Life and Times of Michael K

Prompt:

Consider the following quote from the critic Kermode’s discussion of apocalyptic narratives: “Out of a desolate reality would come renewal.” In your view does Coetzee’s novel’s ending confirm, challenge, or qualify this quote from Kermode?

Composing Your Essay::

Introduction: in your introduction you should do three things:

• Introduce the issue set forth in the prompt, using the language of the prompt in explaining the concern or issue it raises.
• Then briefly introduce the text in light of this issue,
• And conclude with a thesis statement, a single generalization that reveals some insight into human nature based on what you have discovered in the course of writing your essay. Such statements should be thematic in nature: for example, “While loyalty to x may be valued, it is loyalty to y that is most prized.”

Body Paragraphs: In each of your body paragraphs you should analyze some aspect of the text under study , typically in the order of the plot sequence (beginning, middle, end):

• Typically, for such a paragraph you should introduce the part of the work/key example(s)/part of the book you will examine hereand then link it to the issue identified in the prompt and your introduction
• Then in the middle of the paragraph you should explain how the text treats the issue for this part of the book/element of the story/key example(s).
• A couple of quotes per body paragraph might be a good rule of thumb for this type of analysis
• End the paragraph with a concluding generalization that connects back to your overall argument

Conclusion: identify your overall conclusion/generalization/takeaway about what this text suggests about the topic/issue. Pay especially close attention to the specific ending and outcome.

Quote Integration:

• Integrate your quotes (typically 1-3 lines in the body paragraph) in accord with simple MLA format. This entails the following three-step sequence:

• introducing the quote with a lead-in sentence or signal phrase [“At this point in the poem/story the speaker states:”]
• Then supply the quote (with page number in parentheses). [Note, you can use ellipsis—three periods . . . –to omit the less essential middle part of a long quote and make it fit more concisely for your paragraph.]
• Then provide a sentence or so of specific commentary about the quote connected to your developing argument. [The fact that the Mariner now must wear the albatross suggests . . . ]
• Note: no works cited or bibliography page needed for this essay—just cite the page numbers in parentheses for the quotes, or chapters if you have no page numbers]