Assignment on Annie Dillard's "Dumbstruck"
Background: Although Dillard concentrates primarily on objective reality (i.e., the frog and what happens to it) in the mini-drama she narrates for us, she also allows us access to her subjective feelings and emotions as the drama unfolds.
Suggestion: In preparation for writing your essay, highlight or underline any words which reveal what Dillard herself is feeling in each paragraph.
Task: Write an essay in which you analyze the subjective narrative that Dillard conveys to us, as she relates in three paragraphs her awareness of and reactions to the sudden death of a frog. Organize your paper by analyzing the tone in each paragraph and the tone shifts from paragraph to paragraph. Trace the ways in which the tone shifts lead to the climax of the brief essay. Examine how the tone changes dramatically from the beginning to the end.
Sample Thesis Statements:
• The tone in Dillard's essay shifts from ______in the first paragraph, to ______in the second paragraph, to ______in the third paragraph as she allows us to share her responses to an unexpected event in nature which deeply moved her.
• We can tell, by the shift from a ______tone in the first paragraph, to a more ______tone in the second paragraph, and finally a ______tone in the last paragraph that Dillard, like the frog, was "dumbstruck" at its sudden death.
• The rapid sequencing of tones in this brief essay reveals the stages of Dillard's reaction to the drama that she witnesses on the island one summer day.
• As her mood shifts from ______, to ______, to ______, we follow along, breathlessly, as Dillard relates, in a brief, three-paragraph essay, her harrowing experience with the unpredictability of life.
Organization: Decide before you begin how you will organize the material in your essay. (A logical approach would be to analyze the tone in paragraphs 1, 2, and 3, consecutively. Closely examine words and phrases which reveal the tone and the tone changes. This is your "evidence.") Don't forget to write strong topic sentences which directly support your thesis and to conclude body paragraphs with transitional or summary sentences.
Documentation: Edit quotations from the text in order to integrate them effectively into your sentences. Analyze each quotation and/or example in considerable detail.
Mechanics: See handout. Give your essay a good title.
Important Note: The first time that we refer to an author in our paper we use his/her full name, e.g., "Annie Dillard." After that, each time we refer to the author, we call him/her by his/her last name only. Don't use any titles (Mr., Ms., Dr., President, Professor, etc.) at all. (Note that we have followed these guidelines on this assignment sheet.) These guidelines apply whether the author is a man or a woman, and no matter how prestigious the author may be.
Tutoring Suggestion: Work with the tutor on creating a topic sentence outline, i.e., the thesis statement and each topic sentence for the paper.
10/7/18