page 1 / 7 I will be writing a sample essay over the story "I Stand Here Ironing," which is NOT an assigned reading in this course. You will need to choose a story that IS an assigned reading in this course to analyze for this midterm essay.
page 2 / 7 In my introduction, I'm going to follow these guildelines to begin my essay... The story "I Stand Here Ironing," by Tillie Olsen, is a poignant narrative that shows a mother's love and regret for what she could not provide her daughter in the early years that has resulted in this child's sense of hopelessness for her future. The theme of a hopelessness about the future is demonstrated through Ms. Olsen's depiction of both the characters themselves as well as the internal conflict within the story. Everything I write in the body paragraphs of the essay should focus on defending this point... that the theme is hopelessness, and that theme is demonstrated through character and conflict in the telling of the story.
page 3 / 7 Characterization The sense of despair within the story is evident in the descriptions that show Emily's character. The connotations of the of these descriptions embody a sense of hopelessness. Characterizing Emily with words containing such powerfully negative connotations depicts the overall mood of the story and emphasizes this theme of hopelessness. Even Emily's description of her own mother depicts this theme, when she says, "Whistler painted his mother in a rocker. I'd have to paint mine standing over an ironing board." "She would struggle over books," "Running out to that huge school where she was one, she was lost, she was drop; suffering in her unpreparedness, stammering and unsure in her classes." Sometimes, to make laugh, or out of her despair..."
page 4 / 7 Conflict Ms. Olsen also uses the mother's internal conflict throughout the story to depict the theme. She struggles to accept that she did not do all she could for Emily in the early years, and attempts to put herself at ease, only to lose that hope by the end of the story. The author shows throughout this piece the emotional struggle the mother is going through, realizing she is responsible for her daughter's lack of hope, wanting to change it but feeling she can't. Regarding Emily's statement that the atomic bomb will kill everyone, the narrator says, "She has said it before. She believes it. But because I have been dredging the past, and all that compounds a human being is so heavy and meaningful to me, I cannot endure it tonight." when there was work..."
page 5 / 7 Tillie Olsen does a masterful job of depicting the sense of hopelessness in "I Stand Here Ironing," through her use of characterization and conflict within the narrative. Characterizing Emily as a plant that did not have the benefit of "the soil of easy growth," shows that the hopelessness began early and her unrealized potential in the future will likely be the end result. The internal conflict that the narrator endures allows the reader to see the trajectory from an early childhood of semi-neglect to an adolescence of post-war fear and lack of hope for the future. The combination of characterization and conflict brings out the overall theme of despair, or to take it further, the likelihood of unrealized potential for Emily in the future.
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Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org) page 7 / 7 The final product from the prewriting to the organizing and writing of the essay.