Thesis statement and outline for the essay
Write a 750-word (3�4-pages) essay that compares and contrasts 2 stories from the Fiction Unit.
Before you begin writing the essay, carefully read the guidelines for developing your paper topic that
are given below. Review the Fiction Essay Grading Rubric to see how your submission will be graded.
Gather all of your information, plan the direction of your essay, and organize your ideas by developing
a 1-page thesis statement and outline for your essay. Format the thesis statement and the outline in a
single Word document using current MLA, APA, or Turabian style (whichever corresponds to your
degree program).
Thesis statement
The essay compares and contrasts two short stories. These are The Most Dangerous Game by
Richard Connell and The Child by Tiger by Thomas Wolfe. The essay focuses on the
THESIS STATEMENT AND OUTLINE OF ESSAY 2
following elements of fiction: conflict, theme, and imagery. Each of the two short stories has
different themes, and imagery. However, they have the same conflicts.
Outline for the essay
Theme
In The Child by Tiger, the themes are: (i) both evil and violence exist within the human soul
alongside goodness and gentleness, and (ii) like every other aspect of nature, human nature
comprises 2 sides – one side is chaotic and repulsive whereas the other side is orderly and
beautiful. In The Most Dangerous Game, the main theme is Violence and Cruelty. For
instance, Zaroff shows off the heads of animals he has slayed and after he has described his
latest prey, he refers to his latest collection of heads that are apparently human (Connell 157).
Conflict
In The Child by Tiger by Thomas Wolfe, the following conflicts are evident: person versus
person, person versus nature, and person versus self. There are also conflicts of whites versus
whites, whites versus blacks, and blacks versus blacks. In The Most Dangerous Game by
Richard Connell, the conflicts include Human versus Human, Human versus Nature and
Human versus Self.
Imagery
In The Child by Tiger, after Dick Prosser is first introduced, he appears a very religious,
multi-talented and gentle person. Almost immediately however, Thomas Wolfe starts a
consistent reference to Dick Prosser as a person who is very cat-like in nature, and who draws
on his sly agility, speed and prowess (Wolfe 134). Thus, it could be gathered by the readers
that the tiger symbolizes Dick Prosser. In The Most Dangerous Game, ungovernable, wild
and teeming, the jungle powerfully symbolizes general Zaroff’s twisted psyche as well as the
THESIS STATEMENT AND OUTLINE OF ESSAY 3
chaos in the island. In addition, the jungle symbolizes restriction and Rainsford’s loss of
control given that it obstructs his efforts of returning to civilization.
Works cited
Connell, Richard. The Most Dangerous Game. Print. 1949.
THESIS STATEMENT AND OUTLINE OF ESSAY 4
Wolfe, Thomas. “The Child By Tiger.” Saturday Evening Post 210.11 (1937): 10-102.
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