Bloodchild by Octavia Butler

Instructions

USE THE STORY: Bloodchild by Octavia E Butler TO COMPLETE THIS ASSIGNMENT

Paper 2 Assignment:  What does this story have to teach us about empathy for others?

Length and Format: 

Minimum five-paragraph (or more—if more needs to be said, say it) literary analysis paper  

1000–1200 words for the paper. You may go over the maximum length only if it enriches the analysis. The minimum 1000 words does not include the Works Cited.

MLA style for document format and Works Cited. See this MLA Style Demo video for how to set up your document.  

Assignment Overview

For this paper, choose another story (Week 2 Content/Short Story Selections) and consider the following question: What does this story have to teach us about empathy for others? In responding to this question, your focus will be on the themes that arise from your close readings of the story. You will develop an argument on what the story teaches us about theme(s) and empathy and how they are conveyed through your selected warrants.

Alternatively, you may choose to argue that the story does not teach us about empathy. In either case, you will use elements from the story to support your argument.

In addition, you will use evidence from at least one (or more if you wish) of the following articles to support your argument:

Hammond, Claudia. “Does Reading Fiction Make Us Better People?” BBC Future. 2 June 2009.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190523-does-reading-fiction-make-us-better-people

Schmidt, Megan. “How Reading Fiction Increases Empathy and Encourages

     Understanding.”  Discover Magazine. discovermagazine.com. 28 Aug. 2020.  

https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/how-reading-fiction-increases-empathy-and-encourages-understanding

Castano, Emanuele and David Kidd. “Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of

     Mind.” Science. www.sciencemag.org. 18 Oct. 2013; 342 (6156): 377-80.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/342/6156/377

Coleman, John. “The Benefits of Poetry for Professionals.” Harvard Business Review, 2012.

https://hbr.org/2012/11/the-benefits-of-poetry-for-pro

Thorpe, J.R. “Why Reading Poetry Is Good For Your Brain.” Bustle, 20 Apr. 2017.

https://www.bustle.com/p/why-reading-poetry-is-good-for-your-brain-51884

CRAFTING YOUR THESIS FOR PAPER 2

As you used three specific literary elements (or warrants) in Paper 1 to support your thesis, you have learned that devices such as plot, characterization, setting, symbolism, and theme are not always separate and distinct. Rather, these elements tend to inform each other, making the story a cohesive narrative.  

For Paper 2, you will focus on a significant theme (or themes) from the story that can be extended to a real-life issue or concern. Your analysis of the story’s theme, and the dimensions of that theme, will have affected or even changed how you think about a real-life issue. In other words, your argument will prove that reading and analyzing the story has shown you different viewpoints and thus can increase empathy in readers. 

Some issues or concerns to consider:

Gender roles (“Jury of Her Peers,” “Bloodchild,” “Miss Brill”)

Sexuality (“Giovanni’s Room,” “Bloodchild”)

Relationships (“Bloodchild,” “Giovanni’s Room”)

Marriage (“Jury of Her Peers”)

Race (“Giovanni’s Room,” “Recitatif,” “Bloodchild”)

Parenting (“Recitatif,” “Bloodchild”)

Class (“Recitatif,” “Giovanni’s Room”)

Although an initial investigation of theme can start by thinking about subjects (referenced above), we want to take it a step further and ask what is it about these subjects such as “gender roles” that the author is trying to get across to readers. What are the main ideas, lessons, or messages that are being presented? Do these messages need to be reinforced? Are they still relevant today?

So, a hypothetical example (not using one of the Week 2 readings) could be that many subjects such as family, addiction, and music (specifically, the blues) are examined in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.” However, what about family is he trying to get across to readers? Is it the complexities that are inherent in a family that determine its dynamic? Is he examining the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” when looking at the strained relationship between brothers? Then, similar questions would be asked about drug addiction and music. This way, your discussion of theme or themes is much more analytical in nature. Apply this philosophy when looking at your selected story’s theme or themes.

SAMPLE THESIS STRUCTURE:

[Story X] by [author] helps us to understand [theme/issue(s)Y] by promoting empathy through [warrant 1], [warrant 2], and [warrant 3].

As specified for Paper 1 thesis, you may follow this boilerplate but do not confine yourself to just one sentence. If needed, thesis statements can be up to three sentences in length. You may also, of course, use your own diction.

OUTLINE FOR PAPER 2

Refer to the work you did and feedback you received from Paper 1. Consider creating an outline to get you started. The outline is a straightforward way of listing and organizing the ideas connected to your claim and three warrants for your five-paragraph (or more) essay.  Your task in drafting this paper is to expand the levels of your outline in more detail. Next, you will convert the bulleted items from your outline into well-crafted sentences, and then combine those sentences into well-organized, logical paragraphs resulting in an analytical essay. 

The paper will have an introduction with thesis, at least three body paragraphs (it is fine to have more if merited), each one led by a topic sentence that includes the explicit warrant. The rest of the paragraph will contain statements with the supporting evidence from both the story and perhaps one of your selected articles. Lastly, the essay will end with your conclusion.

Here is a hypothetical example for a student’s outline to use as a model for your own. In other words, this is just a sample and you do not have to follow it verbatim:

Introduction:

Create a context for the thesis by explaining the BBC article or another one from the article list (two to three paraphrased sentences and/or you can include a direct quote).

Provide a brief overview of the story (2 to 3 sentences)

State the thesis: [Story X] by[author] helps us to understand [theme/issue Y] by promoting empathy through [warrant 1], [warrant 2], and [warrant 3]

Body paragraph #1: Warrant 1

Supporting evidence from story

Analysis: How does the story help us understand the issue/theme?

Body paragraph #2: Warrant 2

Supporting evidence from story

Analysis: How does the story help us understand the issue/theme?

Body paragraph #3: Warrant 3

Supporting evidence from story

Analysis: How does the story help us understand the issue/theme?

Conclusion

Return to the thesis (re-emphasize thesis but use slightly different diction so that it does not appear exactly as was presented in the introduction).

Reflect on the connection between the article and the story. What have we learned from your analysis? Does fiction and, in particular, your selected story, really promote empathy? 

Quoting from the story (primary source): Follow the integration strategies for presenting textual evidence from your story that was used for Paper 1. Recall that examples of quote integration were given in Paper 1 directions (See “Quotation Format”) and should be applied to Paper 2.

Quoting from a selected article (secondary source): Be sure to smoothly introduce and integrate any extracted quotes from your article with, ideally, a clear signal phrase. See the following two hypothetical examples:

According to John H. Smith, author of “Benefits of Literature,” “type direct quote here.”

John H. Smith, author of “Benefits of Literature,” asserts that “type direct quote here.”

Feel free to quote from the selected source again. If doing so, you can use last name only for any subsequent references—i.e. Smith ultimately concludes that “type direct quote here.”

Your Works Cited should contain an entry for your selected short story as well as one for the article or articles used within the essay. If you need assistance with this format, please contact me.

Hints: Remember that your reader has read the story and is familiar with it; extensive summary is not useful. Rather, explain and analyze how “meaning” is derived from the story by the author’s implementation of literary elements. Note that the focus should be on the story, not the author, so repeated references to the author are unnecessary.  

Summary vs. Analysis: Be aware that a paper analyzing a piece of literature is not a plot summary.   If one of your warrants is plot, you should select and analyze key parts of that plot such as rising action, climax, falling action, resolution (or lack of one)