As you continue to revise your analysis, review the sample paragraphs that follow (from Monday’s class handout) and look to the recommended revisions as models for your own introduction and conclusion.
Introductory Paragraph, “Wait Means Never”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” is a speech of literature that was composed many years ago yet remains relevant. King’s words give insight into the life of an African American during the 1960s and symbolize the significance of taking action and standing up for what is right, justice for African Americans. In this particular letter, King speaks about how it’s easy for people who have never felt pain of being oppressed, discriminated against, and segregated to say the word “wait.” The letter goes further into detail about what “wait” truly means for an African American and specifically tackles the perspective of an American father who also has to explain to his children why the world is the way it is, yet that father does not quite know himself why people act in such a harsh manner. In this letter, Martin Luther King Jr. utilizes repetition, detail, vivid imagery, and sentence structure to deliver a message to not just one person, or even a hundred people, but the entire country that justice for African Americans cannot be a patient matter.
Revision
Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” while he was serving a sentence for participating in nonviolent protests in Alabama. His testimony was a response to the eight white clergymen who had drafted an open letter, earlier in 1963, that addressed King’s involvement in the civil rights movement and urged him to seek justice in the courts rather than in the streets. In his answer to the clergymen, King asserts that a Christianity that permits racial oppression and prejudice is immoral and stands in direct opposition to the teachings of the gospel. Though King’s letter draws on his 1956 sermon “Paul’s Letter to American Christians,” the hallmark of his epistolary essay is not the rhythmic cadences of his baritone voice, but instead its artful composition—particularly, its eleventh paragraph. With the repetition of the word “wait” and a series of dependent clauses, King encapsulates his testimony and delays the end of the letter’s longest sentence, creating a holding pattern that forces readers to experience their own wait.
Concluding Paragraph, Untitled Analysis
In conclusion, Helen Keller’s essay “The Day Language came into My Life” provides a deep understanding on the impact of language and education. Through Keller’s narrative, she allows readers to experience her transformation from isolation to connection. Along with this, readers can experience her feelings regarding silence to speech. Her essay serves as inspiration and motivation about limitless capabilities no matter the situation.
Revision
The end of Keller’s chapter offers readers a glimpse of the life she might have lived had Miss Sullivan not been able to reach her through sign language. Writing that “for the first time [she] longed for a new day to come” (par. 9), Keller reminds readers that every day before her discovery of language was a day of despair. More than one hundred years after the publication of her autobiography, her words endure as a testament of the vital role of language and continue to guide readers through her journey from darkness to a world that “quiver[ed] with life” (par. 8).
In addition to reviewing the sample revisions above, look back at the model analysis “The Strange Fruit of Sosnowiec.” Note how I turn from summary to commentary in the opening paragraph and end the introduction with my thesis statement. Then look back at the final paragraph and note how I bring the analysis full circle by (1) connecting the events recounted on page eighty-three of Maus to then-current (2021) events, (2) returning to the image of Mr. Zyberberg’s bowed head mentioned in the introduction, and (3) echoing the strange fruit in the title.
Also consider revisiting the blog posts devoted to the sample student analyses:
You may also find it helpful to review these sections of Writing Analytically:
- “Late-Stage Editing and Revising: Some Tips” (151-52).
- “The Thesis and the Writing Process” (237-38).
Next Up
In class on Wednesday, you will compose a short reflective essay on the processes of planning, drafting, and revising your analysis. As part of that assignment, you will integrate one relevant quotation from our textbook, Writing Analytically, or from the essay, essay excerpt, or chapter that serves as the subject of your analysis. Before Wednesday’s class, select a phrase, clause, or sentence and write it in your journal. Note how the idea it expresses is relevant to your reflection. Taking those steps will ensure that you can complete the assignment by the end of the class period.
Jane Lucas 