10B: Quotes and Analysis

1. Topic Sentence

Topic Sentence is a mini-thesis

Recall my thesis from BMU:

While some may say death traumatizes Antonio, in actuality, death allows Antonio to realize the beauty of life, which leads him to his own belief system. This is important because society looks at death negatively, and while death is mournful, it allows one to appreciate and make sense of one's own existence.

A Supporting Paragraph:

Topic Sentence: Ultima's death teaches Antonio to appreciate the beauty of nature and the cycle of life.

Introduce quote: this is about a sentence when you give your reader some context so that we know where you are in the book.

At the end of the novel, Ultima's owl is killed by Tenorio, causing her to also die. Grief-stricken, Antonio pleads with Ultima.

Now, an author or character tag to introduce quote:

Tags:

• Anaya writes, believes, points out, argues, thinks
• Antonio (or any character) says,
• According to Antonio,

Ultima says, "They create a disharmony that in the end reaches out and destroys life--With the passing away of Tenorio and myself the meddling will be done with, harmony will be reconstituted" (Anaya 260).

Make sure you always include a parenthetical citation for all of your quotes (Author pg#).

Analysis

Questions for Analysis

• What is happening (explanation)
• Why is it happening? (Relationship to plot)
• What does it mean?
• Why is it important? (Relationship to thesis)

My Analysis of quote

• Ultima explains to Antonio the reason she needs to die (and explain who the "they" is).
• Ultima's death is necessary for harmony to be restored.
• Her religion is concerned with nature and the cycle of life: in death comes new life
• restoration, purity

Analysis of Quote

• While Antonio is sad, he realizes that nature necessitates death in order for new life to occur. Death in Ultima's religion has a clearer purpose than death in Catholicism.

End with a transition to your next point or move into your conclusion.

Therefore, Ultima's death allows Antonio to embrace his culture and religious backgrounds to construct one, harmonious religion.