The theme of the fur coat

Individual: Five Analytical Moves 1 1. Complete the 5 moves on “The Red Fox Fur Coat” First Move: Read it silently, suspending judgment about what it means. Second Move: Define significant parts, who are the important characters, objects, phrases, etc. Third Move: Look for patterns (The Method) Explain exact repetitions Explain repetitions of similarity Explain binary oppositions Locate anomalies Focus on one repetition or binary Fourth Move: Make implicit explicit: so what? In other words, what is implied, but not directly said? What is the significance of that, i.e., why is it important? Individual: Five Analytical Moves 2 Fifth Move: Keep formulating questions and explanations • • • Are there any unanswered questions about the piece? What plausible interpretations and conclusions about this piece can you make? What is the moral? Creating the thesis: Looking at your information, what is a statement that you can make about this piece. In a formal essay (Textual Analysis), this would be the statement that came in the introduction or conclusion that would summarize your argument that the paper is going to make. Therefore, what is your conclusion about this piece? Individual: Five Analytical Moves 1 1. Complete the 5 moves on “The Red Fox Fur Coat” First Move: Read it silently, suspending judgment about what it means. Second Move: Define significant parts, who are the important characters, objects, phrases, etc. • Bank clerk • Saleswoman • The fur coat • The party Third Move: Look for patterns (The Method) Explain exact repetitions • Two women • “It could have been made for you” Explain repetitions of similarity • Saleswoman repeats “It could have been made for you” • Bank clerk returning to the store Explain binary oppositions • Need vs. want • Human vs. animal Locate anomalies • Visiting the shop when it was closed so no one could see her • All her senses were keener. Hearing, sight, smell • The hunger • The eating of the rare/raw meat • Go down on all fours Focus on one repetition or binary • Need vs. want • Human vs. animal Fourth Move: Make implicit explicit: so what? In other words, what is implied, but not directly said? What is the significance of that, i.e., why is it important? • The bank teller wanted the coat so badly. She did not need it, she wanted it from the beginning. Just seeing the coat for the first time in the store caused her to not sleep that night. Obsessed with the coat as she was paying for it, she believed her senses became keener like an animal. Her hunger also turned into what an animal would want. This is important because her obsession was turning her into the fox that the fur came from. Individual: Five Analytical Moves 2 Fifth Move: Keep formulating questions and explanations • Are there any unanswered questions about the piece? If the coat meant so much the bank teller, why did she run to the woods instead of showing her coat off? • What plausible interpretations and conclusions about this piece can you make? It seemed to me that the bank teller was not a very confident person. Her obsession to obtain the coat for people to admire her backfired and changed her completely. • What is the moral? Be careful about what you want. It can change you. Creating the thesis: Looking at your information, what is a statement that you can make about this piece.