For this paper, you will write 3-5 pages about a text that we have read this semester. Identify a theme from the text, and analyze how the author expresses that theme through various methods, such as character, setting, structure, diction, imagery, point of view, etc.
Your paper should develop an argument, have an arguable thesis statement, and be supported by evidence from the text through summary, paraphrase, and direct quotes. You must use in-text citations and include a work-cited sheet.
While you are allowed to bring in outside sources, the majority of your text should be focused on YOUR analysis. All analysis and ideas should be yours. Outside sources would mostly be used to reference historical context, explain an allusion, or for context about the author.
Your paper should be in MLA format (double-spaced, 12 pt. font, 1-inch margins, Time New Roman font) and include a header, title, and page numbers.
You will turn in your paper to Canvas.
Answer preview
Apart from diction and character set, this narrative story has used imagery sparingly to develop freedom and confinement as the main theme. Symbolism is the metaphorical descriptions and use of similes to create meaning. The imagery on confinement and freedom is first used when describing the room that the narrator has occupied at home. The walls in her chamber and edges in her vision represent the borders that she is supposed to live. It demonstrates confinement and lack of freedom that she has in her marriage. She states, “I don’t fancy our room a bit. I needed the ground one that opened on the piazza…” (Gilman, 648). It is the most notable and essential demonstration of the confinement of the narrator in this traditional marriage. Consequently, it proves that imagery has developed freedom and isolation as a fundamental theme.
