Let’s start with a dense question you’d like to investigate about Everything I Never Told You—one that asks something about the text, the world and you, the reader.
To begin a dense question:
Start with the 2 Possible Ideas that you noted on the Essay Assignment Prompt (bottom of second page). Fill a slide below.
Choose the relevant bullet point below.
“Theme” question in the essay prompt. - What examples do you find of that theme? In which characters? What events “show” that theme?
Character that we find in the novel, to investigate why Ng includes that character. - Which themes is that character involved with? What personality traits does the character have, and how do those traits affect the way the character interacts with the others (choose one or two) in the story? How relatable is the character, for readers? Do we see these types of people in real life, or parts/aspects of the character in real life? Do the characters and their issues connect to our society today?
Symbol. Which symbol will you choose: Is it an object (lake, cookbook, water/rain), color (red, grey, other), idea (space exploration, cowboys)? Who interacts with that symbol? When? Does that symbol hold a meaning for that particular character? Do other characters have different views of that symbol? How does the symbol fit into the emotional atmosphere of the scene it appears in? How does the symbol’s potential forms of significance/meaning in real life relate to the story?
Find the “Density”:
How is this character, idea, event, relevant to our world (you, me, our class, our communities) today, beyond the class assignment?
Connect your essay topic to
Communities we live in: You choose which communities. Which communities would care about these issues? How? Why? Which communities could learn something from contemplating these issues? How? Why? -
Readers of the book: What can you learn from thinking about the issues presented? Why are those issues important to you? Why are they important to our society?
Other characters or themes in the book: Most of the themes and characters relate to each other in some way. Look for examples of a theme, causes of a theme, effects of a theme, consequences, etc.
EXAMPLE: For this potential paper, the writer is focusing on 2 themes + 1 symbol.
The following would come at the end of the introduction. It is the question that leads to the thesis + the thesis statement. (You have a model intro in "Model Vargas Intro." too). You can see how the thesis represents ALL the Ps and takes a stance.
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[Question that leads to thesis] What can Ng's well-crafted and thought-provoking novel provide its readers? Through the search to figure out how Lydia, the middle daughter died, Ng gets us to contemplate many important themes and symbols. [THESIS] By tracing Marilyn's past and the strict gender expectations placed on her, we then see how these limitations negatively affect Marilyn raising Lydia. And though Marilyn doesn't intentionally want to pressure her daughter, she absolutely does; but Hannah, the youngest who will still be living with the Lees, proves that Marilyn can right her wrongs.
Ps in nutshell form:
P = gender code limitations can be scarring and long lasting
P = the pressure parents unknowingly place on their children in order to see them succeed can suffocate
P = Hannah as a symbol of hope that Marilyn can fix her mistakes
