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Essay Instructions: Title of Your Essay



Assignment: Write an essay in which you discuss some aspect of the story “A Woman on a Roof,“ using your own interpretations, passages from the story, and opinions from the articles in the Research Articles for Essay 2 file.


Essay length: 600-700 words



Your essay must have:



- an interesting Title

- an Introduction in which you name the story and author.

- a brief Summary of the events of the story.

- a focused Thesis that states the point you intend to make in your analysis.

- Quotations from the story to illustrate and support the points you make:

A minimum of four (4) quotations are required.

- Quotations from the Research Articles for Essay 2 to illustrate your points:

Quotations from at least 2 of the articles are required.



- accurate MLA Citations of all borrowed material and a Work Cited list that includes

the story and the articles you use.

Works Cited entries for the articles and the story are shown in the

Research Articles for Essay 2 file.



- a Conclusion that gives your essay unity and presents insight you have gained

from your analysis.



- College-level writing that considers the topic from a mature perspective and goes beyond a superficial discussion. The writing should show skill in organization and sentence variety and be largely free of grammar and sentence errors.



CAUTIONS:

-Do not simply restate material written in the research articles. You may agree with an author’s opinions, but your essay must make and support your own original points.



- If you use a quotation from an article that contains a passage from the story, it does not count as one of the 4 required quotations from the story. You must provide your own evidence—a different quotation from the story--to support your point.



Follow These Steps in Writing Your Essay:



1. Read “A Woman on a Roof” carefully, noting the ways the characters react to each other.



2. Make notes about your own responses to the events of the story. What behaviors annoyed you? What issues were raised in your mind by the events or by the characters’ behavior?



3. Read the articles in the Research Articles for Essay 2 file. Consider how their authors’ interpretations are similar to or different from your own. Think about any new issues they raise.



4. Decide on an issue that will be the focus of your analysis and make an outline before you begin to write your essay.



5. Use examples and quote passages from both the story and the articles to support your interpretation.

Each time you quote from one of the articles, explain how your interpretation is different from or similar to the one in the article and how the evidence supports your Thesis point.


One Way to Organize the Essay



+ Introduction + Thesis

In her story “A Woman on a Roof,” Doris Lessing explores ways in which interactions between men and women are shaped by their different attitudes about gender roles. [brief summary of the story]



Thesis: The anger and aggression expressed by both Stanley and Tom reflect their unrealistic attitudes about how women should respond when men make sexual advances.



+ Body

- Discussion of how Stanley thinks the woman should react to his attention.

Quotation from the story to show how Stanley behaves.

Opinion and quotation from one of the research articles.

Explanation of how your own interpretation of the behavior differs from the article

writer’s opinion.

Quotation from the story to support your point.



- Discussion of how Tom thinks the woman should react to his attention.

Quotation from the story to show how Tom behaves.

Opinion and quotation from one of the research articles.

Explanation of how your own interpretation of the behavior differs from the article

writer’s opinion.

Quotation from the story to support your point.



+ Conclusion

Reinforcement of how unrealistic both men’s expectations are about women.


What you will learn in this assignment



This assignment will give you practice in

- reading closely to find themes and issues suggested in fiction

- selecting and narrowing a focus for your discussion

- using your own responses to interpret events and behaviors in a story

- using responses from other interpretations to help you explore your own

- finding direct and indirect evidence to support your points.



As with every assignment in the class, ALL work must be your own.

Borrowed words and ideas must be acknowledged.

Plagiarizing material will result in a grade of 0 for the assignment.