Write an Analytical essay of approximately 3 – 4 pages. Your essay must be typewritten in Times New Roman, size 12 font, and double spaced.

What is an Analytical Essay?

Definition: An analytical essay seeks to explore a central idea or question based on a text(s) and the student’s engagement with that text. Key to the analysis is breaking down the text into parts and showing the relationship between the secondary arguments and overall controlling idea. It must move beyond summarizing, descriptions, and re-telling.

You must use the two readings below to write your analysis:

Reading 1.

“The Ways we Lie,” – in which Stephanie Ericsson analyzes different types of lies for her readers. Three lies Ericsson highlights are:

a.Omission – which involves telling most of the truth minus one or two key facts whose absence changes the story completely.

b.Groupthink – a psychological phenomenon with decision-making groups in which loyalty to the group has become more important than any other value, with the result that dissent, and the appraisal of alternatives are suppressed.

c.Dismissal – dismissing feelings, perceptions, or even the raw facts of a situation ranks as a kind of lie that can do as much damage to a person as any other kind of lie.

Reading 2.

“The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson tells a fictitious story of an annual village ritual that takes place on June 27^th. The people of the village participate in a lottery where one winner is selected through a process of drawing pieces of paper from a box.

Your Task

Select one of the lies Ericsson writes about from the list above, and use it as a tool to analyze one of the following questions:

1. Identify how the specific lie you selected is played out in Jackson’s fictitious story, and give an example of a similar situation in the real world.

2.What conclusions can you draw about the title “The Lottery” and how is it connected to the specific lie you selected? Give an example of a similar situation that exists in the real world.

3.In what way is the title, “The Lottery”, misleading? Why would the author want to trick her readers by having a misleading title, and how is the author’s choice connected to the specific lie you selected? Give an example of a similar situation in the real world.

Be sure to cite evidence from both readings to support your claims.

Writing Guidelines

Please read these instructions before you start writing your essay – go back to them as many times as needed during writing.

Your essay should consist of an introductory paragraph that includes a clear Thesis Statement, six to eight body paragraphs (depending on the length of each paragraph), and a conclusion paragraph. You must create an outline to write this essay. Outline for this essay should be submitted on the last page of the essay draft. This means that the outline comes after the “Works Cited” page on a new page. The Works Cited page and the outline page will not be include in the 3-4 pages count. This means that the total number of pages must amount to 5-6 pages.

Title – Give your paper a unique title that indicates the topic and the focus of your thesis. Use your imagination. There will be a 1-point deduction for titles that list the names of the primary texts as the title.

Outline

Introductory Paragraph

Attention Grabber/Opening Statement:

Background Information: Provide some background for your audience by summarizing the main ideas from the primary texts that connects to your thesis.

Thesis Statement: Underline your thesis statement for this assignment. This will help you to revise your supporting details easily and keep the focus of your paper. After each paragraph, read the thesis statement to see if you are still on the same topic. Submit the draft of your essay with the underlined thesis. The thesis must have an apparent subject (controlling idea) and at least two topics (subordinate ideas).

Body Paragraphs

A sentence that introduces the topic by making a claim about the controlling idea.

Use evidence from the text as supporting details for your analysis. Avoid writing in the first person (I, us, we, our).

May contain one or more quotes; however paraphrasing is highly recommended.

Cite all quotes and paraphrases

The entire paragraph should be used to develop ONE topic idea in support of the subject of your thesis.

Concluding Paragraph:

Summarize your findings.

Restate the important ideas of your thesis

Avoid introducing new topic ideas.

End with a memorable statement that is connected to the main idea of your thesis.

Works Cited page:

List all sources in alphabetical order with last names appearing first.

List primary source as it appears in the alphabetical order of the page.

Follow guideline for MLA style format.