“Trifles” (1916) by Susan Glaspell
Analyzed by Cassie Burton
Reading and Inventing
I combined the reading/inventing process because that is usually how it works for me. I read the story once, and the second time I began journaling as I read. On the first page, I wrote down my very primitive theme, key plot points and examples of irony and symbolism, which I immediately picked out as the literary devices I would write about. Also included character descriptions and notes about Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, because they were the two most important characters in the play (besides Mrs. Wright, who never actually appears). I began to analyze elements of the story and question the significance – the canary, the last line, the dialogue.
For me, mapping out the thesis helps me figure out my theme, so I focused more on thesis. Both (theme and thesis) needed work, but they were the basics of what I wanted to put into words.
For me, mapping out the thesis helps me figure out my theme, so I focused more on thesis. Both (theme and thesis) needed work, but they were the basics of what I wanted to put into words.
Planning
My outlines are usually bare minimum. I wanted to get down my lead for the introduction, and my main literary devices, symbolism and irony. Generally, I write the rest as I go (quotes, etc.) because I already have a “map” in my head of my essay. It’s different for everyone – most outlines are more detailed than this one. Writing down points can help eliminate weak reasons/devices – if I had been more exact, I might have realized in advance that I had enough material to write an essay about just symbolism.
Drafting
The following three sheets are my first draft. It is rough, but most first drafts are. The main point of a rough draft is just to “get it out” – my points, my thoughts, my explanations. This one is marked on; a link to a clean copy is below it.
| first_draft_trifles_clean.pdf |
Revising
In my opinion, revising is the most important step. My preferred method is peer-editing. For the first draft, I had four people read mine in a group-edit. I’m showing Leanna’s feedback up close because it has the most feedback, and I put links of the other edits at the bottom for further reference. The biggest advantage to peer editing is that you find out if you expressed your thoughts eloquently enough for other people to follow. Sometimes my thought process muddles my perception of the paper. Having someone else read it lets me know what is good and what needs improvement. I ended up going through four separate drafts after receiving feedback on each one.
The main thing with revising is that it often consists of writing several drafts. So I wouldn’t be overwhelmed with corrections, I had one person review it, incorporate their feedback into the draft, print out the revised draft and give it to the next reviewer.
The main thing with revising is that it often consists of writing several drafts. So I wouldn’t be overwhelmed with corrections, I had one person review it, incorporate their feedback into the draft, print out the revised draft and give it to the next reviewer.
Third peer-edit: all pages
During the fourth edit (above), I had my professor read it over and put his comments, then we had a conference in which I wrote down more notes on the draft. If you can, I highly recommend talking to your professor – you (probably) can’t show him or her your actual essay, but talking to them about something you’re struggling with can often give you insight into what they’re looking for or what you’re trying to explain in your essay.
Finalizing
I integrated all past suggestions, messed with my title more, added page numbers, took out the appendix page – all the little technical things. It feels like it took forever to finally finish, but I am much happier and more confident in my final draft. I think it’s much clearer and concise, but still has enough of my own original thought put into it.