Pick “The Prophetess,” “Amnesty,” or “Lomba”-
whichever story drew you in the most.
Reread and study the story again, and identify three
primary powers of the story. What makes it powerful?
What makes it compelling? What drew YOU in? Why?
What words, lines, phrases, events, stylistic choices of
the writer’s, etc. caused you to be drawn in?
This glossary of literary terms might be useful to remind
you of some techniques writers use to give their writing
power.
Write an analytical essay in 4 numbered sections. You
do not need to provide transitions between the parts, but
the 4th part will tie the essay together. (You might think of
this as the place where a thesis will emerge–at the end.
Yes, this is a nontraditional essay style–but a completely
respectable academic format!)
. Primary power 1–explain, describe, and give
examples
2. Primary power 2-explain, describe, and give
examples
3. Primary power 3-explain, describe, and give
examples
4. Step back and look at the 3 primary powers you’ve
identified. What does it all seem to suggest about
the story and how readers can interpret and learn
from the
The essay should be double spaced in a 12-point font.
The essay should be 4-6 pages long.
The essay must use in-text citations and include a
Works Cited page at the end. Please use MLA format
for citations. The Purdue Online Writing Lab is a great
resource for MLA formatting questions.
You may–but are not required to–use additional
sources other than the story text. These, too, must be
cited.
The essay should be at least 70% your own writing,
meaning you should use the source story and
additional texts (if you chose to use them) to provide
evidence for your claims, but the majority of the
paper will be your writing and analysis–your
ideas.
The essay must use reasons and evidence for your
claims.
Opinions and the word “|” are completely fine!
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