1. “Living Like Weasels” TEST REVIEW TAKE-UP
MORE PRACTICE FOR THE ESSAY ANALYSIS TEST!

2. Effectiveness of the Opening Sentence
It is short, abrupt, arresting, and uses alliteration
It appeals to Dillard’s topic/thesis – leading away from culture/civilization to live a simpler life led by instinct
It captures readers’ attention by announcing, in just 4 succinct words, an interesting subject: the wildness of an animal – “A WEASEL IS WILD.”
The brevity of the sentence is effective in contrast to the much longer sentences within the first paragraph.
The topic itself strikes a note of anticipation and interest for the reader right away, because it is followed up by a rhetorical question: “Who knows what he thinks?”

3. What is the thesis of this essay?
Human beings should live more like weasels; that is, instinctively and relentlessly in pursuit of the central purpose that our instincts tell us we must follow.
Dillard argues that we as humans will be happier if we live much more like weasels: she argues that happiness comes from a submission to our basic instincts.

4. QUESTION #1: SAMPLE RESPONSE
The thesis of Annie Dillard’s personal persuasive essay is that we, as human beings, should live more by instinct and less by choice. Dillard’s thesis is clearly stated in paragraph 13 when she says, “The weasel lives in necessity and we live in choice, hating necessity and dying at the last ignobly in its talons. I would like to live as I should, as the weasel lives as he should.” The thesis in paragraph 13 is explicitly stated, but the meaning behind it is implied and developed in the paragraphs leading up to it, as well as the paragraphs following it. Dillard stresses that a simpler life could be a fuller life through her description of the weasel throughout this essay.

5. What is the essential information that is revealed in paragraph #15?
The author begins the paragraph with “I missed my chance.” – This is KEY information because the essay becomes even more PERSONAL here – It is clear that the author is regretful about something. A missed chance? A love gone wrong? A job lost? An opportunity for redemption left behind? This argument ties in very clearly with the thesis and this paragraph emphasizes the regret/remorse that the narrator feels. “I should have gone for the throat. I should have lunged for that streak of white under the weasel’s chin and held on...”

6. What is the tone of this essay?
The tone throughout
most of the essay is:
Excitement
Admiration (an intense
fascination and absorption with
the weasel is conveyed)
In paragraph 15 there is a distinct shift in the tone: The author expresses the regret she feels over not following her instincts in the past. At this point the tone becomes darker and more remorseful. There is a clear sense of longing, nostalgia, and reflection here (always identify and analyze a shift in tone when you see it)

7. What is the tone of this essay?
Be sure to include a direct quotation from the essay that proves the tone that you identify in your response (as well as using a second quotation to indicate a shift in tone if there is one):
Admiration/Fascination:
“Our look was as if two lovers, or deadly enemies, met unexpectedly on an overgrown path when each had been thinking of something else: a clearing blow to the gut. It was also a bright blow to the brain, or a sudden beating of brains, with all the charge and intimate grate of rubbed balloons. It emptied our lungs….” (paragraph 10)
Regret/Remorse:
“I missed my chance. I should have gone for the throat.” (paragraph 14)

8. Internal Strategies Explored
Definition – A definition of the weasel in paragraphs 1 & 8. This detailed description is effective for several reasons: it paints a very vivid picture of the weasel, the topic of the essay, an animal many urban readers may never have seen. These descriptions infects readers with the same enthusiasm and curiosity as Dillard herself.

9. Internal Strategies Continued
Narration: The author explores her personal encounter with a weasel in paragraphs 3 and 6-11 – “The sun had just set. I was relaxed on the tree trunk…” (paragraph 7)
She also begins to make more personal connections to weasels in paragraphs 14 and 16 – “I should have lunged for that streak of white under the weasel’s chin and held on.” (paragraph 14)

10. Internal Strategies Continued
Process Analysis – An analysis of the process of her thoughts in digesting her encounter with the weasel (paragraphs 14-18)
Dillard analyzes several processes including her deepening awareness and intimacy with the weasel, her after- impressions of it, and the process of making her own choices and living by instinct. Her final reflections include, “We can live anyway we want” and then she goes on to consider the decisions people make when following a lifelong plan: “The thing is to stalk your calling in a certain skilled and supple way, to locate the most tender and live spot and plug into that pulse.” It is the depth of her self-analysis, and the openness with which she admits her mistakes that enhances the ethos of her essay.

11. The 3rd paragraph is only two sentences long. What is the effect?
This is effective for two reasons:
It signifies a change is about to take place.
The paragraph moves from being somewhat abstract and distant to something personal (describing her initial contact with the animal and the inciting incident that will lead up to her thesis).

12. There is a one word sentence used in paragraph #6. What is the effect?
It refocuses our attention back on the narrator. In the previous paragraph she went back to describing the setting and taking our mind off her initial point. “So…” refocuses the reader back to where she wants him/her.
Also contributes to tone – this is an informal/conversational way of getting back to her point. Makes it intimate again.

13. Rhetorical Devices Explored: Metaphor
The weasel is described as “socketed into” the hand of the naturalist (paragraph 1)
Compares the weasel’s bite to an electrical connection – this device suggests the sheer force of the animal, the shock of the animal’s bite, and the pain it would cause the naturalist.
This is effective partly because it is imaginative and unusual to see a similarity between electrical current and the qualities of an animal.
The energy of the animal is
highlighted here!

14. Rhetorical Devices: Simile
Imagery of the stubborn weasel is conveyed, when the author writes, “the man could in no way pry the tiny weasel off, and he had to walk half a mile to water, the weasel dangling from his palm, and soak him off like a stubborn label.” (paragraph 1)
This simile is effective because it paints an image in our mind of the tenacity of the weasel. It compares something we all know (getting a label off of a bottle) to something we cannot really understand unless we experience it (being bitten by a vicious weasel).

15. Rhetorical Devices Continued
Simile: A direct comparison between two unlike things using like or as within the comparison – “thin as a curve”; “brown as fruitwood”; “pointed as a lizard’s”
In paragraph 8, the rhetorical devices used are: similes, metaphor, alliteration, and imagery…what is the purpose and effect of these devices?

16. Rhetorical Devices Cont’d
Juxtaposition: The act of positioning close together
(or side by side) in order to emphasize a contrast.
A few examples in paragraph 10 include:
“Our look was as if two lovers, or deadly enemies…”
Ideas of man and nature continuously juxtaposed: “overgrown path” + “charge and intimate grate of rubbed balloons”; “felled the forest, moved the fields, drained the pond”…these ideas are continuously intermixed and intertwined.
This juxtaposition is effective because it involves a breaking down of our ideas about nature and humans being two separate entities.
This juxtaposition is linked to paragraph 5 when the narrator states, “under every busy is a muskrat hole or a beer can.” This emphasizes the destruction of humans and the restorative ability of nature, which foreshadows Dillard’s thesis!

17. Rhetorical Devices Explored: Hyperbole
Hyperbole is an exaggeration for literary effect. “I think I retrieved my brain from the weasel’s brain…”
This hyperbole emphasizes the author’s intense fascination and absorption with the weasel. This device ultimately emphasizes the central idea that we humans would do well to live and think like weasels!

18. Test Writing TIPS
Spend minutes on each question (x4 questions = minutes of writing time, and minutes to read and make notes on the essay)
Include a direct quotation from the essay as support for your assertions in EVERY response for EVERY question.
Be as clear as possible in your explanations. If your ideas are jumbled, vague, and/or poorly-worded, this WILL have an negative effect on your overall grade.
Be ANALYTICAL! Go beyond the obvious and make insightful connections that connect to the step you are addressing!
Address the purpose and effect of each aspect of the essay (device/technique)!