ENGL240 Analytical Paper Outline: How to Complete the Kate Chopin Assignment
A section-by-section guide to completing the ENGL240 analytical outline — how to choose between Prompt 1 and Prompt 2, build a specific thesis statement, select and interpret passages from The Story of an Hour and Désirée’s Baby, fill every field in the outline template, and format APA citations for literary texts correctly.
The ENGL240 analytical outline is not a summary chart or a brainstorm dump — it is a structured argument mapped onto a template, with full sentences required in every key field and direct quotes from the text formatted in APA. Students who treat it as a rough draft skeleton without following the sentence and citation requirements consistently score lower than the rubric allows. This guide walks through every section of the assignment, explains what each field demands, and shows where most first attempts fail before the paper even begins.
This guide does not write the outline for you. It explains the assignment’s structure, how to make decisions at each stage (starting with which prompt to choose), and what a complete entry looks like in each field of the template. The approaches described apply to both Prompt 1 and Prompt 2.
What This Guide Covers
What the Assignment Is Actually Asking
The ENGL240 analytical outline is a planning document for a six-paragraph paper that analyzes two short stories by Kate Chopin: The Story of an Hour and Désirée’s Baby. The outline is not the paper itself — but it is graded at 75 points on a rubric that evaluates content depth, organizational logic, and format accuracy. That means the outline has to be developed, not sketchy. The instruction to think of it as a “skeleton you will flesh out” does not mean the bones can be thin.
The assignment requires full sentences in four specific fields: the thesis statement, all topic/transition sentences, all passages (which are direct quotes from the text), and the restatement of the thesis in the conclusion. Everything else in the template — interpretations, background info fields, the “so what” points — is also filled in, but the full-sentence requirement is enforced hardest in those four categories because they are the primary evidence of analytical thinking.
The assignment instructions state clearly: do not include any information from research yet. This means no citations from scholars, critics, Wikipedia, or literary databases. All passages must come directly from the two Chopin stories. The final paper (due in a later week) will require a minimum of three academic sources, but the outline is text-only evidence. Submitting an outline that pulls in external critical perspectives will not earn extra credit — it will indicate you did not read the directions, which affects the format score.
Choosing Between Prompt 1 and Prompt 2
Both prompts ask you to work comparatively across both stories, and both require four body paragraph topics. The decision between them is not about which is easier — it is about which direction your reading of the stories naturally pulled you. If you found yourself thinking about how both stories use a particular literary device or revisit the same theme, Prompt 1 fits that instinct. If you found yourself thinking about the characters themselves — what Louise and Désirée want, fear, or represent — Prompt 2 fits better.
Prompt 1 — Four Common Elements
You identify four elements that both stories share and demonstrate how each element works similarly in both stories. Elements can be themes, tone, and/or literary devices.
- Best if you noticed patterns in how Chopin constructs both stories — irony, a recurring theme of hidden inner lives, similar use of setting or symbolism.
- Each body paragraph focuses on one element, drawn from both texts, which gives you clear organization: one element = one paragraph = multiple passages from both stories.
- Requires you to find sufficient evidence from both stories for each element, so choose elements with strong textual presence in both.
Prompt 2 — Character Comparison
You identify four ways Louise Mallard and Désirée are similar and/or different. The assignment suggests two similarities and two differences, but any combination of four distinct points works.
- Best if your reading focused on the characters — their agency, their relationships to the men in their lives, what they are denied, how they respond to revelation.
- Keeps body paragraphs character-centered, which makes passage selection feel more natural for students who read for plot and character rather than craft elements.
- Requires clear signal words distinguishing similarities from differences to keep the comparison organized — be explicit in the topic sentences about whether the paragraph compares or contrasts.
Reread both stories with a highlighter or annotation tool. If after rereading you have more highlighted passages connected to a craft element (irony, imagery, tone, symbolism) than to character-specific observations, go with Prompt 1. If your highlights cluster around what Louise feels versus what Désirée feels, or what one character does versus the other, go with Prompt 2. Your annotation pattern is a better guide than abstract preference, because it tells you where your evidence already lives in the texts.
Writing a Specific, Arguable Thesis Statement
The thesis statement is the single most important sentence in the outline. It is field I.D. in the template, and the content rubric evaluates it first. A thesis that is too broad, too obvious, or structured as a statement of fact rather than an interpretation will pull the entire outline down to Level 3 (“Approaches Expectations”) at best, because every body paragraph topic and passage selection flows from it.
The rubric’s top tier says the thesis provides a “clear, compelling analysis” — not a summary, not a topic announcement, not a statement of what the stories are about. An analysis interprets: it argues that the stories do something specific, in a specific way, to a specific effect. The three-part test for a strong analytical thesis is whether it is arguable (someone could disagree), specific (it names the stories and the interpretive claim), and provable from the text (you can find direct passages that support it).
Weak Thesis — Too Broad
“Both The Story of an Hour and Désirée’s Baby deal with themes of gender and freedom.” This is a topic announcement, not an interpretation. It is also inarguable — no reader would disagree that the stories involve those themes.
Stronger Direction
A stronger thesis names what Chopin does with those themes and what that reveals or argues. It moves from “the stories deal with X” to “by doing Y, Chopin shows that X means Z.” The specific interpretive claim — the “means Z” part — is what makes it arguable.
Weak Thesis — Plot Summary
“In The Story of an Hour, Louise Mallard feels free when she thinks her husband is dead, and in Désirée’s Baby, Désirée is cast out by her husband.” This describes what happens in the stories. It makes no interpretive claim about what those events mean or how Chopin constructs them.
Stronger Direction
The thesis should make a claim about what both stories reveal, critique, or demonstrate about something larger — the social position of women, the mechanics of power in marriage, the way Chopin uses irony to expose contradiction. The plot events are evidence for that claim, not the claim itself.
How to Build a Thesis for Each Prompt
For Prompt 1, the thesis structure follows this logic: “In [Story 1] and [Story 2], Chopin uses [element 1], [element 2], [element 3], and [element 4] to [interpretive claim about what those elements accomplish or reveal].” The four elements you name in the thesis should correspond exactly to your four body paragraphs — the thesis is also your roadmap.
For Prompt 2, the thesis structure follows: “Although Louise Mallard and Désirée [point of difference/similarity], both characters [broader interpretive claim that connects the comparison to something meaningful about Chopin’s fiction or its themes].” The thesis for a compare-contrast paper must signal what the comparison reveals — not just that a comparison can be made.
- Write the thesis last — after you have identified your four body paragraph topics and confirmed you have passage evidence for each one.
- Test the thesis by asking: could a reasonable reader disagree with this interpretation? If yes, it is arguable. If not, it is a fact statement.
- Test it again by asking: does this thesis tell a reader what your paper will argue, not just what it will be about? If it only announces a topic, it needs an interpretive claim added.
Completing the Introduction Section (Section I)
The introduction section of the template has four fields: three background information lines (I.A, I.B, I.C) and the thesis statement (I.D). The background information fields exist to show how the paper’s introduction paragraph will open — providing context for a reader who may not know the stories before the thesis lands at the end.
The template instruction says full sentences are required for background info. “Kate Chopin — 19th century author” is not a sentence. “Kate Chopin was a 19th-century American author whose short fiction frequently explored the interior lives and social constraints of women in the post-Civil War South” is a sentence that could open a real introduction paragraph. Write background info entries as if they are the first three sentences of your actual paper introduction — because in many cases, they will be.
Body Paragraphs: From Topic Sentences to Interpretations
The template has four body paragraph sections (II through V). Each body paragraph section has one topic/transition sentence field at the top (A) and up to six passage-interpretation pairs below it (1 through 6, each with an interpretation subfield labeled “a”). The rubric evaluates whether subtopics are distinct, of equal significance, and whether interpretations “demonstrate thorough thought on the topic.”
Writing Topic and Transition Sentences
The first body paragraph has a “topic sentence” — it introduces the first analytical point. Body paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 have “topic/transition sentences” — they introduce the next analytical point while also signaling the movement from the previous paragraph. This distinction matters for the organization rubric: transitions show that you have thought about the logical flow from one point to the next, not just listed four separate observations.
Body Paragraph 1 — Topic Sentence
States the first analytical point directly. This is the first evidence strand supporting the thesis. The sentence names the element or character aspect, connects it to both stories (for Prompt 1) or both characters (for Prompt 2), and signals what the paragraph will demonstrate.
Body Paragraphs 2–4 — Transition Sentences
Begin with a word or phrase that signals the relationship to the previous paragraph (Additionally, In contrast, Building on this, Similarly) before introducing the new point. The transition is not just a connective word — it should reflect the logical relationship between points.
What Makes Subtopics Distinct
Four topic sentences that are genuinely distinct do not overlap. If two body paragraphs both address “irony,” they need to be about different kinds or functions of irony — otherwise they are the same subtopic divided artificially. Test each pair of topic sentences against each other to confirm they make different claims.
How to Select and Interpret Passages
Each body paragraph in the template holds up to six passage-interpretation pairs. You do not need to fill all six slots — the rubric rewards quality and relevance, not maximum passage count. However, for a comparative paper drawing from two stories, aim for at least two to three passages per body paragraph, with representation from both stories in each paragraph wherever possible. A body paragraph that only quotes one story while claiming to compare both is not actually comparative — it is one-sided analysis.
What Makes a Passage Well-Chosen
The rubric says “passages for each subtopic are well-chosen.” A well-chosen passage is one that does not merely describe the story event — it uses language in a way that requires unpacking. The best passages for literary analysis are ones where the word choice, figurative language, sentence structure, or connotation carries meaning that would not be obvious on a first read. The assignment instruction calls this “reading between the lines” — choosing passages where the surface level is not the whole story.
Passage That Is Hard to Interpret
“She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment.” (Chopin, 1894, para. 2)
This passage describes an observable action. It is clear on the surface. There is limited inferential depth available — the character is crying, and the reader sees that. A passage like this gives an interpreter very little to work with beyond the obvious.
Passage With Interpretive Depth
A passage where connotation, imagery, or irony is doing work beneath the surface — where the language reveals something the character herself may not consciously understand, or where Chopin’s word choices signal a meaning the character cannot name. These are the passages that generate strong interpretations.
How to Write an Interpretation Entry
The interpretation field (labeled “a” under each passage) is where the analytical work lives. It is not a paraphrase or a description of what the passage says — it is an explanation of what the passage means, specifically in relation to the topic sentence above it. A strong interpretation does three things: it identifies the specific language or technique that makes the passage significant, it explains what that language or technique reveals about the element or character the paragraph is analyzing, and it connects that revelation to the broader thesis.
Passage entry (field 1): [Direct quote from the text in quotation marks, followed by APA in-text citation]
Interpretation entry (field 1a): This passage reveals [specific analytical point about the element or character the paragraph addresses]. The word/phrase [specific language from the quote] carries a connotation of [specific meaning], which suggests that [connection to the topic sentence and thesis]. This is significant because [why it matters for the interpretation].
Note: The interpretation entry must be a full sentence (the template requirement) and must make a claim the passage evidence actually supports. Do not interpret “between the lines” of something a passage does not actually say — close reading means finding meaning that is genuinely in the text, not projecting meaning that is not.
Balancing Passages Across Both Stories
For both prompts, each body paragraph should draw from both stories. A body paragraph for Prompt 1 that analyzes irony should show irony operating in The Story of an Hour and irony operating in Désirée’s Baby, with passages from both. A body paragraph for Prompt 2 comparing Louise and Désirée’s relationship to autonomy should include passages showing how each character experiences or is denied autonomy — which means quotes from both texts. If all your passages for a given body paragraph come from the same story, check whether the topic sentence is actually comparative or whether it has narrowed to a single-story claim.
The template allows up to six passages per body paragraph, but the rubric does not specify a minimum number. A paragraph with three well-chosen, well-interpreted passages that all genuinely support the topic sentence is stronger than a paragraph with six passages where two are padding. For a comparative analysis drawing from two stories, three to four passages per paragraph is a practical target — enough to show evidence from both texts without crowding the paragraph with redundant support. Prioritize quality and coverage of both texts over total passage count.
Completing the Conclusion Section (Section VI)
The conclusion section of the template has two fields: the restatement of the thesis (VI.A) and three “so what” points (VI.B, numbered 1 through 3). Both fields are required and both are assessed under the content rubric — the instruction sheet says “the introduction and conclusion sections demonstrate that the writer has thoughtfully considered how to develop the paper.”
Restatement of Thesis (VI.A)
The restatement of the thesis is not a copy of the thesis statement. It is the same interpretive argument expressed in different words. In the final paper, this will be the first sentence of the conclusion paragraph. In the outline, it demonstrates that you can re-articulate your central claim without simply repeating I.D verbatim — which shows that you actually understand the argument rather than just having written a sentence. If the restatement and the thesis are identical, that is an error the grader will flag.
The “So What” Points (VI.B 1–3)
The “so what” section asks you to address the wider implications of your interpretation — to zoom out from the stories and connect the analysis to something larger. This is what the assignment calls the “evaluative level” of analysis. The three points you list here are the ideas your conclusion paragraph will develop after the thesis restatement.
Historical / Social Context
What does your interpretation reveal about the society Chopin was writing in? How does the argument connect to the position of women in late 19th-century America? What does the story’s reception or Chopin’s biography add to the significance of the analysis?
Contemporary Relevance
Does your interpretation speak to something still present in contemporary experience? The tensions Chopin’s characters navigate — between private self and public role, between identity and social expectation — have not disappeared. The “so what” can connect the 19th-century text to the reader’s world.
Contribution to Literary Understanding
What does your specific interpretation add to how a reader understands Chopin as a writer? Does it reveal a technique, a concern, or a worldview that appears across her work? This is an evaluative claim about the literary significance of the analysis, not just the stories themselves.
APA Citation Format for Literary Texts
Every passage entry in the template is a direct quote from the text and requires an APA in-text citation. This is one of the most common format errors in literary analysis outlines from students who are more familiar with MLA (which is the default citation style in many high school English classes). APA and MLA handle literary citations differently, and using MLA format in an assignment that specifies APA will cost points on the format rubric.
For literary texts, the Purdue OWL APA Style Guide clarifies that in-text citations for prose passages use the author’s last name, the year of publication, and the paragraph number (since literary texts in digital form typically do not have page numbers). The format is: (Author, Year, para. #).
Format: (Chopin, 1894, para. #)
The Story of an Hour was published in 1894. Use para. 3, para. 7, etc., counting paragraphs from the start of the story. If you are using a specific edition with page numbers, you may use p. # instead — but paragraph numbers are the appropriate locator when working from digital text without fixed pagination.
Désirée’s Baby was published in 1893. Format: (Chopin, 1893, para. #)
Note: The two stories have different publication years. Make sure you use the correct year for each — 1894 for The Story of an Hour, 1893 for Désirée’s Baby. Using the wrong year is a citation error. If your course materials provide a specific anthology or edition, use the year from that source and any page numbers it includes.
Format for a story in an online source:
Chopin, K. (1894). The story of an hour. [source name or URL]
Chopin, K. (1893). Désirée’s baby. [source name or URL]
Note: The reference list is not required for the outline (which uses text evidence only), but your final paper will need one. In APA, only the first word of a title and proper nouns are capitalized — “The story of an hour” not “The Story of an Hour.” This is one of the most common capitalization errors in student APA references for literary texts.
| Format Element | APA (Required for This Assignment) | MLA (Do NOT Use) |
|---|---|---|
| In-text citation | (Chopin, 1894, para. 3) — author, year, location | (Chopin 3) — author, page only |
| Author name in text | Chopin (1894) argues… — year follows name | Chopin argues… — no year in running text |
| Title capitalization in references | The story of an hour — sentence case | The Story of an Hour — title case |
| Title formatting in text | Italics for both: The Story of an Hour | Italics for both: The Story of an Hour — same |
| Location in text (no page number) | para. # — paragraph number | No location required without page number |
What the Rubric Is Actually Grading
The rubric has three criteria: Content (37.5 points), Organization (22.5 points), and Format/APA/Mechanics (15 points). Understanding what each criterion’s top tier actually requires helps you prioritize where to put the most effort — and content, at half the total points, is the criterion where most points are gained or lost.
The Detail That Most Students Miss in the Format Rubric
The format rubric explicitly requires third person for all full sentences. Every topic sentence, interpretation, restatement of thesis, and “so what” point must be written in third person. “I think that Chopin uses irony to show…” is first person and will cost format points. “Chopin uses irony to demonstrate…” is third person and is correct. This applies to every full-sentence field in the template — check all of them before submitting.
The rubric also checks “font, style, spacing, and headers” — which means the formatting of the Word document itself matters. Use the provided template file rather than re-creating the outline from scratch. The template already has the correct header structure, and recreating it from memory risks mismatching the required format.
Where Most Outlines Lose Points
Thesis That States a Topic, Not an Argument
“This paper will analyze the themes of freedom and oppression in The Story of an Hour and Désirée’s Baby.” This announces a topic. It does not make an interpretive claim. The rubric will place it at “Approaches Expectations” regardless of how strong the body paragraphs are.
Instead
Move from naming the theme to making a claim about it: what does Chopin argue or reveal about freedom and oppression through these stories? What technique does she use, and to what effect? The thesis needs a “because” or “in order to” embedded in it — a claim that requires evidence to support.
Interpretation That Paraphrases the Passage
Passage: [quote]. Interpretation: “In this passage, the character feels overwhelmed and emotional.” This restates the surface meaning of the quote. It does not interpret — it translates. The rubric’s “thorough thought” descriptor requires going beyond what the passage obviously says.
Instead
The interpretation should name a specific word or phrase from the passage and explain what it connotes — not what it denotes. Why did Chopin choose that word rather than a simpler one? What does the connotation add? What does that reveal about the character, the theme, or the argument? That is interpretation.
Passages From Only One Story Per Body Paragraph
A body paragraph that cites only The Story of an Hour in a comparative outline is not performing the comparison the prompt requires. The rubric cannot award full content credit for a paragraph that does not engage both texts when the assignment’s explicit task is comparative analysis.
Instead
Before finalizing your topic sentences, check whether you have found relevant passages in both stories for each point. If you cannot find evidence in one story for a proposed body paragraph topic, that topic may not be comparative enough — or it may need to be reconsidered before the outline is built around it.
Missing or Wrong APA In-Text Citations
Writing a direct quote without a citation, using MLA format (Chopin 4) instead of APA (Chopin, 1894, para. 4), or using the wrong publication year (both stories listed as 1894 when Désirée’s Baby was published in 1893). All three are format errors that reduce the Format/APA rubric score.
Instead
Cite every passage entry in the template. Format: (Chopin, 1894, para. #) for The Story of an Hour and (Chopin, 1893, para. #) for Désirée’s Baby. Count paragraphs from the opening of each story. If your course materials use a specific anthology edition with page numbers, use those instead of paragraph numbers.
Overlapping or Unequal Subtopics
Body paragraphs 1 and 2 both effectively analyze irony, just from slightly different angles — which means they are not distinct subtopics, and one is redundant. Or, body paragraph 3 is underdeveloped compared to the others because the student ran out of strong passage evidence for that topic.
Instead
Test each pair of topic sentences by asking: if I swapped the topic sentence of paragraph 2 with paragraph 3, would both paragraphs still make sense? If yes, the topics are too similar. The rubric says subtopics must be “distinct and of equal significance.” Equal significance means each can support the same number of quality passages — choose topics where the evidence is roughly balanced.
First-Person Language in Full-Sentence Fields
“I believe this passage shows that Louise values freedom above all else.” First person in a formal literary analysis outline violates the format requirement and signals an informal analytical stance. Every interpretation, topic sentence, and thesis entry must be in third person.
Instead
Attribute the claim to the text or the author: “This passage suggests that Louise prioritizes personal freedom over social obligation” or “Chopin positions Louise’s emotional response as…” Third person keeps the focus on what the text does, not on what you think — which is the correct analytical stance for literary analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
How the Outline Connects to the Final Paper
The outline is not just a graded assignment — it is the architecture of a six-paragraph paper due in a later week. Every decision you make at the outline stage (which prompt to use, which four topics to develop, which passages to select, how the thesis is worded) becomes significantly more costly to revise once the paper draft exists. A well-developed outline means the paper almost writes itself; a thin or poorly organized outline means the paper requires restructuring at the draft stage, which is far more time-consuming.
The one major addition the final paper will require — that the outline explicitly does not — is a minimum of three academic research sources, all cited at least once in the paper and formatted in APA. That research stage comes later, but it is worth knowing when you select your thesis and topics: an interpretation that is entirely obvious from a surface reading of the stories is harder to support with credible literary scholarship than one that makes a more nuanced or specific claim. The research stage becomes easier when the thesis has something specific and arguable for scholars to have written about.
For direct support with the outline — from thesis development and topic selection through passage identification and APA citation — our English literature writing team works with literary analysis assignments at the freshman and sophomore level, including the specific template structure and rubric criteria used in ENGL240.
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