ESSAY TOPIC: Discuss Platonov’s style and his use of irony in “Doubting Makar.” What effect does it achieve?
Instructions: Write a well-organized essay of 4 (double-spaced, 12-point font) in which you (a) concisely formulate your inquiry; (b) using your close-reading skills, analyze the portions of the text that is relevant to your topic (this is your “textual evidence”); and (c) draw a logical and illuminating conclusion that gives your readers a new perspective on the text(s) you have analyzed.
The qualities I will look for in the essay are the following: Do you ask an interesting question that doesn’t have an obvious answer? Do you use textual evidence, and explicit analysis of that evidence, to try and answer the question? Are your ideas logically organized and developed? Is the logic of your transitions (from sentence to sentence, and from paragraph to paragraph) made clear to the reader? Do you express your thoughts in clear, concise, grammatical English prose?