Mini Essay

1. Read the attached short story and watch the video. You will write a mini-essay evaluating the two possible outcomes of the short story, “The Lady or the Tiger?”

https://coastdistrict.instructure.com/courses/4191… (this is the link to the short story)

2. Your essay will be organized into the following sections:

a) ONE introductory paragraph (6-10 sentences total):
Open with a hook or lead sentence catching the reader’s attention; then in the next sentence give the title/author/genre of the story; then write 3-4 sentences giving a brief plot summary of the story; finally, conclude with your thesis sentence stating what your essay shows/proves/explores. Your thesis, which can be in two sentences, should be something like this: “This essay investigates whether the princess directs her young lover towards either the lady or the tiger. We conclude that when he opens the door, he’ll find _______________ .”

b) ONE body paragraph on the lady (8-10 sentences):
Your body paragraph here should argue that the princess guides him to the lady. Use major and minor supporting details and direct textual support—that is, quote from the short story.

c) ONE body paragraph on the tiger (8-10 sentences):
Transition to your next body paragraph, which should argue that the princess guides him to the tiger. Same directions as above—again, use major and minor supporting details to make a sound argument (both valid and true) for the tiger.

d) ONE conclusion paragraph (6-10 sentences):
Here summarize your earlier evidence. Close by saying which outcome (lady or tiger) you believe the young lover was led to and why.

3. This literary analysis in MLA style (not APA this time) will be posted to Discussions. Your essay does not need a running head; you do need to add the standard heading in the top left corner of the first page (Name / Prof. Davis / English 100 / Date); below the heading, center your original essay title.

4. The total length will be FOUR paragraphs, as listed in a, b, c, d above.

5. In MLA style, when there is one source and everyone is using it, you need only put the page number at the end of a citation, so the citation would look like this:

Stockton writes, “So I leave it with all of you” (4).