WHAT IS PRIMARY ANALYSIS?

When we perform primary analysis of printed material, we take a position about some aspect of the material, and then present arguments in defense of that position. What makes this kind of analysis primary is that the arguments and evidence used in defense of the position have to be based on the material itself and no other outside sources. In other words, if we were to take a position about the short story "Editha" which said that It is Editha Balcolm's romanticized notions of what it means to a man during time of war that ultimately results in George Gearson's Death, we would have to explain that position through arguments based on, and verified by, evidence in the story only. Contrary to research essays, essays of primary analysis do not make use of library or any other kind of secondary sources to create a position, arguments, or evidence about a piece of literature. Primary analysis uses only the piece of literature itself as a source for a position, arguments, and evidence for the arguments. As is the case with research essays, the arguments and evidence presented in primary analyses must be correctly documented based on the rules laid down by the Modern Language Association (MLA).  That means evidence from the piece of fiction must be correctly documented in the body of the essay as well as producing the bibliography entrie(s) on a Works Cited Page.

THESIS STATEMENTS ARGUMENT STATEMENTS

PLOT SUMMARIES ARE NOT CRITICAL ESSAYS

Example Essay #1 Example Essay #2

AN IMPORTANT WORD OR TWO ABOUT THESIS STATEMENTS

When writing a critical essay, your thesis is a single sentence stating the position you will defend in the essay. In this class, the thesis is to be the logical product of of the intentions spelled out in the introduction and must appear only at the end of the introduction. The body of the essay, then, contains the documented arguments and evidence in defense of that position. Without the arguments and evidence, there is no critical analysis. WHENEVER you interpret/analyze behavior, motivation, situations, you are obligated to explain HOW you KNOW what you SAY is CORRECT AND THEN validate your interpretations with documented examples/evidence from the source. If you do not prove/demonstrate through explanation and example/evidence how you know, you are not writing a critical essay.

Remember that the thesis statement is the most important statement made in any essay. It literally controls everything that happens in the rest of an essay. It alone determines both what needs to be said and what does not need to be said in the body of the essay. It should be direct, clear, and must never take the form of a phrase or question. It clearly STATES the OVERALL POINT the writer intends to make ABOUT the paper's topic, OR, put another way, it clearly STATES the POSITION the writer will defend ABOUT the ISSUE generated by the paper's topic. The more vague the thesis, the less likely the writer will know what needs to be said in the body of the essay, and the less likely it will be that the reader understands the point of the material in the essay. IT IS THE WRITER'S OBLIGATION TO MAKE CLEAR THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE FOCUS OF THE THESIS STATEMENT AND THE ARGUMENTS/EVIDENCE PRESENTED IN THE BODY. How is that to be done, if the thesis statement itself is vague or ambiguous or a question? The Reader is not expected to, and will not, try to "figure out" what "this" has to do with "that": the material is either clear or it is not.

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CLEAR, DIRECT ARGUMENT STATEMENTS HELP UNIFY ANY ESSAY

Ideally, a thesis statement will be supported by a number of arguments that are clearly connected to its focus. An argument/supportive point ought to contain a clear "argument/topic statement/sentence," as if the statement was a thesis statement for a paragraph or section of the paper. They should be direct, clear, and state the argument or point:

NO: Capital punishment can be a problem. Far too general/vague.

YES: Capital punishment is cruel and unusual punishment. That is an argument statement.

If anything about the statement is unclear, the writer must briefly clarify. The above statement is clearly a value statement (notice the words "cruel" and "unusual"). Since these words can mean different things to different people, it is up to the writer to explain how they are being used in this context:

"In the context of this issue, cruel and unusual punishment means . . ."

After the argument/supportive point has been made and clarified as necessary, the writer is obligated to explain how she knows that what she just said is valid. To do so, she will have to produce evidence from the short story, play, poem, essay, etc. itself: explanations and documented illustrative examples that demonstrate that what she said is true. When writing a critical essay, you are obligated to provide evidence from the source to verify that your interpretations are correct, and you must correctly document that evidence according to the MLA rules. Again, if you do not document your evidence, you are not doing a critical analysis or writing a research paper: instead, you are merely making a list of uverified opinions.

Once the writer has clearly demonstrated how she knows that what she said is the case, really is the case, transition should be provided to the next paragraph/section/argument statement.

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WRITE CRITICAL ESSAYS! DO NOT WRITE MERE PLOT SUMMARIES!

If you simply explain or list what happened in a piece of literature, you are merely summarizing plot, not writing a critical essay. If,on the other hand, you are explaining why what happened actually happened, AND you are backing up your explanations with documented evidence from the piece of literature itself, THEN, you are writing a critical essay. To merely describe the action is to merely summarize the plot. To analyze,explain, and document the action is to write critically about the plot.

EXAMPLE PLOT SUMMARY: DO NOT DO THIS.

Editha is a young woman who is engaged to George Gearson. The Spanish American War has just broken out, and Editha is asking herself whether or not she should let George go to war. She watches him come up the road. Once he's there, they discuss their attitudes toward war, and Editha says war is a good thing, a glorious thing. George isn't too sure of that, but he has been brought up to believe war is a stupid kind of thing. He was going to be a minister at one time, but he decided to become a lawyer instead.

THIS IS NOTHING MORE THAN A SUMMARY OF WHAT HAPPENED. THERE IS NO ANALYSIS, NO CRITICAL INTERPRETATION TAKING PLACE HERE. THE READER LOOKS AT WHAT IS WRITTEN ABOVE AND SAYS "THAT'S ALL TRUE. SO WHAT'S YOUR POINT?"

A MORE CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE SITUATION: DO THIS.

Editha is a young woman who is engaged to George Gearson. The Spanish American War has just broken out, and Editha is asking herself whether or not she should let George go to war (1522). Her attitude toward war itself is quite different than George's. Hers is an unquestioning, patriotic, your-country-right-or-wrong point of view. She tells George that war is "Glorious!" (1523), that God Himself intended that the war take place or else (in her logic) it wouldn't have happened (1524), and that men particularly are duty-bound to answer their country's call whether the men agreed with the war or not (1526).

George, on the other hand, has been raised in a family who suffered through the Civil War (1523). His father returned from the war as an amputee, and from that time forward, George had been raised to believe that war was inherently wrong (1524). That he took his upbringing regarding war seriously is evident by the fact that he had originally intended to become a minister and pacifist rather than a lawyer (1523). He doubts that he should take part in this war, but he is so enamored of Editha that he doubts even more his own judgment about the matter. When she tells him that war is an "honorable"endeavor, he replies that she "must be right" and that he "ought to doubt [himself] whenever" he disagrees with her patriotic inclinations (1526). This attitude effectively sets George up for Editha's eventually pressuring him into enlisting, when in her letter she tells him, "if we cannot be of one mind in this [the war], then we cannot be of one mind of anything" (1528).

Making sure the above tips are part of developing your thesis/arguments/supportive points should help you to write a unified, coherent critical or research essay. Good Luck!

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The following essays are presented as examples in which students worked hard to both demonstrate the validity of their theses and to correctly integrate and document their arguments/evidence. What you should study is how they have presented their arguments and documented their evidence. Although they are not perfect papers, they nevertheless are good examples to study. Notice that the introductory comments will not be included, since the purpose of this page is to demonstrate development and documentation of body details. You, of course, will be required to produce an introduction in all of your essays. The thesis statement, on the other hand, will be entered as such, so you can watch the students trying to stay focused.

MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT YOU DO NOT PLAGIARIZE ANY IDEAS FROM THESE EXAMPLE ESSAYS!

EXAMPLE #1: "CONSEQUENCES OF CONFORMITY TO EDITHA'S IDEAS OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MAN IN TIME OF WAR"

THESIS STATEMENT: "In this story [William Dean Howells' "Editha"], the main character, George Gearson, chooses to sacrifice his established reasoning, his self-respect, and his morals by conforming to Editha's idea of what it means to be a man, "her man," which leads to his physical death as well as his death as an individual."

Gearson was a man that had been brought up with strong principles concerning war. His own father had been through the Civil War, but it was his mother who passed on the lessons her husband wanted George to grow up with. His Mother "brought [him] up to think war a fool thing as well as a bad thing" (1403). From this it can be understood why Gearson had not caught the "war feeling" (1397) which had infected nearly everyone else. Instead of being caught up in patriotic emotion, he acted upon reason. Gearson reveals this part of his character by stating, "I've no business to think so, unless I act so too" (1399). This shows strength of will, since once deciding something he would act upon that choice. Because war, to him, was not only unreasonable, but was also "wanton and needless" (1399), Gearson saw no point in serving in the war.

Even though Gearson had strong principles that allowed his conscience to condemn war, he chose to reject them in order to live up to Editha's ideals for him. Early on, the Narrator mentioned that their relationship developed alongside the "war feeling" (1397). By the beginning of the story when Gearson announces that war had been declared, their opposing views on the subject needed to be addressed. As Gearson approached her house, before he saw or heard Editha, he responded to "her mystical urgence" which "demanded greater haste" (1397). This "mystical urgence" (1397) was her emotions and her will which had somehow become connected to Gearson's consciousness. Ultimately, it is Editha's emotions that win over George's reason. For, it is in the earnestness of her patriotic feeling that Gearson first confessed, "When I differ from you, I ought to doubt myself" (1398). He then questioned her, "Do you wish me to feel as you do?" as a way of trying to convince himself to embrace her romantic ideal of a war hero. Gearson argues with himself to Editha over his lack of conviction when he tells her, "I'd like to believe as you do. But I don't, now; I don't indeed" (1399). By the end of their conversation, Gearson has already half-defeated himself by conceding that he would "try to believe" and that "perhaps [he would] bring [her] a convert" (1399).

His final decision to go to war was made at a meeting at the town hall after he left Editha's house. When Gearson first arrived, he still held to his principles, thinking he would "sprinkle a little cold water" (1401) on the group's emotions. However, when the crowd called on him to speak, he was unable to remain true to his principles under this added attack and in his wavering state of mind. Once he made his decision to join the group, however, there was no turning back, and he led the group in volunteering for the war.

In acting against his conscience when he conformed to Editha's ideal of duty and blind devotion to one's country, Gearson made some significant sacrifices. The most obvious sacrifice he made was his physical life, since he went to the front and was killed. However, before that happened, his conformity to Editha's wish for him to be a hero and to earn her love exacted other, more painful sacrifices. The fact that he suffered was revealed clearly by his mother's comment near the end of the story: "I suppose he made up his mind to go, but I knew what it cost him by what it cost me when I heard it" (1405-1406). She then added, "I had been through one war before" (1406 implying that the news brought a second, inner war to her which was similar to the one her son went through before he ever arrived at the front. Thus the war inside Gearson had already been fought and the ultimate sacrifice of his individuality to Editha's idea of what he ought to be was made before he set foot on the battlefield.

These inward sacrifices are apparent in Gearson's behavior and dialogue. Instead of being the restrained thoughtful man seen during the beginning, when he returns to her, he is loud in his speech and rough in his treatment of Editha, kissing "her face with quick, hot breaths that were so unlike him" (1402). The sacrifice here was his calm reasoning for the excitement and fear of war. As a result, his very love for Editha, the object of his sacrifice, was affected by it. Editha herself sensed the change and she felt "as if she had lost her old lover and found a stranger in his place" (1402).

Gearson was not able to carry off the excitement, however, though he tried to stimulate his spirits by drinking that night. By morning, he was himself again and able to see by the same clear reasoning he had seen the day before, with the only change being that he was trapped into carrying through with the decision he had chosen. What he wanted most, Editha's respect and approval, she gave, though only because she knew he had "done this from the highest motives" (1403). Gearson, who knew otherwise, responded to her praise by stating, "A man that hasn't got his own respect intact wants the respect of all the other people he can corner" (1403). At this point, he realized that the self-respect he gave up for Editha's blind, shallow respect would not compensate for what he had lost.

Lastly, he gave up his moral view that war was inhumane for a belief that war was ordained by God. Gearson expressed this by the phrase describing God as a "pocket Providence that blesses butchery" (1401). This reveals that there had been no change from his former views, but he was instead only repeating what he expressed earlier. With this last concession, the pillars that were needed to support him as an individual were struck from under him and resulted in his ruin.

As a result of his conformity to Editha's heroic ideals, George Gearson entered the war already beaten, without his calm reasoning, self-respect, or the support of his conscience. The decision to conform or not, was his. He had well-laid principles to guide him, but in choosing to reject them he exposed himself to attack. Gearson was a man who had everything he valued about himself as an individual killed by the result of his own choice to be whatever Editha wanted him to be before he ever left for the war.

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MAKE ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN THAT YOU DO NOT PLAGIARIZE ANY IDEAS FROM THIS EXAMPLE ESSAY!

EXAMPLE #2: "REST AND REBELLION IN A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE"

THESIS STATEMENT: By rebelling against the reality of her present world, Blanche is separated from her sister and her world before she finally stops struggling and finds rest in the hands of a doctor who takes her to an insane asylum.

Blanche's rebellion gives her an unrealistic view of her current llife. This happens primarily due to her expectations of what life should be like for herself and her sister, Stella, but which no longer fit into their environment. These expectations of life were formed while growing up at her childhood home of Belle Reve, a name which means beautiful dream. Some of these expectations were that she and her sister should be in a cultured environment and around gentlemen. When Blanche first arrives at Stella's home, she is shocked that Stella's house is so shabby and that her sister has married someone "common" and "downright-bestial" (2184). She chides her saying, "You can't have forgotten that much of our upbringing. . ."; she then continues passionately pleading with her to not "hang back with brutes" but to cling to tender things "Such things as art-- as poetry and music" (2184). She looks for refinement in the people around her and thinks she has found someone to rest in when she meets Stanley's friend, Mitch. Though she tries hard to act like a lady, she has always been surrounded by ungentlemanly males.

First, there were her own relatives, though she may have been unaware of it as a child. This is mentioned when Blanche tells Stanley of her "improvident grandfathers and fathers and uncles and brothers [who] exchanged their land for their epic fornications" (2171). Then came her husband whom she loved "unendurably" (2194) and "didn't just love him but worshipped the ground he walked on!" (2198). However, she discovered after she married him that he was a homosexual "By coming suddenly into a room that I thought was empty--but wasn't empty, but had two people in it. . .the boy I had married and an older man who had been his friend for years" (2194). Even her sister's husband, Stanley, forced her into bed the night Stella was delivering his baby. Finally, Mitch, who she thought would be her escape and rest from her present circumstances, stopped treating her as a lady when he found out about all the men she had slept with and how she had lied to him. When he made advances, though, she frightened him away by screaming, "Fire! Fire! Fire!" out the big window, which scared him away.

In spite of being disillusioned, she refused, however, to adjust to her environment, telling Mitch one night, "I don't want realism. I want magic" (2204). She acts as if she were still a Southern Belle instead of the penniless, nervous wreck that she is. From the moment of her arrival looking as if she were ready for a tea or a cocktail party to the moment of her departure, with her concern about wearing the right accessories, Blanche keeps up her image as a lady of society. This image contrasts with the women of that neighborhood of New Orleans who are not concerned about appearances, but instead with love and desire. Even Mitch tells her that being properly dressed, "don't make no difference in the Quarter" where she now lives with Stella (2174). In addition, she flirts with Mitch, the errand boy, and even Stanley, her sister's husband. She is secretive about her age, afraid that she is aging and may soon be unattractive. She also tries to act innocent and demure, going by her maiden name instead of her husband's name and telling Mitch she has "old fashioned ideals!" (2192).

Even though Blanche has been disillusioned and has lost her innocence, she clings to her old ideals and dreams, unwilling to conform to the reality that surrounds her. On arriving at Stella's house, she first tries to find a husband among her new acquaintances and ascribes to Mitch the qualities of a gentleman, hoping that she may finally find rest with him and forget her husband's suicide. She tells Stella this is the reason why she wants to get married, saying, "I want to rest! I want to breathe quietly again! Yes--I want Mitch very badly!" (2188). In order to calm her nerves which have attacked her often since the death of her husband and which fatigue her, and in order to escape from reality, Blanche has become an alcoholic. Stanley senses this from his first meeting with her when he asks, "Have a shot?" She replies, "No, I--rarely touch it." He then perceptively responds, "Some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often" (2165). Blanche is even willing to use the dishonesty she condemns in others, by deceiving Mitch about her age and lack of innocence, in order to accomplish her dream. However, she admits this fault to Stanley, declaring, "I know I fib a good deal. . .but when a thing is important, I tell the truth" (2170).

When the truth about her past and deceit is found out, Blanche is frightened but continues to fight until all her friends desert her. From a local supply-man, Stanley made this discovery of her "private social life" and infamous reputation in her hometown of Laurel, where she lived in a cheap hotel after her parents died and Belle Reve was lost on a mortgage. This supply-man regularly stopped at her hotel on his way through town along with many others. After Stanley tells this to Stella, Blanche immediately senses a change in her sister and asks, "What's the matter, honey?. . .You have such a strange expression on your face!" (2197). Even though she is afraid, "Blanche fiercely controls herself" according to the stage direction (2201).

She continues rebelling by staying concerned about appearances and not conforming to reality. She also continues to act like a lady, even referring to Stanley's poker friends as "gentlemen" as she is about to leave. However, she finds that she has been deceived; and that it is not her rich former beau who has come for her, but a doctor and nurse instead. When nobody helps her, she resorts to physical violence and wildly scratches the "matron" who prevents her escape before she is led away by the doctor (2216).

Deserted by her friends and everyone around her, she allows the doctor to comfort her when he addresses her as "Miss DuBois," the name of her youth and innocence. This respectful address and the doctor's gentleness reassure and calm her. She allows him to pick her up and clings to him, depending, as she says, "on the kindness of strangers" (2216). In the doctor, she finds the kindness and assurance she has long searched in vain for and finally finds relief from her struggle against a harsh world. However, this rest comes at the price of her separation from her only living relative and from the world of the sane, as well as the price of becoming dependent on a stranger.

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