Sophomore Essay Assignment

Assignment: Write a three to four page, five-paragraph analytical essay on The Catcher in the Rye.

Format: MLA style (heading, title, double-spaced, numbered pages)

Special instructions: Circle your central idea.

Underline your thesis statement in your first paragraph.

Underline your topic sentences in your body paragraphs.

Due date: February ?

What is an analytical essay?

An analytical essay "analyzes" some method, writing technique, or motif of the author that YOU have noticed or that WE have discussed in class. That method might be some motif (like materialism) or theme (like Holden's desire to save childhood innocence). That method might be the use of characters to reveal some theme (like the use of Ackley, Stradlater, and Sally Hayes to show "phony" adolescents). That method might analyze settings, objects, symbols, etc.

Here is a review of the many motifs and themes from Catcher that we have covered from which you might come up with a central idea: religious hypocrisy, corruptive nature of money, phoniness of the adult world, phoniness of the adolescent world, falling imagery, catching imagery, Catcher in the Rye symbols, etc.

The manner in which you present your analysis might be through analyzing characters, their actions, their descriptions, or their dialogue. You might want to analyze by looking at objects, specific scenes, or settings in the book. This is up to you. This decision becomes your thesis statement.

You are pointing out what you've noticed through your analysis. After I read your analytical paper, theoretically, when I re-read the novel, I will do so with an understanding that I did not have before.

You are NOT to use any outside sources at all! Doing so will result in a grade of zero for plagiarism.

Here are examples of a central idea and a thesis statement for your essay. In your essay, I'd like you to circle your central idea and underline your thesis statement. You may NOT write about this central idea and thesis statement!

Central idea (this is a clear statement of the point that you wish to make by

your analysis of the novel)

e.g. Holden's heroes are idealized innocent children, a notion that contributes to

his problem of not wanting to grow up.

Thesis statement (this is a sentence or sentences that include how you wish

to prove the central idea)

e.g. Without an adult role model, Holden looks to three inspirations to remain in his state of arrested development: his deceased brother Allie, his childhood friend Jane Gallagher, and his beloved younger sister Phoebe.