As a model for your own analyses, I am writing one that examines Isaac Asimov’s “Runaround” and three early covers of I, Robot (pictured above). The first part of today’s blog post features excerpts from my draft in progress and my commentary on the writing.
One of the hardest parts of composing an analysis is building paragraphs by moving effectively from sentence to sentence. The ideas you want to express may be clear to you, but shifting from one idea to the next logically and gracefully requires revision. The screenshots and commentary that follow demonstrate how I have structured my introductory paragraph and one of the body paragraphs.
Writing the first paragraph required solving several problems, including these:
- I needed to show a connection where there is no readily apparent one (between “Runaround” and early covers for I, Robot).
- The opening paragraph needed to include a summary, but I did not want to begin with a summary.
- Whatever I began with would need to lead to the summary. How would I connect the first lines to the summary that would follow?
- The summary would need to lead to the thesis. How would I turn from an overview of the short story to a claim about the story and the I, Robot covers?
In the opening paragraph (above), I begin by acknowledging the lack of any readily apparent connection between the book covers and “Runaround.” In the second sentence, I offer details that show the lack of a readily apparent connection (nothing indicates that Mercury is the setting), and I liken the robots to guards. I use what the robots don’t do (“offer any inkling of the narrative that unfolds”) as a lead-in to the summary, the first sentence of which serves as an appositive for “the narrative that unfolds.” The next two sentences continue the summary.
At the end of the summary, I turn back to the covers with the statement, “The covers illustrate none of that.” Then I shift from what the covers don’t depict to the connection I have identified, which I present as an appositive after “representations of Asimov’s themes.” After I assert the similarity between the robots on the covers and medieval knights, I acknowledge that the parallels could simply be the product of a marketing decision. I disagree with that theory; however, and my reason for that disagreement serves as my thesis: the last sentence of the paragraph (highlighted above).
In the body paragraph below, which is not the second paragraph of the analysis, I demonstrate how images of the knights of chivalry–a word that derives from an Old French term for horse soldier or horseman–occur in “Runaround.”
You are not required to cite any text other than the story or stories that serve as your subject. In the paragraph above, I cite Le Morte d’ Arthur to demonstrate the use of the term errant. No page numbers appear in the parenthetical citation because I am quoting an unpaginated online version of Thomas Malory’s chivalric romance on Project Gutenberg.
Elsewhere, I note the descriptions of Donovan and Powell riding the old robots as if they’re on horseback, and the parallels between the Three Laws of Robotics and the chivalric code. After fall break, I will post the complete analysis.
Parenthetical Citations
Yesterday in the 10:40 class (section eight), I presented models for the parenthetical citations required if you need to clarify which supertoys story you are quoting. Those models appear below.
- (“Supertoys Last” 3).
- (“Supertoys When” 16).
- (“Supertoys in Other” 27).
Note the abbreviated versions of the titles and the placement of the periods. Brian Aldiss‘s last name is not included because you establish in your introductory paragraph that he is the author. If it’s clear in your analysis which story you are citing, do not include the abbreviated title; it’s used only to clarify the source.
Works Cited
If you cite two or more of Brian Aldiss’s stories, use the list below as your model.
Note that if you cite more than one work by an author, his or her name is not repeated. Instead, three strikes of the hyphen key denote that the entry has the same author as the previous entry. Also note that the stories are alphabetized by title. “Supertoys When Winter Comes” is the second story chronologically, but it’s the last story alphabetically, so it’s listed third.
If your analysis focuses on “Runaround,” use the entry below as your model.
Note that the first date, 1950, indicates the book’s date of publication, and the second date, 1963, is the publication year of the edition you are citing. (Your class handout is a copy of the story in the 1963 Doubleday Science Fiction Book Club edition.)
If your analysis focuses on one or more of Aldiss’s stories, but you quote or paraphrase the Three Laws of Robotics, your works cited list should include an entry for “Runaround,” and the analysis should include a parenthetical citation for the laws.
Next Up
Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Word Finder page, and review your journal notes and the blog posts devoted to Scrabble tips.
