Short Story Analysis: Reflection on My Paper

Overall, I am pretty pleased with my short story analysis paper on “Teenage Wasteland” by Anne Tyler. I do think, however, that there are some weaknesses throughout my paper that could have been avoided altogether. Throughout my paper, I tend to resort to the emphasis on Cal’s corrupt character rather than effectively demonstrating the “loss of innocence in vulnerable youths” through Donny's character. I could have incorporated more analysis on Tyler's characterization of Donny in addition to Cal, in order to capture the meaning of the work as a whole, in terms of Tyler’s “so what.”

Also, I agree that I need more support to substantiate my claim about Cal’s destructive influence on Donny in the story, and how that ultimately manifests in Donny’s escape/downfall. I also need support for proving the “cracked foundation” of the Coble family because I neglected to provide evidence of the tension between Donny and his parents. In my argument about Donny’s compliance to evil and Cal’s “teenage wasteland,” I was very vague about how Donny’s corruption came to be. For example, in my third paragraph (second body paragraph), I discuss Donny’s “submission to sin and corruption,” but I don’t go into detail about how this is done or when this takes place. I could’ve used the example when Daisy is notified of Donny’s progressing unsatisfactory performance in school which occurs under Cal’s supervision and “mentoring.”There are many instances throughout the text that can corroborate this negative influence that Cal has on Donny throughout the story.

Additionally, most of the comments I received on my paper addressed the insufficient and lack of support/evidence that I need in order to fully develop my idea and to prove my thesis. I was unable to effectively demonstrate Cal’s motives in the grand scheme of things, and how that exactly leads to Donny’s corruption. I agree with Mrs. Clinch, there are many gaps, or loose ends that need to be tied, in my story, which I could have probably easily done just simply by using more TEXT SUPPORT! I think I could’ve done such a better job in tying my claims back to my thesis and Tyler’s “so what.” I don’t know why I was reluctant to include more evidence throughout my paper because it does seem like I am making assumptions about Cal’s rapacious nature just by notciting more text.

For the most part, I wrote more about “what” and failed to acknowledge the “how” in the story. I needed to address HOW Cal is manipulative and HOW Donny losses his innocence, not just that he did. I make a lot of unconvincing and inadequate statements regarding Cal’s character throughout my paper without actually proving HOW he is like a vampire. I merely accused Cal of being one without actually proving it, or his motives in that case. In effect, I agree that I had a great argument and interesting assertions, but I should have put more focus on how my claims can be seen in Tyler’s story.