Overview: The first writing exercise gave you practice with narrative analysis, the process by which we determine what a story means by examining its essential elements: characters, plot, point of view, etc. For the first essay, you’ll do the same thing, but in much greater detail.

Assignment: In the “Additional Readings” module, you’ll find a George Saunders short story titled “The Red Bow.”Preview the document  After reading it at least twice, you’ll produce an interpretation of about 1200 words. Your job is to explain the story’s message—that is, what it teaches us about life, people, society, or anything else. To do this persuasively, you’ll need to support your claims with specific, well-chosen details and quotations from the text, and you’ll need to explain everything with clarity and precision. The goal is to produce a thoughtful essay that can be understood even by someone who hasn't read the story.

Be sure to follow the writing process, formulating a specific thesis statement and outlining your argument before moving on to drafting, revising, and editing.

Criteria: Your essay should—

Establish a clear, thoughtful thesis statement about the story’s message
Support all claims with relevant textual details (i.e., quotations and paraphrases)
Integrate quotations and paraphrases smoothly and comprehensibly
Include both in-text citations and a Works Cited page
Consist of well-structured paragraphs, each with a clear central idea
Include an effective introduction, conclusion, and title
Be largely free of major grammatical and usage errors
Value: 100 points

Content (70 points)
Usage (30 points)
Format: 12 pt. font, double-spaced, standard margins