1. English 12 “The Boat” “The Yellow wallpaper” “Am I Blue?”
Short Story Essays
English 12
“The Boat”
“The Yellow wallpaper”
“Am I Blue?”

2. Essay Topics The Boat The Father choose his own death.
Does the son regret his decision to become a professor instead of a fisherman?
The Yellow Wallpaper
The main theme of The Yellow Wallpaper is female mental illness.
What does the wallpaper represent in the story?
Am I Blue?
Is the use of offense language okay when it is used by the people it is meant to offend?
The stereotypical comments about gay people in Am I Blue? is more offensive than progressive; and therefore the story loses it’s relevance.

3. Thesis and Introduction Statement – Am I Blue?
Thesis Statement: What is it?
The thesis statement says what you believe and how you intend to prove it.
Must be strong and to the point (no ‘I believe, I feel, I think…’)
Includes the three arguments that you will use to prove your point – but in any specific details.
Specific topic + Attitude/Angle/Argument = Thesis
What you plan to argue + How you plan to argue it = Thesis
The thesis statement follows the introduction sentence (An introduction in to the story you are writing about)
“Am I Blue? by Bruce Coville is a fantastical tale of a young man’s struggle against himself and the universal struggle all teenagers have to be who you really are without fear of judgement.” Is an example of a starting statement.

4. Sample Thesis Statement – The Boat
Begin by choosing the three arguments that you will be proving in your thesis.
Jumped?: His boots came off when his body was found, son was driving the boat – son was away from him, promise to the son to stop fishing when he died, wanted his son to go to school – not fish, wanting to get away from fishing, wife was terrible, unhappy life, wife was unsupportive of dream
Thesis: The father chose to end is his life by jumping off the boat in order to insure that his son did not end up a fishermen like himself, as he was unhappy in his marriage and was unable to fulfill his dreams.

5. Quotes – The Yellow Wallpaper
Be sure to introduce the quote:
When the narrator’s sister touched the wallpaper she noticed “that the paper stained everything, that she had found yellow smooches on all my clothes and John’s” (page 8).
Make sure that the quote does not stand alone as your only proof – you need to support it in your own words (*continued from above):
As the narrator continues to touch and become more attached and obsessed with the wallpaper, the paper becomes part of her. It is all over her physically as well as mentally. She is becoming part of the paper.
Do not just assume that your quote explains your opinion. A quote is meant to support your argument, not make it for you.
If you quote more than 40 words, you must indent in a separate paragraph and place the page number at the bottom:
The narrator describes the nursery:
“The wall-paper, as I said before, is torn off in spots … (page 5)

6. What not to do…
No use of ‘I’ – i.e. I think, I believe, I will prove, I know that…
Do not use ‘In conclusion’ or ‘in this paper’ or ‘My thesis is’ or ‘I will discuss’.
Should you feel the need to use any of the above statements; write out the sentence you want, then remove the ‘taboo’ part.
i.e. In this paper I will discuss the importance of female mental illness in The Yellow Wallpaper. INSTEAD
Female mental illness is very important in The Yellow Wallpaper…
Do not use contractions (Don’t, won’t, isn’t, shouldn’t…)
Do not talk about both sides of your argument (The father jumped, but he could have fallen).
If you find conflicting information in the story (i.e. the fact that it was stormy the day he died, therefore the weather could have taken him) do not mention it – there should be no evidence in your paper that your opinion is wrong.