THEORETICAL ANALYSIS ESSAY (Essay Sample)

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Number Date Theoretical Analysis Essay Introduction Theoretical analysis essays that fall into the literary discipline of criticism may be found in various places, such as academic journals and magazines or websites hosted by influential individuals. The essay typically begins with a statement explaining what is being analyzed and is followed by an argument explaining the reasoning behind the analysis. These essays are often published to explore new thoughts on existing topics, but they can also sometimes be submitted as part of an academic paper or essay. A summary of the story "the lottery" plots The short story 'The Lottery' is about a man who participates in a lottery and becomes one of the losers. The story shows how his life is changed by one person, such as the power of chance. A lottery is an event where names are chosen from a container, and winners are selected randomly. "The Lottery" is a village tradition to draw lots to pick a winner among the villagers for the common good. The drawing of lots symbolizes the opportunity of being selected by chance. A summary of the story "two kinds" plot Among Amy Tan's short stories is "Two Kinds," in which the tension between Jing-mei, a first-generation American, and her mother, a Chinese immigrant, is examined. It is an eloquent description of the interaction between immigrant parents and children as they struggle to understand each other. The theme of Two Kinds is what it means to be a Chinese-American. Just as Jing-mei is torn between her American and Chinese heritage, this story explores what it means to be from both cultures. First, there is the story of "The Lottery," which looks at the amount of power that one person can have and how it has changed the lives of a village. Secondly, there is "Two Kinds," where we see how the main character Jing-mei struggles with her identity as an American while simultaneously trying to recuperate her Chinese heritage. Through these stories, we can see that gender plays a significant role in each situation. For example, in "The Lottery," the lottery leads to wins or losses, but it is ultimately one person who has changed a man's life forever. In "Two Kinds," Jing-mei's mother had complete control over her daughter and her decisions, no matter how well-thought-out they were. These stories also show us how ideologies and power play a significant role in each situation. “The lottery" under gender critical theory Under gender critical theory, it is a story of how the son in the story wanted to have a more dominant role in his family, so he sought out other men that he could turn into his supporters. This is a way for him to show his dominance over his wife and gain respect from the rest of his family. Gender critical theory would look at this as a patriarchal society, where men are seen as superior to their wives and daughters. This story takes place in an isolated town where everyone knows each other. This is the main reason why they play the lottery so regularly. With everyone knowing each other and having money, getting someone to participate in this game of chance is pretty straightforward. No matter how little the money is, if everyone knows each other, it becomes a win-or-lose situation. "Two Kinds" under gender critical theory In "Two Kinds," we see how Jing-mei struggles with her identity as Chinese while simultaneously trying to recuperate her American heritage. Her mother is the one that has complete control over her decisions, no matter how well-thought-out they are. This is seen in many ways. When Jing-mei takes on a teaching job at the local school, the principal and his wife both think it's an excellent idea for how she becomes an American instead of staying in China with her family. In essence, Jing-mei becomes an American because her mother says so. Another example would be when Jing-mei begins to have sexual relations with her teacher. Her mother becomes furious with her and threatens to disown her. This demonstrates how it is against her culture to be having an affair with a man that isn't married, which shows that she has accepted the American tradition of marriage. This can be seen as a form of oppression from Jing-mei's mother, but it also shows where she comes from and why she feels the way she does about America. “The lottery" under ideologies/power critical theory In "The Lottery," we see how the power of chance greatly influences everyone's lives. It is an event that changes one's life through one person who happens to be in that village. We can all relate to this because we know someone or have been in a similar situation to what the story takes place in. When an individual wins a jackpot, they can become very happy or excited, but it becomes an entirely different story when one of the lottery customers loses. It is something unexpected that can make one's life change drastically because it is out of their hands. In the story, the unexpected happens when Tessie Hutchinson loses the lottery. She was stoned to death by the merciless villagers who could not listen to her even after she loudly shouted, "this isn't fair" (Jackson, pg 8). This story also shows how ideologies and power play a significant role in each situation. The town in the story wouldn't even be able to function without the lottery, and everyone knows this. “Two kinds" under ideologies/power critical theory In "Two Kinds," it is seen that Jing-mei's mother has complete control over her decisions. This is shown in many ways, the most crucial being when Jing-mei decides to enter a costume designing class. She begins fantasizing about marrying Tessier, a man who believes they are entirely in love with each other, and she doesn't have any qualms about having an affair with him. Jing-mei's mother knew what was happening, and she was unhappy about it. Jing-mei's mother didn't like that she was becoming much more American than Chinese. This shows that her mother strongly influences her life, which is something that most Chinese parents have. We can see this in many other stories that deal with Chinese culture. The humiliated and resentful reactions of the daughters toward their moms are often rooted in social class and race issues. Taking Jing-mei as an example, the worry that she would turn out just like her mother is more nuanced than the "universal" conflict between older and younger generations (Bloom, pg.13) Comparison of "the lottery" and "two kinds" based on gender critical theories "The Lottery" is an example of a patriarchal society where men are seen as superior to their wives and daughters. It is also an example of conflict theory because the town was up in arms about the lottery results being announced. One man, in particular, was blamed for losing the lottery because no one believed that the process was fair. In this story, it seems as if only men genuinely count in this society. The lottery winner gets everything they want, and they don't have to worry about anything else. The ones that lose are treated like scum. In "Two Kinds," it is seen that Jing-mei's mother has complete control over her decisions and does not believe in the traditional marriage system. She doesn't want her daughter to marry a man outside of China, and she doesn't want her to be an American and fail in society. This can be considered a patriarchal society because there is no respect for women. They are considered to be inferior to men and compared to them. Comparison of "the lottery" and "two kinds" based on ideologies/power critical theory W...