Outline: FOCUS/THESIS: It is Catherine’s fault that she is not loved. She is unlovable because she is not vulnerable.
• So what I was saying is that we should discuss Catherine’s father’s displeasure towards her and the effect is has on her span class. But in that, the focus is still Catherine’s inability to let people in.
• Then we could talk about how she let Morris in when he charmed her, but then he was only after her money, which led her to become even tougher.
Assignment: Write a 3-page analytical essay on a topic based on Henry James’s novel, Washington Square. Your essay must be unified by a strong, interesting thesis. Your paper should be based upon textual evidence (show, don’t tell) and should be analytical in nature. Further, be sure to make up a title for your essay that accurately reflects its content. And finally, be sure to proofread your work before handing it in. Remember, writing (and presentation) counts.
So main point number one is that because Catherine’s father does not love her, she puts up a tough exterior to avoid getting hurt. As a result, Dr. Slopper dislikes her further because he cannot get inside of Catherine to help her. Or what he believes is helping her. For example, when Catherine is falling in love with Morris, Dr. Slopper wants to put an end to it, but Catherine really does not care for her father’s opinion and this is resulted from Catherine not really having an inside. And by inside, I sort of mean that Catherine does not really care about Dr Slopper’s opinion because he treated her so poorly she just blocks off everything he says and feels.
So for Morris, I feel that despite Catherine having such a tough and impenetrable personality, she momentarily let her guard down because Morris charmed her so greatly. Her father then decides to try to interfere because he believes that Morris is, for lack of better way to describe it, a “gold digger”. However, Catherine really doesn’t care about her father’s opinion because of her upbringing so she chooses to keep herself for Morris anyway. She is happy. And after a year away, Dr Sloppers plan to break Catherine and Morris up doesn’t work, BUT it becomes clear that Morris wanted Catherine for her fortune. Because of this, it would seem that Catherine sank further into her wall that she built for herself.
So we can have an introduction paragraph, one on her childhood and one on her father. Then one on her love life, and one of Morris, and a conclusion
As you’re writing the actual paragraphs though, you have to make sure to bring back the point that this is why Catherine is unlovable because she isn’t vulnerable. Then everything will still be the focus.