I need help to write an essay
Sample Paper: Analyzing a Text (Sanchez)
Marginal annotations indicate
MLA-style formatting
and
effective writing
.
Source: Hacker/Sommers (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011, 2007).
This paper follows the style guidelines in the
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers,
7th ed. (2009).
Sanchez 1
Emilia Sanchez
Professor Goodwin
English 10
23 October 2009
Rethinking Big-Box Stores
In her essay “Big Box Stores Are Bad for Main Street,” Betsy
Taylor focuses not on the economic effects of large chain stores
but on the effects these stores have on the “soul” of America.
She argues that stores like Home Depot, Target, and Wal-Mart
are bad for America because they draw people out of downtown
shopping districts and cause them to focus on consumption. In
contrast, she believes that small businesses are good for America
because they provide personal attention, encourage community
interaction, and make each city and town unique.
But Taylor
’s
argument is unconvincing because it is based on sentimentality—
on idealized images of a quaint Main Street—rather than on the
roles that businesses play in consumers’ lives and communities.
By ignoring the complex economic relationship between large
chain stores and their communities, Taylor incorrectly assumes
that simply getting rid of big-box stores would have a positive
effect on America’s communities.
Taylor
’s use of colorful language reveals that she has a
sentimental view of American society and does not understand
economic realities.
In her first paragraph, Taylor refers to a big-
box store as a “25-acre slab of concrete wi
th
a 100,000 square
foot box of stuff
” that “land[s] on a town,” evoking images of a
powerful monster crushing the American way of life (1011).
Opening briefly
summarizes the
article’s purpose
and thesis.
Sanchez begins to
analyze Taylor’s
argument.
Signal phrase
introduces
quotations from the
source; Sanchez
uses an MLA
in-text citation.
5/11
_A
Thesis expresses
Sanchez’s
judgment of
Taylor’s article.
Source: Hacker/Sommers (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011, 2007).
Sanchez 2
Clear topic sentence
announces a shift to
a new topic.
Sanchez refutes
Taylor’s claim.
Sanchez begins to
identify and
challenge Taylor’s
assumptions.
Transition to
another point in
Sanchez’s analysis.
But she oversimplifies a complex issue. Taylor does not consider
that many downtown business districts failed long before chain
stores moved in, when factories and mills closed and workers lost
their jobs. In cities with struggling economies, big-box stores
can actually provide much-needed jobs.
Similarly, while Taylor
blames big-box stores for harming local economies by asking for
tax breaks, free roads, and other perks, she doesn’t acknowledge
that these stores also enter into economic partnerships with the
surrounding communities by offering financial benefits to schools
and hospitals.
Taylor
’s assumption that shopping in small businesses is
always better for the customer also seems driven by nostalgia for
an old-fashioned Main Street rather than by the facts. While she
may be right that many small businesses offer personal service
and are responsive to customer complaints, she does not consider
that many customers appreciate the service at big-box stores.
Just as customer service is better at some small businesses than
at others, it is impossible to generalize about service at all big-
box stores. For example, customers depend on the lenient return
policies and the wide variety of products at stores like Target and
Home Depot.
Taylor
bl
ames bi
g-box stores for encouraging American
“hyper-consumerism,” but she oversimplifies by equating big-box
stores with bad values and small businesses with good values.
Like her other points, this claim ignores the economic and social
realities of American society today. Big-box stores do not force
Americans to buy more. By offering lower prices in a convenient
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