Write this for the book Harp of Burma by Michio Takeyama
Write a one-page paragraph of 8 or 9 sentences.
Topic:
What is the author’s message about power and responsibility in the novel?
How does he use the characters, plot, structure, language and/or rhetorical devices in order to advance his beliefs about the dynamics of responsibility and power.
Format: Begin the paragraph with a THESIS CLAIM A one-page, one-paragraph essay begins with the thesis claim. Begin your page with a prepositional phrase that gives context to your essay and place a comma after the phrase ( In The Count of Monte Cristo, ).
Write an independent clause after the prepositional phrase and use the author as the subject of the verb. Use an action verb. (In The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexander Dumas uses Christ-like religious allusions when describing Dantes’ transformation from victimized citizen to powerful royal …) “Uses” is an action verb.
If I wrote linking verbs (is, was, were, seems, appears, be, being) then I probably would have written only descriptive summary rather than write about something the author does. The content of the independent clause should contain FACT.
Anyone who has read this novel knows that Dumas uses religious allusions to the Chris story–no one would disagree. After your independent clause, write a subordinate clause in which you offer your interpretation about WHY the author does something.
The subordinate clause will carry your theory that you will then have to prove with specifics from the text. If all readers of the book would automatically agree with your “theory” then you probably just wrote more fact. To help you make sure that your subordinate clause offers an interpretation, try using the subordinate conjunction because; because will prompt you to interpret what the author has done and offer a why reason (by looking at the result in the text).
In The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexander Dumas uses Christ-like religious allusions when describing Dantes’ transformation from victimized citizen to powerful royal because he wants to show how the powerful people in society abuse their power and that only a more powerful being can bring them to justice and stop the abuse.
Now that you have your theory–that the author deliberately uses these Christ allusions to criticize the abuse of power in a society and illustrate what it takes to stop it, now you have to prove it.
You need to go through your text and notes to find evidence that supports your interpretation. The evidence must be there if this was your take on the theme. Find quotes that support your position. Once you find your quotes, choose a short phrase from the passage, about 4-5 words in length.
You want to incorporate the phrase into your own words of analysis. You never want to just PLOP down a long quote in the middle of your paragraph.
Your argument should be mostly your words and you sprinkle short phrases from the text to lend weight and authority to your position. Never just recreate dialogue: Dantes says, “why are you doing this to me?” Recreating dialogue is summary.
Better to critically write that Dantes’ obsession with “why” (394) his enemies destroy his life shows his naivete about the abuses of power and their motivation to stay in power at all costs. In the Christ story, Christ must die to pay for mankind’s sins; in COMC, Dantes figuratively “dies in prison” because of mankind’s sins (895). MLA format requires you to list the page number on which you find the quote in parentheses after the quote. You may place the parenthetical citation immediately after the quote or at the end of that sentence–whichever you prefer.
