Hemingway essay reminders

1. Hemingway essay reminders • Strong thesis (Make any claim you want to long as it’s supported by the text without “stretching” the text or taking it out of context) • Be clear and concise • Use active voice • Use present tense unless providing historical overview • Watch wordiness and awkwardness (read aloud!) • In your quote analysis, do not just summarize the quote; explain how the example proves the thesis—be specific!

2. Be sure your intro: • identifies the literary work and its author • Provides a brief “roadmap” of the organization of the essay • ends with a thesis statement that: • goes beyond observation and makes a debatable point to be proven in the essay • is one sentence (ideally) • avoids wordiness

3. Thesis purpose • The thesis should convey a “universal truth” about the work that is revealed through a specific element of the text; i.e. a motif or symbol, a character, a plot element, figurative language, a type of conflict, etc. • In all AP questions, you are analyzing literary elements to uncover meaning or theme. (Small element to big idea)

4. Thesis structure • In "We Were The Mulvaneys," Joyce Carol Oates uses Marianne and her father’s distant relationship to demonstrate that even traumatic experiences cannot break the love and bonds of a family.

5. In Crime and Punishment, the contrast between the thoughts and actions of Raskolnikov proves that environmental factors determine a man’s morality more than his own conscience.

6. In the novel, East of Eden, John Steinbeck uses the depression and suicide of Tom Hamilton to demonstrate man's vulnerability to being conquered by sin.

7. In The Kite Runner, KhaledHosseini juxtaposes the symbol of a beloved pomegranate tree with the maturation of Hassan and Amir to illustrate the effect time may have on a close friendship.

8. Shakespeare’s The Tempestuses the metaphor of a raging tempest to mirror the developmental stages of transforming resentment into forgiveness.

9. The complexities of the human psyche examined in Crime And Punishment demonstrate that suffering not only plays a major role in human life but is a requirement of survival.

10. Essay choices • A recurring theme in literature is the classic war between a passion and responsibility. For instance, a personal cause, a love, a desire for revenge, or some other emotion may conflict with moral duty. In A Farewell to Arms, how do the demands of a private passion conflict with a character’s responsibilities? In a well-organized essay, explain how this conflict contributes to the meaning of the work as a whole. Avoid plot summary. • Writers often highlight the values of a culture or a society by using characters who are alienated from that culture or society. In A Farewell to Arms, show how a character's alienation causes him/her to challenge the surrounding society's assumptions or moral values and what this reveals about the work as a whole. Avoid plot summary. • In great literature, no scene of violence exists for its own sake. Choose a scene or scenes of violence in A Farewell to Arms. In a well-organized essay, explain how the scene or scenes relate to the larger themes of the novel. Avoid plot summary.

11. Reminders: 1. Grabbers • General statement about the main topic of the essay • Brief line of relevant dialogue or a notable quote • A few lines providing context of time period

12. 2. Thesis statements • The thesis is the toothpick that holds the entire essay together; its presence should be felt in every paragraph. (Most Important!) • Many papers have thesis statements not supported by the text (speculations). Hemingway punishes Frederic for abandoning the war for Catherine to show it is wrong to choose passion over responsibility. • Don’t use absolute language. Hemingway demonstrates that choosing passion over responsibility will never end rewardingly.

13. Possible thesis wording • Ultimately Frederic Henry’s rejection of society’s expectations and values represents Hemingway’s acknowledgement that … ___________________________________________. • Through Frederic Henry’s battle between his duty as a soldier and his passion as a man, Hemingway demonstrates... ___________________________________________. • Hemingway uses these escalating acts of violence to illustrate/demonstrate/reinforce ________________.

14. 3. Introduction • General grabber or opener • Bridge that identifies author, title of work, and focus of paper • Roadmap (brief overview of the organization of your paper) • Thesis statement • (see sample Intro on next page)

15. Sample Intro:

16. 4. Topic sentences: Present each example and its significance to your overall point. Each should in some way be related to your thesis. • Frederic’s perception of war is subject to significant changes throughout the course of the novel as he struggles between his loyalty as a soldier and his budding attraction to Catherine. • Frederic’s realization of the transitory nature of life causes an internal conflict as he pulls away from war and turns toward love to heal him. • The conclusion of the novel demonstrates that all pursuits—whether of love or duty—are subject to the whims of fate.

17. 5. Quote Integration You must integrate the quote by letting us know who is speaking! You can do this in 1 of 3 ways: • Formally with a comma. Use a speaker tag to introduce a quote. EX: Henry shows this stoicism when he thinks, “…” OR • Formally with a colon. EX: Here, Hemingway illustrates Henry’s state of mind following his baby’s death: “…” OR • Informally with no comma (built right into your sentence) EX: Even after being broken repeatedly by death, Henry seems to have grown “stronger at the broken places” (Hemingway 123).

18. 6. Quality and number of quotes • Quotes should help prove the thesis, not merely advance plot description. • Many body paragraphs could be strengthened through use of a second relevant quote. • If you learn how to use two quotes in tandem, you have much more “raw material” to work with; therefore, your case will be stronger and you’ll be less likely to stray into repetition.

19. 7. Avoid slang • No “fazes him,” “shrugs it off,” or “doesn’t let death get to him”

20. Peer revision • Read your partner’s intro carefully, looking for a compelling grabber, a bridge that identifies author & title and perhaps a brief overview of novel, roadmap and clear thesis. Be sure the thesis is specific and conveys a universal truth. • Read your partner’s topic sentences to be sure they all relate to the topic being introduced. • Read your partner’s quotes to make sure they are properly integrated, appropriate, and effective at illustrating the point. • Read the conclusion, looking for a reworded thesis and an extension connecting the theme to something outside the novel itself. • Examine the writing style to check for passive voice, wordiness, and awkwardness.