The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

Write an essay of 1000-1500 words (4-6 double-spaced typed pages) in which you develop an argument about The Marrow Thieves with reference to ONE of the following topics: 1. The role/importance of Minerva 2. The effect of the novel’s ending 3. The way the concept of “Story” is used 4. The relationship/importance of dreams to the narrative 5. The novel as a novel of education (sometimes called a Bildungsroman): who learns what–and where and how? 6. Why it is voice and language and song that destroy the machine 7. Why Frenchie doesn’t kill the moose in the marrow thieves. You must support your argument with quoted evidence from the novel AND from at least ONE scholarly, peer-reviewed article relevant to your topic and at least ONE non-scholarly or popular article (including book reviews, interviews, blogs, podcasts…

Further Explanation

In the marrow thieves essay, you will be developing an argument that you present in a thesis and develop through the essay in focused body paragraphs. Further, you may consult and use more resources than these two; be sure, however, that you correctly quote from and cite ALL works you consult from the marrow thieves. It can be difficult to locate scholarly, peer-reviewed articles focused specifically on The Marrow Thieves: for that reason you may want to try other searches that provide you with relevant critical resources (e.g. Indigenous speculative fiction, Indigenous young adult fiction, Indigenous fiction North America or Canada, contemporary Indigenous fiction…)Remember that quoting is how you show your work and how you establish the evidence that supports your argument.

Final Requirements

 The marrow thieves essay will need a strong opening paragraph that follows the guidelines we have reviewed and body paragraphs that observe the structural principles you have already practiced. Remember that the thesis is not the topic but the central idea you are presenting and supporting with evidence. Moreover, look at the topics and choose one that interests you from the the marrow thieves essay. It may help to frame the topic as you are thinking about it as a question–e.g. how is community central to The Marrow Thieves?–and to formulate your thesis as an answer to that question. How you get to the thesis is personal and individual: the important thing is that you begin writing your essay with a clear position you will be building an argument to support and that you can support with quoted evidence from the novel and from these two resources. 

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