Question

"charles" by Shirley Jackson and "lamb to slaughter" by roald dahl

make a thesis claim for both of these texts on how they both use surprise

in a 9th grade answer

Answer 1

Thesis:
In both Shirley Jackson’s “Charles” and Roald Dahl’s “Lamb to the Slaughter,” the authors use surprise—especially ironic twists at the end—to show that people and situations are not what they seem, forcing the reader to rethink assumptions about character and behavior.

Support you can use in a 9th-grade essay:
- Topic sentence for “Charles”: Jackson surprises the reader with the revelation that “Charles” never existed and was actually Laurie, which reveals how adults can be blind to a child’s true behavior and how children can manipulate stories for attention.
- Where to point: the mother’s discovery near the end when she asks the kindergarten teacher about Charles and learns there is no such child.
- Topic sentence for “Lamb to the Slaughter”: Dahl surprises readers by turning a gentle housewife, Mary Maloney, into a clever murderer who covers up the crime, showing that ordinary people can act in shocking ways under pressure.
- Where to point: the moment Mary smashes the leg of lamb and later serves it to the police, and the dramatic irony when the officers eat the murder weapon.
- Comparative/topic sentence for analysis: Both surprises work to criticize assumptions—Jackson’s about adults’ self-confidence and Dahl’s about appearances and gender—while using irony and dark humor to make the twist more powerful and memorable.

These points give you a clear thesis and three paragraph starters you can expand with quotes and analysis.