CROSSING THE STREAMS:
Combining Texts to Form a Brilliant Analysis
We’ve read, discussed, and responded in writing to a couple of short pieces: Will Storr’s “The Invisible Actor at the Centre of the Universe” and Ana Castillo’s “Christmas Story of the Golden Cockroach”. Now we’re going to use our recent discussion of how one informs the other as the basis of our first formal essay of the semester.
Remember when we applied Storr’s chapter to our own lives? How we considered events from our life that seemed to be affected by the concepts he discusses? That’s pretty much what we’re going to do for this essay, only instead of our own lives, this time we’ll focus on the lives of the characters.
Consider the events surrounding the golden cockroach: the characters’ circumstances, their trust in the legend of that gold bug, the events that unfold. How do they demonstrate one (or more) of the concepts that Storr shares with us?
Does their focus on the one shining roach amongst the thousands of nasty old regular roaches exhibit confirmation bias? Does their persistence in believing the story illustrate our inability to change our mind in spite of evidence to the contrary? Whatever you believe to be the case, consider mapping your essay like so…
- Remind us what happens in Castillo’s story, then focus on some particular features that you believe reveal one (or more) of the concepts from Storr’s chapter. Stating what concepts you think are on display in the story will function as your thesis.
- Support your thesis! For each supporting paragraph in your analysis, reference a moment from the story, quote a passage that illustrates it, and explain how that part of the story is an example of the concept you’re proving is on display.
- Conclude with some final thoughts on either Castillo’s story, Storr’s chapter, or both. Does Castillo’s work remind you of anyone or anything else you know? Do the theories contained in Storr’s work resonate with you for reasons beyond their application to Castillo’s story? Something in your own life or someone you know?