Literary Essay 2 Topic: Gender and Relationships Thesis: Your opinion about the subject as it is shown in My Antonia and one other piece of literature.

Background Format Review Introduction Format Background: Discuss gender and relationships in general terms (do not bring up the literature), or Summary: Briefly summarize the plot of the literature (both pieces), with specific focus on the gender relationships in the literature

Model Background Introduction Friendship is a complicated issue in today’s world and gender issues make it even more difficult. Many believe that friendship is necessary for romance while others think that the possibility of romance makes true friendship between men and women impossible. This also makes others observing the friendship suspicious of the motives of one or both of the people involved and can cause problems in their romantic relationships. Both My Antonia, by Willa Cather, and A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck, deal with the problems of gender friendship. These novels show that because of the problems inter-gender friendships can cause, no one should ever try to be friends with the opposite sex.

Model Summary Introduction Willa Cather’s My Antonia is about the friendship that develops over the years between a young boy new to the prairie of Nebraska and an older immigrant girl. Though they marry and have three children, they discover that they really are only friends, not lovers, and divorce to save their friendship. In the same way, A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck, tells the story of the love that develops between a young farm boy and Pinky, a girl from a neighboring farm. They marry out of friendship, and because their marriage is barren, it ends in tragedy for both. These novels show that because of the problems inter-gender friendships can cause, no one should ever marry friends of the opposite sex.

Topic Sentences Thesis: These novels show that because of the problems inter- gender friendships can cause, no one should marry friends of the opposite sex. TS1: In My Antonia, Willa Cather shows how Jim’s friendship with Antonia flourishes at first because it is not tainted with romantic urges. TS2: Though their friendship is strong, Jim and Antonia grow apart when they give in to the expectations of society and marry. TS3: Like Jim and Antonia, Rob and Pinky, in Peck’s A Day No Pigs Would Die, become fast friends before either is old enough to understand romance. TS4: When Rob and Pinky marry so they can be together, it is the expectations of romance that destroys their friendship.

Topic Sentences/Transitions TS1: In My Antonia, Willa Cather shows how Jim’s friendship with Antonia flourishes at first because it is not tainted with romantic urges. Trans: Jim and Antonia’s friendship succeeds due to shared experiences, but it dies when they try to share more than friendship. TS2: Though their friendship is strong, Jim and Antonia grow apart when they give in to the expectations of society and marry.

Topic Sentences/Transitions TS2: Though their friendship is strong, Jim and Antonia grow apart when they give in to the expectations of society and marry. Trans.: The destruction of a childhood friendship by adolescent urges is also a theme of Robert Newton Peck’s A Day No Pigs Would Die. TS3: Like Jim and Antonia, Rob and Pinky, in Peck’s novel, become fast friends before either is old enough to understand romance.

Topic Sentences/Transitions TS3: Like Jim and Antonia, Rob and Pinky, in Peck’s A Day No Pigs Would Die, become fast friends before either is old enough to understand romance. Trans.: Though their childhood friendship binds them for life, romance and marriage destroy this connection. TS4: When Rob and Pinky marry so they can be together, it is the expectations of romance that destroys their friendship.