My Thoughts on the Old Man and the Sea

Remember: All essays in this course must be cited using MLA format. (MLA format requires the inclusion of both in-text citations and a Works Cited.) The short story essay will reference a specific story from the text; therefore, when paraphrasing, summarizing, or quoting directly from the text, include an in-text citation to reference the story. The essay must also contain a complete Works Cited. When citing the text in the Works Cited, cite as a work from an anthology.

Review the resources provided in this course for additional assistance with MLA.

Before beginning your essay, review Chapter 29 (Writing About Literature). Refer to Chapter 29 throughout the development of your essay, as it contains important guidelines for writing about literature and also provides several sample papers.

When reviewing the sample papers, notice they all contain a common structure:

* Each essay is written in proper MLA format, containing name, professor, class, and date.

* Each essay contains an original, descriptive title.

* Each essay opens with the title(s) and author of piece(s) being written about. (Titles of short stories are placed in quotation marks.)

* If necessary, the opening paragraph also contains a brief summary of the work.

* The first paragraph (or perhaps the second paragraph) develops a clear thesis. The thesis presents a statement of the main point of the essay (the assertion or argument of the essay).

* Each paragraph contains a topic sentence to state the focus of the paper.

* Each topic sentence is supported with clear examples and details to provide evidence of the claim.

* Each time the paper paraphrases or quotes from a source (including the work of literature being analyzed) the author cites the paraphrase or quote using in-text citations.

* A corresponding Works Cited page is included.

Assignment Guidelines

· Write an essay that analyzes a specific aspect of a short story. For this assignment, you...