How does “The Lottery” either demonstrate or contradict a principle or idea expressed in Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”? Think about what the key ideas are in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. (you will need to summarize, quote, and paraphrase authors’ ideas in this essay). Then, think about how they may relate to concepts or ideas implied by one of the pieces of literature. As always, you need to focus on what each text is DOING or DEMONSTRATING to its readers–in either a direct or indirect way–and how this idea relates to King either by affirming or contradicting one of their claims. When you have a key relationship in mind, construct a tentative thesis statement and scratch outline to help you plan the content of your essay.
– Intro paragraph that introduces the text(s) and describes what it is DOING using action verbs; a thesis statement that articulates a CLEAR claim about the relationship between the two text(s). Ideally, this sentence should use a subordinating conjunction as part of a complex sentence structure OR using a conjunctive adverb as part of a compound sentence.
– 2-4 body paragraphs (with CLEAR topic sentences and transitional devices as needed to show PRECISION) that focus on specific aspects of the text(s) in support of the thesis. You should provide some quoted and/or paraphrased material (properly integrated, cited, and analyzed to show ACCURACY and DEPTH) to illustrate your points. Use the SEER paragraph format to help you structure your body paragraphs!
– A conclusion that re-emphasizes your main point and reinforces why it (or the text) is important. This is your BREADTH–your answer to the “so what” question.
– A works cited page that includes entries for each work discussed, formatted per MLA guidelines
