Interpreter of Maladies, Written by: Jhumpa Lahiri MLA FORMAT: Please present your essay following all standard MLA format rules. For an example of MLA format, see p. 465-40 in A Writer’s Reference: with Writing about Literature (8th editions).

o All typed assignments and essays must be presented in black ink.

o The font must be simple (for example, Times New Roman) and should be size 12. o Your name, my title and name, the class prefix and number (English 102), and the date that the paper is due must appear in the heading in the upper left-hand corner.

o There should be no abbreviations in the date, and the order of information should be as follows: day, month, year (for example, 3 February 2014).

o Your last name and the appropriate page number must appear in the upper right-hand header of each page: there should be no special fonts or designs in the header. Please make sure your header information is actually in the header.

o There should be a traditionally-capitalized title, centered. An original title that you create is of the utmost importance.

o The title should not be presented in bold, italicized, underlined, or highlighted font.

o There should be no extra-wide gaps between the title of the essay and the body of the essay or between paragraphs; all lines and passages must be simply double-spaced.

o The right edge of your text should not be justified.

o There should be 1” margins on all sides (excluding your header). Literary analysis of a play, poem or short story requires a close reading of the work. Make notes of every impression that the writing makes. Remember the old adage: Welcome every idea for one of them could be a king. Thoughts are also evanescent, so place them on paper as soon as they arrive. This kind of intense note writing is called annotating the text, which is a primary part of the learning process. The more notes the student takes, the more knowledge she acquires. When textual knowledge is at the fingertips, the writing becomes more fluid. To help the student grapple the work productively, answer a few basic questions. These questions could be used to a large extent on any poem that you have to read for the class.

1. Who is the protagonist of the story? When was the story published?

2. What is the setting and occasion?

3. Is there an important character or characters?

4. What is the theme? 5. What is the point of view? 6. What are the other elements of fiction—symbols, allegory, irony—being used in the story?

7. Summarize the story.

Step by Step approach to writing this essay

1. Choose the topic that interests the reader.

2. Devise a thesis statement to the question of choice.

3. Find textual evidence to support the thesis statement. Find at least three quotations for the three body paragraphs. Prepare outline.

4. How do you cite in an essay on short fiction? Introductory phrase for the quotation, the quotation and the citation at the end of the sentence. In short fiction, the citation is the page number in the text. These are the three components of an in-text citation. Check The Writer’s Reference for specific examples. There are two sets of rules, so refer to L-20 for further verification. A blocked quotation has different rules from a short quotation. If the quotation runs to more than four lines, then the prose quotation has to be blocked.

5. In the introduction, include the names of the poet and poem, a short summary of the poem with the theme, and the thesis statement.

6. Focus on the thesis statement to develop body paragraphs. Each paragraph should contain a strong topic sentence. Make sure the paragraph holds together.

7. Make sure that the text is the only source used. Please do not borrow ideas from outside the text as this will be caught by SafeAssign.

8. Use literary terms and academic language in the paper. Do not use “I” or “you” or “we” and “us”. Your essay should be objective.

9. In the conclusion, include the following elements: names of the poet and poem, thesis statement, and an abstract of the argument.

10. Cite your work at the end of the essay under the title, “Work Cited”.

Sample to be found on page L-35 of The Writer’s Reference.

1. Read the primary source: take notes of your initial thoughts as you are reading (very important to develop analysis). Write down meanings of words that you do not know. Even if you were to know the meaning, sometimes the usage of the words might not synchronize with your idea of the meaning. In such case, please refer to the dictionary to find out a connotation of the word that you did not know before.

2. How did you respond to the plot? Did you like it? What is the effect that the author hopes to convey? What effect did she want from you?

3. Write a summary of the plot. Is there a theme? What is theme? Theme should be the central unifying idea.

4. Read the story again and ask yourself if the plot and conclusion satisfy you. Is the conclusion the only way to resolve the conflict?

5. Is there symbolism in the story?

6. Decide on the significance of the question for the essay. Is the question about theme, character or symbolism? At this point look back to lessons on characterization and the terms protagonist and antagonists.

7. Once you have absorbed the focus of the question, formulate your thesis statement. Recall how in the “Interpreter of Maladies”, the theme was about love, and the essay question was about the title and the two characters. In this question, the theme, and the characters are linked to the title. So an ideal thesis statement would include these elements. “Lahiri portrays the anemic existence of the main characters in order to lead us to the maladies in their lives, thus highlighting the significance of the title.” This thesis statement is an observation showing us how we can debate the topic.

8. Review the notes you have made as well as the text. Mark passages that support your thinking. Pick at least two to use in your argument. Write an outline that will help you.

9. Write your introduction: this paragraph should include at a minimum these features: the full name of the story, a short summary of the plot, a discussion of the theme and your thesis statement. Make sure all these items flow seamlessly one into the other without a hiatus in thought or style.

10.The intro is followed by three body paragraphs: Each body paragraph should have one leading idea (topic sentence). Each of ideas in the body paragraph should connect with the thesis statement. 11.In your conclusion reiterate the thesis statement and summarily prove your argument. A mention of the name of the short story and the last name of the author will also give better flourish to the completion of the essay. 12.A few other important points: use the present tense for events in the story, avoid the use of the first and second person pronouns.