Reference to text with
explanations
Argument #2
Argument #3
Direct quote from text with
explanations
Restatement of thesis
Direct quote from text with
explanations
Broad statement of implications
of thesis
Broad opening statement
Limited, specific thesis
statement
Argument #1
Model Essay: The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward
Surely the “coming-of-age” theme is one of classic literature’s most powerful
devices. When the main character of a story undergoes the painful process
of maturing from a child into an adult, the reader is compelled to walk that
road with him, vicariously participating in one of the most human of all dramas. In The Biggest Bear, protagonist Johnny Orchard completes a three-step
coming-of-age process, allowing author Lynd Ward to make a profound statement about the nature of manhood.
As the story opens, Johnny Orchard displays a boy’s obsession with his own
reputation. The fact that his family grows apples instead of hunting bears
galls him, and he is cut to the quick every time a neighbor comes home with
a bear skin. He is especially uncomfortable when his grandfather runs from
a bear instead of shooting it:
He was very humiliated. “If I ever see a bear,” he said, “I’ll
shoot him so fast he won’t know what hit him. And we’ll have
the biggest bear skin in the whole valley.”
Johnny is clearly desperate to be thought of as manly. Equally clear is that
his idea of masculinity amounts to shooting, fighting and conquering. We
can also see his self-absorption in this episode. After all, who can ever be
humiliated for the sake of someone else?
As Johnny’s relationship with his pet bear develops, his character develops
as well. He becomes concerned with the welfare of someone besides himself.
Johnny goes to great lengths to shield the bear from the wrath of his neighbors, taking it East, West and South into the woods to live “like other bears.”
His reasons for these efforts are still quite selfish; you might say that he strives
to save his own pet for his own use. Nevertheless, he is not the same person
who vowed to kill the first bear he laid eyes on. Instead, his eyes are turned
ever so slightly away from himself.
At the climax of the story, Johnny completes the coming-of-age transformation by denying his own selfish interests altogether and freely choosing a
man’s responsibilities:
“They decided there was only one thing left to do. Johnny said he
would do it.”
In volunteering to shoot the bear, Johnny denies his own wishes so that
his neighbors, who have been his primary antagonists, can prosper. He lays
down his life, so to speak, for the good of his friends. Johnny comes to a
brand new understanding of manhood. It lies not in conquest, he finds, but
in self-sacrifice.
Protagonist Johnny Orchard undergoes a coming of age transformation in
The Biggest Bear—and as he does, author Lynd Ward suggests that being a
man is more complicated than it appears. Though this story was written for
small children, it nevertheless deals with timeless themes common to many
great works of literature. No matter how simple the story, the presence of
such eternal themes always has the power to move us, and it encourages us
to contemplate our own humanity. In this way, classic literature is one of the
best aids to a good life.
Hopefully, by following this general format you can guide your students toward clear, purposeful literary analysis!
Adam Andrews is the Director of the Center for Literary Education and a homeschooling father of six. Adam earned his B.A. from
Hillsdale College and is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Washington. He and his wife Missy are the authors of Teaching the
Classics, the popular reading and literature curriculum. They teach their children at home in Rice, Washington. For more information,
visit www.centerforlit.com.
