Prompt:
In a 5 paragraph essay, analyze how J.D. Salinger develops a specific theme through the use of a particular literary device in The Catcher in the Ry. Or, if you prefer, you may show how multiple literacy device are used to develop one particular theme.
Thesis (addresses the prompt):
In the book, Catcher in the Rye, Holden endures alienation to protect him-self from intense emotional pain. However, his seclusion from society also harms him as he is human and longs for human contact, causing him to be lonely and depressed.
Topic Sentence #1 (subdivision of the thesis): Holden’s red hunting cap symbolizes his independence, separation, and his protection from the world.
Evidence: When Ackley tells Holden that his hat is a deer shooting hat, Holden replies “’Like hell it is’ I took it off and looked at it. I sort of closed one eye, like I was taking aim at it. ‘This is a people shooting hat,’ I said. ‘I shoot people in this hat’" (30).…show more content… I don't know why. I put my red hunting hat on, and turned the peak around to the back, the way I liked it, and then I yelled at the top of my goddam voice, ‘Sleep tight, ya morons!’” (68).
Evidence: When Holden brought Phoebe to the carrousel, he realized “Boy, it began to rain like a bastard. In buckets, I swear to God. All the parents and mothers and everybody went over and stood right under the roof of the carrousel, so they wouldn’t get soaked to the skin or anything, but I stuck around the bench for quite a while…My hunting hat really gave me a lot of protection, in a way, but I got soaked anyway” (275).
Topic Sentence #2 (subdivision of the thesis): Holden endures alienation because he wants to protect himself from causing awkwardness, being rejected, or enduring the same sort of intense emotional pain he felt when Allie
