1) Short Story Analysis
Through close reading of literary devices, what is the theme or central meaning of “A Habit of Waste”?
* Minimum word count: 900 words
* Structure: Introduction, 3 fully developed quotation sandwich paragraphs, conclusion
“The Quotation Sandwich” video- https://youtu.be/AAeTGsyjMBU
2) Before submitting your essay, double-check to make sure you met these standards for college essays:
✓ Is there a smart and engaging title for the essay? (Not “English Essay”)
✓ Does your introduction refer to the title of the book? Spelled accurately? Provide context for the reader?
✓ Does your thesis statement (main argument) directly answer the assignment question you’ve chosen? Hint: use the same language in the question to signal to the reader that this is how you are answering the question.
✓ Are there topic sentences that are not plot summary that begin each paragraph? Topic sentences should be a short summary of what you plan to defend in each paragraph and directly support your thesis statement.
✓ Do you use concrete details, such as direct quotes, to support the topic sentence in each paragraph?
✓ Do you contextualize quotes with the speaker and the event? Is the page number cited directly after the quote? For example: In mildly reforming Little George’s racial prejudices, Olivia exclaims, “I am not a little proud of this as I consider it a conquest over prejudice!” (79).
✓ Is the novel’s bibliographic information written on the Work Cited page?
✓ Does the paper follow MLA format? If you are unsure, visit https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_f ormatting_and_style_guide.html
✓ Does the essay meet the minimum wordcount guidelines (1000 words)? Do not stop at 1000 if your essay has not fully supported your thesis statement!
✓ Have you carefully proofread your essay? Hint: Read out your essay aloud. This is a good way to spot errors!