Formulating a Thesis Statement and Outline for Patti LaBoucane-Benson’s The Outside Circle

Choose from Three Essay Prompts

In order to assist you in the writing of your second and final essay of the semester, you will be required to submit your essay’s thesis statemen and a general outline of the essay Your thesis statement should consider the teachings from So, What is Your Thesis? in order to develop a strong, concise, and specific statement from which to work. Your outline should detail the topic sentence for each of your body paragraphs, what you will generally cover in each body paragraph, and finally, any textual evidence that you will provide to support your thinking. This assignment will provide you with direction and feedback in advance of the final research essay. You must answer only ONE of the essay prompts; failure to explicitly state which question you will be taking on or using multiple questions will result in deductions.

Essay #2 – June 16

This essay will require you to formulate a 1500-word essay on Patti LaBoucane-Benson’s The Outside Circle. The assignment will ask you to take what you have learned from the previous essay and teachings on essay and thesis construction from the semester. This essay must be based on the thesis statement and outline you submitted earlier in the semester. Your essay should also provide an understanding of how you intend to support your thesis statement and must include sufficient evidence from the text. You must answer only ONE of the essay prompts; failure to explicitly state which question you will be taking on or using multiple questions will result in deductions.

1. One of the key repeated images in Patti LaBoucane-Benson’s The Outside Circle are the masks that Pete wears throughout his journey of healing. There are two distinct masks: the mask of anger and the mask of reconciliation. Each mask has a significant impact on Pete’s life and are shown to constantly be a part of him from anger and solitude, to healing and reconnection with community. In a comparison and contrast essay, take the two different masks and analyze their meaning to Pete and his journey towards healing and reconciliation with the intergenerational trauma that has haunted him for his entire life. How do the masks symbolize the stages of healing that Pete is working through, and how the specific design choices (including colour) influence our perception of what each mask represents? Be sure to use specific examples from the text, including images.

2. Perhaps the most important theme in Patti LaBoucane-Benson’s graphic novel The Outside Circle is that of intergenerational trauma and the effects that it has on individuals like Pete, as well as entire communities. In this essay, you are asked to choose one of three characters (Pete, Joey, or Uncle Ray) and engage with how intergenerational trauma has impacted and influenced their life decisions and where they ultimately ended up. Be sure to engage with how intergenerational trauma specifically effects each one of them as they each represent different generations and have each had different tragic life experiences. Be sure to use specific examples from the text, including images.

Animal in general are vital to Indigenous storytelling, but there is one animal that plays a significantly larger role than any other in Patti LaBoucane-Benson’s The Outside Circle: the bear. Throughout Pete’s journey of healing and re-connection to his community, we constantly see examples of the bear’s presence through foreshadowing, until Pete is directly confronted by the bear during his reflection time in the woods. Clearly the bear represents a number of different aspects of Pete’s journey: healing, reconciliation, control, anger, passion, and more. In this essay, you are asked to provide an argument for the purpose and the value of the bear to Pete in his journey. You should consider multiple aspects of what the bear represents but be sure to focus on one or at most two or three in your essay. Be sure to use sp