#17 - Prompt Analysis: Outline for Analytical Writing 

Objectives:

I will mark a prompt (verb, topic, required texts/elements), write a working thesis, choose two pieces of evidence from each required text, and complete a four-part outline.

Notes:

Task verbs: analyze, compare, explain, evaluate, argue, trace, synthesize, solve, improve, elaborate, propose, conclude, justify, support, etc. etc.

A prompt is a contract: every body paragraph must pay what the prompt asked for. 

Thesis = answer to the prompt in one precise sentence. ATC = Answer + Textual Evidence + Commentary.

The 6-Step Prompt Attack

1. LIST the task verb. What must you do intellectually? (analyze / compare / explain / evaluate)

2. LIST the topic. What idea is in play? (death, memory, honor, language, the living…)

3. LIST the required texts or elements. Both texts? Devices? (metaphor, irony, characterization, etc.)

4. REWRITE the prompt as a question you can answer in one sentence.

5. LIST the must-haves. If you omit one, the essay is off-prompt. (ATT, text evidence, commentary, elaboration, embedded, etc.) 

6. ANSWER the question = working thesis. Then choose evidence that actually proves that answer.

Teacher Example:

Prompt - Trace the narrator’s shifting attitude toward the raven across the poem (curiosity → hope → anger → despair). What specific lines or stanzas mark the major shifts, and what do they reveal about the theme?

1. CIRCLE the task verb.

• Trace

2. UNDERLINE the topic. 

• narrator’s shifting attitude toward the raven

3. BOX the required texts or elements. Both texts? Devices?

• curiosity → hope → anger → despair

• reveal about the theme

4. REWRITE the prompt as a question you can answer in one sentence.

• How does the narrator’s attitude shift towards the raven (curiosity → hope → anger → despair) and what does that progression show about the thematic topic?

5. LIST the must-haves. If you omit one, the essay is off-prompt.

   1. Name all four stages in order.

• curiosity → hope → anger → despair

5. 2. Cite specific lines or stanzas for each major turn.

• Curiosity

  • “with many a flirt and flutter”

  • “this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, / By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.”

  • "Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!"

• Hope

  • “Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore."

  • “Is there—is there balm in Gilead?.”

  • “if, within the distant Aidenn, / It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”

  • “Nevermore”

• Anger

  • “Nevermore”

  • “‘Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!’ I shrieked, upstarting— / ‘Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore! … Take thy beak from out my heart.’”

• Despair

  • “never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting.”

  • "Nevermore"

5. 3. Commentary / Explain what each shift shows (not just “he gets mad”). Step 2 & 3 are combined.

• Curiosity

  • The bird steps in “with many a flirt and flutter” and perches on Pallas. The speaker smiles: “this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, / By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore.” He treats it as a strange, almost comic visitor and asks its name, "'Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!'." The tapping that began as mild puzzle is now an object of wonder and curiosity. This stage shows a mind attempting to stay rational in logical thought and even playful.

• Hope

  • After seating himself before the bird, he begs for forgetfulness, “Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore." Then for heavenly comfort “Is there—is there balm in Gilead?.” Then for reunion “if, within the distant Aidenn, / It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore.” Each question is an act of hope; each answer is “Nevermore” which consistently eliminates any hope. This rollercoaster of emotions is the downfall of the speaker. These stanzas reveal that the speaker has begun to use the raven as an oracle, projecting onto it the very consolation he cannot find in books or reason.

• Anger

  • The seventh “Nevermore” causes the speaker to snap and shouts “‘Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!’ I shrieked, upstarting— / ‘Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore! … Take thy beak from out my heart.’” The sophisticated scholar transitions into a man who shouts at a bird. The shift exposes that the real target is not the raven itself but rather the permeance the word "Nevermore" represents; rage is the last defense against accepting that Lenore and relief are gone forever.

• Despair

  • The bird “never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting.” The speaker is reminded of his new consistency with the diction of "never," "still," and the second "still." Between this and the only spoken word of "Nevermore" has placed the speaker in the deepest darkest hole of his new life. 

5. 4. Tie the whole arc to theme (inescapable grief / memory that will not leave / the failure of reason and hope against “Nevermore”).

• The last line seals the theme of the poem “And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor / Shall be lifted—nevermore!” Curiosity and hope have been exhausted and anger has failed. What remains is the recognition that grief has become a permanent occupant of the mind. Similar to the bust of Pallas, the raven perching on the bust, and only ever speaking the same word. 

5. 5. Stay inside “The Raven” and do not wander into biography or other poems unless they serve the theme claim.

6. ANSWER the question = working thesis. Then choose evidence that actually proves that answer.

• The narrator’s movement from amused curiosity, to desperate hope, to rage, and to permanent despair maps the poem’s theme of once grief has taken hold, every attempt to explain, forget, or bargain with loss only confirms its permanence. The raven does not change, the speaker’s mind does, until the spoken word of “Nevermore” becomes the condition of his soul.

Assignment: 

Students will choose one of the prompts below and complete the 1-6 prompt analysis steps. You are NOT writing an essay.  ALL six steps should be listed.

1. Core Comparison: Both texts address death and remembrance, yet one presents private, unending despair and the other public, purposeful honor. How do genre (poem vs. oratory) and purpose shape these radically different responses to loss?

2. On Resilience: "The Raven" ends with the soul unable to be "lifted nevermore." Pericles urges the living to emulate the fallen and continue building the city. Which response do you find more resilient or humanly valuable? Why? Use evidence from both texts in your reasoning.

3. Language & Power: Poe uses poetic devices (repetition, sound patterns, symbolism) to trap the narrator in grief. Pericles uses rhetorical devices (parallelism, antithesis, appeals) to inspire collective action and pride. How does each author’s craft demonstrate the power of words to either paralyze or mobilize in the face of tragedy?

4. Individual vs. Collective: The narrator in "The Raven" is utterly alone with his grief. Pericles emphasizes the city, the tribe, the shared sacrifice, and the collective memory. What are the strengths and limitations of each approach to processing loss?

The individual prompts decide the number of questions marks you have.

1. LIST verb(s)

   1. ?

2. LIST Topic(s)

   1. ?

3. LIST the required texts, elements, and/or devices

   1. ?

4. REWRITE the prompt

   1. ?

5. LIST Requirements (must-haves)

   1. ?

6. ANSWER the question = working thesis

   1. ?