Analytical Essay -
Native Son

The Writing Instructions

Consider which theme you'd like to focus on for your literary analysis essay. You will develop a defensible thesis statement about what that theme symbolizes in the larger context of the book and current events, and support that with evidence from the text, and other sources to provide historical context, as needed/related to your thesis (i.e. your claim).

At least two outside resources should be used.

1. • An effective analytical essay for this assignment:

• expresses a thesis statement about at least one of the overall themes presented in Native Son and how they relate to the overall context of the book and events happening today such as the Black Lives Matter movement, women's marches, the Jan. 6 insurrection on the capitol building, etc. (these are just ideas).

• engages the reader with an observation, quotation, or detail

• organizes central ideas in a logically structured body that develops the thesis statement

• includes relevant textual evidence to illustrate central ideas

• uses transitions and text structures to create a cohesion between sections of the text and among ideas

• has a concluding section that follows logically from the body

1. • ALSO! There is an MLA template in Google Docs that you're welcome to use. If you don't how to get to it, you just hover over new and instead of starting a blank document you select from a template. Go to Google-provided templates (not MVUSD templates).

Example thesis statement:

Richard Wright argues in Native Son that whites employed the system of Jim Crow to force African Americans, like Bigger Thomas, into socio-economic positions of inferiority. This inferiority thus provides an underlying condition of fear that simmers throughout the lives of blacks--effects of which continue generation to generation.

EXAMPLE OUTLINE - Ms. Tucker's outline in progress

Wall Street Journal: How systemic racism shaped Floyd’s life and hobbled his ambition

Time Magazine: America's Long Overdue Awakening to Systemic Racism

Washington Post: Resource Page on Racism in America

Center for American Progress - Systemic Inequality: Displacement, Exclusion, and Segregation

YouTube video of Kimberly Jones: How can you win?

Film Recommendations

• Just Mercy - on HBO Now

• 13th on Netflix

• When They See Us - on Netflix

• I Am Not Your Negro - on Netflix

• LA 92 on Netflix

• American Son on Netflix

• Requiem for the American Dream - Amazon Prime

• 16 Shots - Hulu or YouTube TV

Reading Literature

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1

Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2

Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

Writing Informational/Explanatory Texts

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.A

Introduce a topic; organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.B

Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience's knowledge of the topic.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.C

Use appropriate and varied transitions and syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.D

Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary, and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.E

Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2.F

Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).