1. How to write an essay
Masculinity

2. Inductive Method

3. Specific description: Paragraph 1
Growing up in Maine, my parents had very masculine ideas for me and my siblings. However, these ideas caused my sister and I to rebel, which made us stronger then my brother, who didn’t rebel.

4. Paragraphs 2, 3, 4
2. Scout was made stronger by Aunt Alexandra’s opposition to her tomboy ways.
3. Nick is a weak character, which could result from his overtly masculine father.
Romeo also had a masculine family and turned out a bit girlish, but in his case the feminine nature expanded him into a well-rounded character.

5. Paragraph 5- make a general statement
Women aren’t the only characters who can rebel against an overly masculine family; men can too. The key is to actually rebel instead of remaining weak and ineffectual, like Nick.

6. Appearance vs. Reality

7. Conventional wisdom
1. Our culture promotes the idea of proving virility through violence. TV shows and movies have strong men with guns, knives, and knotted fists. Masculinity has become pseudonymous with physical strength and a lack of feeling.

8. Explode the myth
However, Atticus, Romeo, and Faber give a new definition to masculine.
Atticus has strength without violence. It is a strength of character that all people can look up to and try to emulate.
Romeo is a man who is proud to have different goals than his peers. He does not want to kill, but to love.
Faber learns to be a “true” man towards the end of Fahrenheit 451 when he takes the Bible to a publisher in another city. He does not have to be violent to perform this heroic task.

9. Alternate definition
Instead of the culturally accepted association of masculinity and violence, we should instead develop a new definition. This definition of masculinity would include a strength of character, like Atticus, a better set of priorities, like Romeo, and brave, yet non-violent actions, like Faber.

10. Dialectic Method

11. One side of the argument
Male authors write more masculine stories than female authors.
Example 1: Hemingway’s style and “In Our Time” is written in a very masculine style with short, concise sentences and never telling us how the characters feel.
Example 2: Jamaica Kincaid, a female author, focuses on flowers, fruits and emotions.

12. The Antithesis
The gender of the author does not influence the masculinity or femininity of the novel.
William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” focus’ on love, and Romeo is a very emotional character.
Harper Lee, a woman, has a tomboy for the main character, and Atticus is one of the strongest male characters in literary history.

13. The synthesis
One must first define “masculine stories” in order to determine if gender plays a role. If “masculine” is simply referring to the style of writing, with masculine being a short, concise style and feminine being a long, flowing style, than we can determine that gender can play a role. Hemingway and Bradbury both have masculine types of writing, while Kincaid, especially, has a feminine type of writing. On the other hand, if “masculine stories” also takes the characters into consideration, than the line blurs. Hemingway’s Nick is a weak character, while Lee’s Atticus and Scout are strong characters.

14. Exploratory Essay

15. Rat in the Maze A masculine novel has a great deal of violence in it.
Not necessarily… Romeo and Juliet was violent, yet people don’t tend to refer to it as masculine since it is all about love.

16. So a masculine story must have strong male characters.
Hemingway’s “In Our Time” is thought of as masculine, but Nick is a weak character. He can’t even truly break off a relationship, but must wait for his girlfriend to make him break up with her.
Conversely, Atticus Finch is a strong male character, yet the sentence structure of the novel is long and descriptive.

17. Therefore, the sentence structure of a novel must actually explain if the story is masculine or not, even if particular characters are weak or some of the themes are emotional.
Hemingway’s style is short and concise, never revealing emotions. “In Our Time” is a truly masculine novel.