows that motherhood can betraumatic for women by using diction that associates childbearing with animals and fragmented syntax that reflects the Young Woman’s trauma and insanity.”