ESSAY PRACTICE BASED ON “THE MEAT” Essay question (planning): This story has been written by a woman, Janice Galloway – how would it change if it had been written by a man? TITLE: “The cruelty of domestic abuse: A feminist call to attention in Janice Galloway’s “The Meat”” NOTE: as you can see, the title already announces which thesis will be defended – that this is a feminist short story designed to denounce domestic violence
THESIS: This story can only have been written by a woman with a feminist intention to expose the cruelty of domestic violence ARGUMENT 1: This story is shocking because only shock can awaken readers to the cruelty of domestic abuse. ARGUMENT 2: The structure and style of the story are designed, precisely, to affect readers so that they’re no longer indifferent to abuse. PARAGRAPH 1: [development of the idea that this story is shocking because only shock can awaken readers to the cruelty of domestic abuse, with evidence from the text and a focus on the feminist intentions of the author. PARAGRAPH 2: [development of the idea that the structure and style of the story are designed, precisely, to affect readers so that they’re no longer indifferent to abuse with evidence from the text. ] CONCLUSIONS: [don’t introduce new ideas] Main possible counterargument – can’t a man write with a feminist intention? And, is this story addressing men or women? ******************************** TITLE: “An open interpretation of “The Meat”: Between disgust and denunciation”
THESIS: If this story had been written by a man we could easily read it as a misogynist joke in bad taste; however, depending on the man it could also be a denunciation of domestic abuse. ARGUMENT 1: If written by a man, we could easily read this story as a call to other men of similar bad taste to enjoy an ugly joke at the expense of the dead woman ARGUMENT 2: Of course, not all men are misogynists, and we could also read this shocking story as a denunciation of domestic abuse from a concerned man’s point of view.
PARAGRAPH 1: [development of the idea that If written by a man, we could easily read this story as a call to other men of similar bad taste to enjoy the ugly joke at the expense of the dead woman, with evidence from the text] PARAGRAPH 2: [development of the idea that Of course, not all men are misogynists, and we could also read this shocking story as a denunciation of domestic abuse from a concerned man’s point of view. ] CONCLUSIONS: [don’t introduce new ideas]
