As you prepare to begin revising your analysis, read the section of Writing Analytically devoted to composing thesis statements (247-52). Also review the opening paragraph of my analysis of Art Spiegelman’s Maus and my sample opening for a possible analysis of Donald Bartheleme’s “The School,” both of which follow.
In Chapter 4 of Art Spiegelman’s graphic memoir Maus, he depicts his father Vladek’s account of the hangings of four Jewish merchants in Sosnowiec, Poland. Vladek and his wife, Anja, learn from Anja’s father, Mr. Zylberberg, that the Nazis have arrested his friend Nahum Cohn and his son. With his head bowed in sorrow, Mr. Zylberberg says to Anja and Vladek, “The Germans intend to make an example of them!” (83). That image of Mr. Zylberberg speaking with Vladek and Anja overlays the larger panel that dominates the page, one that depicts the horror that Mr. Zylberberg anticipates: the murder of his friend Nahum Cohn, Cohn’s son, and two other Jewish merchants. That haunting panel and the smaller ones that frame it illustrate the complexity of Spiegelman’s seemingly simple composition. His rendering of the panels of the living in conjunction with the fragmented panels of the hanged merchants simultaneously conveys connection and separation: both the grieving survivors’ ties to the dead and the hanged men’s objectification at the hands of the Nazis.
The authors of Writing Analytically note that “a productive thesis statement usually contains tension, the balance of this against that” (Rosenwasser and Stephen 248). Reread the thesis above (in bold) and consider the instances of “this against that”: larger panel and smaller one, complexity and simplicity, connection and separation.
Now consider the “this against that” in the sample opening for a possible analysis of Donald Bartheleme’s “The School,”
Donald Barthelme’s short story “The School” recounts a series of classroom lessons that end with the death of plants and animals–deaths that serve as a prelude to the death of a Korean orphan, followed by the deaths of classmates and family members. With conversational narration, accumulation of detail, and a shift in fictional mode, Barthelme deftly depicts the reality of the fleeting nature of life, even as the story itself veers from reality.
The sample opening paragraph above lacks the detail of the first paragraph of my Maus analysis because it’s the draft of an introduction for a paper I haven’t written. Completing a draft would enable me to develop the introduction and refine my thesis statement. That said, the introduction already has an instance of “this against that”: the reality of life depicted and the veering from reality with the shift in fictional mode.
Citing Others’ Ideas
If your analysis includes any ideas drawn from my remarks, which I subsequently posted as class notes on my blog, you should cite the blog post as you would any other online source.
Example: Dr. Lucas notes, “For Junod, choosing not to divide the first paragraph creates an unbroken movement that parallels the unbroken flight of his subject” (par. 3).
Sample Works Cited Entries
Lucas, Jane. “ENG 1103: David Sedaris’s ‘Me Talk Pretty One Day.’” Jane Lucas, 26 Aug. 2024. https://janelucas.com/2024/08/26/eng-1103-david-sedariss-me-talk-pretty-one-day/.
Lucas, Jane. “ENG 1103: Donald Bartheleme’s ‘The School.’” Jane Lucas, 18 Sept. 2024. https://janelucas.com/2024/09/18/eng-1103-donald-barthelemes-the-school-2/.
Lucas, Jane. “ENG 1103: Field Notes and Peer Responses.” Jane Lucas, 16 Sept. 2024. https://janelucas.com/2024/09/16/eng-1103-field-notes-and-peer-responses-2/.
Lucas, Jane. “ENG 1103: “A Second Look at Sedaris and a First Glimpse of Heller.” Jane Lucas, 2 Sept. 2024. https://janelucas.com/2024/09/02/eng-1103-a-second-look-at-sedaris-a-first-glimpse-of-heller-and/.
Lucas, Jane. “ENG 1103: “Tom Junod’s ‘The Falling Man.’” Jane Lucas, 12 Sept. 2024. https://janelucas.com/2024/09/12/eng-1103-tom-junods-the-falling-man-2/.
Next Up
Tomorrow I will return your drafts with my notes, and you will have the class period to begin revising on your laptops. Because next week is fall break, you will have two additional weeks to continue your revision work. The due date is Wednesday, October 16 (before class). The hard deadline is Friday, October 18.
Jane Lucas 