Intro to the Scout / Ms. Caroline Conflict (How I...)

For this week's homework, you are assigned to write an introductory paragraph to an essay analyzing the conflict between Scout and Ms. Caroline. Because I am not going to do your homework for you, this week's How I... will not include my own version, but I will explain in detail how I would go about it, and what my homework would look like. I will begin with a quick breakdown of my steps and then a lengthier explanation will follow.

1. Analyze the passage to develop a perspective that could be the basis of an essay
2. Create a thesis statement based on the perspective above.
3. Develop a brief summary of the passage being analyzed.
4. Determine an effective beginning to the paragraph

STEP ONE

The first step is arguably the most important, because without a solid foundation of brainstorming and careful consideration, any written analysis will not be effective. It is entirely possible that as you begin writing new ideas will come to you and you can refine your analysis, but having a strong place to start is imperative. 

While we have talked about analysis - and you have done your fair share - it may be worth noting that you have not often been given the somewhat vague instruction of "analyze this." As a result, you may be intimidated by the command. So let's look quickly at what it means to "analyze" (if you feel like you got this, skip the next paragraph)

If you look the word up in a dictionary (or online), as you should with words you are expected to know, it describes analysis as a "detailed examination of the elements or structure of something" and "the process of separating something into its constituent elements." This means that you carefully look at the different pieces and parts of a thing in order to understand each part individually, but also to understand them all as a whole. If we were analyzing the inside of a watch, for example, we would note the various sizes, shapes, movements, and materials of the machinery, then try to determine the functions of the various pieces and how they work together. Finally, the definition notes that analysis is "typically [done] as a basis for discussion or interpretation." This means that when we analyze something, we do so because we intend to arrive at conclusions that we can share and explain to others.

So how do we analyze this passage? There is no one "correct" way to analyze something, but for a passage analysis, I tend to ask and answer a few questions.

• What characters or character types are involved in this passage?
• What conflicts or conflict types are involved in this passage?
• What ideas are the focus of the conflict in this passage?
• What ideas are the focus of the whole novel?
• How does this passage (and its conflicts/ideas) relate to the novel as a whole?

Some of these questions are much easier to answer than others. The characters are pretty easy, and the types of conflicts might include man-vs-man or man-vs-society. These questions become more abstract as we move down the list, however. The ideas involved in the conflict may include growing up, fairness, discrimination, authority, and the expectations others have for us. There could be, without question, more conflicts and ideas at play here.

The hardest questions, without having finished the novel, are those dealing with the novel as a whole. At this point we only have predictions about what the majority of the neighborhood will be about. There is one thing we know from the first page of To Kill a Mockingbird, however: the novel is being told by Scout as an adult, and it is about Scout as a young girl. We may very likely conclude that her growth is one focus of the novel.

As a result, the perspective we might want to express in this introduction may have to do with growing up and one of the ideas we identified in the passage.

STEP TWO

The core of any essay is a good thesis, and although we are not writing a complete essay, we need to introduce that thesis in our introduction. 

For this step, it is important to write a thesis that is focused specifically on the importance of the passage (or something within the passage), and to recognize that a passage can only be important because it is important in how relates to the novel, or it important in how it relates to the world.

If the passage is important because of how it relates to the novel (or its themes, tone, character, conflict, etc), a thesis might look something like this:

• In Scout's conflict with Ms. Caroline, the reader learns that Scout... [insert important detail about the character].
• The conflict between Scout and Miss Caroline in chapter 2 reveals Scout's first confrontation with issues of... [insert issue that relates to the novel].
• That [insert theme that relates to the novel] is first suggested in the conflict between Scout and Miss Caroline, where Scout [explain detail in conflict that connects with theme].

If the passage is important because of how it relates to the world, a thesis might look like this.

• The conflict between Scout and Miss Caroline introduces Scout to the reality that [insert truth about the world].
  • There is a chance this truth about the world is a focus of the entire novel, in which case you might follow your thesis with a statement like this:
    • This difficult reality will develop throughout the novel as Scout struggles with [insert thing Scout is struggling with].

STEP THREE

Developing a brief summary of the passage is easier once you have a thesis because it gives you an idea of which details you must be sure to focus on. This summary should be 2-3 sentences at most, and should make the following clear:

• Who is involved and what is their relationship to each other
• What the setting is
• What events/conflicts occur and why they matter to the characters.

STEP FOUR

The last step is to figure out how to actually start the introductory paragraph. The homework sheet offers some good examples, but this is entirely up to you. If I were writing an essay about how a passage related to the events of the novel, I might start by quoting novel and explaining the quote briefly. If I were writing an essay about how an idea relates to the world, it might be better to ask a question or provide an anecdote.

The last step is just to combine all of these things together into a single paragraph. If your first paragraph feels beefy enough with an anecdote and a connection to the novel through the summary, you may introduce and include your thesis in a second paragraph. General organization should be as follows:

       [Sentence or two that gets the reader's interest.] [ Sentence that explains that opening sentence to the conflict between Scout and Miss Caroline in To Kill a Mockingbird (be sure to name the author and book!).] [Summary of the passage in 2-3 sentences, max.] [Sentence that mentions the importance of the book.] [Sentence or two that includes the thesis of the essay.]

With any luck this is helpful. If I could have done something differently or you would like something different out of these posts, please let me know what I can do! If you have additional questions, let me know in the comments.