Short Story of Shiloh

Research papers on the short story of Shiloh, by Bobbie Ann Mason, can be written from several points of view or focus on a character, theme or element of the story. However you need your research written, the writers at Paper Masters that specialize in literature can assist you with writing on this classic American short story by Bobbie Ann Mason.

Set in Kentucky and Shiloh, Tennessee, the site of a decisive but also bloody battle during the American Civil War, Bobbie Ann Mason's short story of the same name explores another particularly intense form of civil conflict: the breakdown of a marriage. The setting of Shiloh is important in this story since, like the Civil War, the marriage between Norma Jean and Leroy has reached this critical point due to a number of issues that have been left to fester below the surface of their relationship. The loss of their child, Randy, who "died at the age of four months and three days", for instance, has never been discussed, and remains an unspoken barrier between them. Similarly, a "highway accident four months" (44) earlier has left Leroy, a truck driver, unable to drive and unable to find a comfortable place in a world that he is realizing is far different than one that he thinks he knows. And finally for Norma Jean, a woman named after the ill-fated movie star Marilyn Monroe, life has become about change and growth, which might, in the end, take her away from Leroy and from the complacency that has come to define their life together. In the end, the trip to Shiloh is not so much about a civil war between two people as it is about an attempt to capture a memory from the past and to rekindle a union that has been pulled apart through neglect.

A good Short Story of Shiloh Research Paper has the following characteristics:

• Perceptive argument that goes beyond the obvious
• Argument that does not ignore evidence from the literary work
• Specific incidents, narration, or dialogue from the literary work itself that support assertions
• Analysis, not paraphrase
• Sentences that are logically connected
• Clear thesis
• Thesis that avoids the three-part format and resulting five-paragraph essay
• Source material that is skillfully integrated into sentences
• Graceful introduction and conclusion

Organization for Short Story of Shiloh Research Paper:

• Unified, developed paragraphs all relating to the thesis and having their own Short Story of Shiloh sentences
• Thesis clearly identifiable in the first paragraph
• Logical pattern of body paragraphs

First Paper: On Fiction

Short Story of Shiloh: Write on any one of the short stories from the piece of fiction. You have two possible approaches to this paper; choose the one that appeals to you:

1. Discuss how any one of the following contribute to the work's theme: point of view, character, setting, tone and style, or symbolism. In other words, you will adopt a formalist stance.
2. Discuss an element of the work that appeals to you but is not necessarily literary. For example, in "Everyday Use," you may be interested in the African American culture that is represented. If you were writing about Their Eyes Were Watching God, you might write about Hurston's feminism.
3. I recommend the second approach for most students; it allows you to choose a Short Story of Shiloh that fits in with your other interests in history, culture, or psychology.

Content of a Research Paper on Shiloh Should Have the Following Elements:

• If you summarize at all, restrict the summary to a paragraph right after your introduction, before the analysis begins, and, in your own words, tell what happens in the work. Stick to facts; don't interpret at this point. Remember to use the present tense when referring to events in a literary work.
• In the body of the paper, explicate your thesis. "Explication" means to interpret or explain; you will be interpreting or explaining one aspect of the work. Remember, your purpose is to increase your reader's enjoyment and his/her understanding of how the novel or short story works. Offer some analysis, or explication, of the work as it relates to your thesis.
• Follow this prewriting process: First, read the work several times, making marginal notes. Do you have any questions about the plot or other elements? Are there passages you don't understand or some that seem irrelevant? Your questions and uncertainties can lead you to good Short Story of Shilohs for explication since it's likely that your questions reflect difficulties or ambiguities within the work. Generally, the narrower (smaller, more specific) your Short Story of Shiloh, the better your explication. Be sure that you back up all your assertions with proof and examples from the work. Also, use your research to back up your points.