Week 9 - Theme

This Week

On Monday and Tuesday this week we will be discussing Flannery O'Connor's story "A Good Man is Hard to Find."  

On Friday we will discuss Achebe's "Dead Men's Path," found on pages 269-271 of your text book. Please note that this is a change from our syllabus. If you previously read "Dead Men's Path" when it was originally assigned, please re-read it so it will be fresh in your mind. 

Journal Activity (Edited for clarity)

We're focusing on theme this week and next week. For your journal assignment this week please write two simple outlines, one each for two different essays on theme that you might write.  Since I am asking for two outlines, I will credit this as two journal assignments--you will receive full credit for each outline, so that it is possible this week to make up for one missed assignment from the past.

Your imaginary essays can be an in-depth argument about theme or a comparison of two stories with a connected theme, or a comparison of a poem and story with a theme in common, but they must both include reference to at least one short story I assigned this term.

A simple outline for an essay looks like this:

1. Thesis
1. First main point
1. Evidence for main point
2. Evidence
2. Second main point
1. Evidence for main point
2. Evidence
3. Third main point
1. Evidence
2. Evidence

You must include at least three main points and at least two pieces of evidence per point.  Here is an example:

1. Timothy Findley's "Stones" is a story about the lasting destructive effects of war.
1. David Max's experiences in war damage him emotionally
1. "His torment and his grief were to lead my father all the way to the grave" (80).
2. Before the war he is happy and loving. After the war he isn't.
2. The war damages the Max family
1. David attacks the mother.
2. David alienates all of his children.
3. The war and its effects diminish the community in Toronto. The people there, even those not directly involved in the war, become less kind.
1. Oskar Schickel gets driven out because of his German name.
2. "If my father had appeared on the street with his military greatcoat worn over his civilian clothes, it would have been assumed he was a Zombie or a deserter and he would have been arrested instantly. Our neighbours would have turned him in, no matter who he was. Our patriotism had come to that" (75-76).

Note that "evidence" can be generalized facts about the story, quotations, or logic. If I was to turn this outline into a full essay I would need make sure my evidence was well chosen to make the point, and I would need to polish the language and phrasing quite a bit as well as expand and link the ideas to one another.


Looking Ahead to Next Week

Next week we will continue our discussion of theme, focusing on two stories from our textbook: "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" on Monday, and "Young Goodman Brown" on Wednesday.

Next Friday the draft of your third essay is due and we will be doing another in-class peer review. Please be sure to have a draft of your third essay ready for Friday's class.