Both “Muddling” and “Ten Things” deal with complex themes. Choose one of these stories and identify the primary theme of that story. To be clear, it is imperative you correctly identify the theme to do well on this essay. Then write an analysis essay exploring how the author developed the theme through the setting, characters, conflicts, et cetera (To be clear, you do not need to address each of  these elements; you may choose, for example,  to only look at how the author uses the characters to develop the theme).
Important Note:

For each body paragraph, you will want to choose specific quotes/passages from the story to support your claims, but you want to avoid excessive plot summary. In other words, be sure to avoid simply retelling what happened in the story. You should assume your reader has read the story. As such, there is no need to summarize the plot.

Basic Requirements for the Assignment:

1,000 word minimum (not including header, heading, title, citations, or Works Cited page).
1,500 word maximum
At least 6 total paragraphs (Intro, at least 4 body paragraphs, and conclusion)
A thesis statement that clearly presents your analytical argument regarding the work and that fully address the prompt
All body  paragraphs will include a topic sentence that demonstrates a clear relationship with the thesis and a provable point that will be proven through at least two pieces of evidences from the story.
When choosing evidence for each paragraph, it is best to use quotes from the story. Those quotes should be integrated with a signal phrase, concise quote, in-text citation, and explanation of how the quote proves the point you are trying to prove.
In-text citations when quoting, summarizing, and paraphrasing.
A Works Cited page in MLA format that includes all sources, including the story. For this particular essay, you will likely only use the story.
Setup your essay in MLA format.
Essay will be written strictly in 3rd person POV. This means that you will not use  first person (I, me, my, we, our, etc) or second person (you, your, etc) pronouns. The only exception to this is if you are using a direct quote a source that uses one of these pronouns.
When writing about  literature you should maintain the literary present tense.
Be sure to proofread and  edit carefully.