For this section, the example we are going to work with is a continuation from the previous section– Breaking Down the Essay – and flushing out how to integrate and analyze a quote by interrogating one of the soundbites from the podcast, NPR’s Throughline¹, that we looked at before.

The podcast transitions from a historical look at the zombie to the Hollywood transformation of zombie as metaphor or cipher. Kaplan-Levenson narrows in on George Romero’s three film zombie series to illustrate the representative capabilities of the zombie. The part of her argument that we are going to focus in on is the discussion surrounding Romero’s 1978 film Dawn of the Dead.

Example

Argument: In Dawn of the Dead, George Romero depicts the enslaving capabilities of America’s obsession with hyper consumerism through the dehumanization of the American consumer.

Topic Sentence: Within the metaphor of the film, the mall represents the problematic nature of the capitalistic infrastructure that acts as both shelter and prison for the living survivors.

Lead-In to Quote: The four people sequestered inside the shopping mall come to the realization that not only are the zombies in search of food – which the survivors amount to in this scenario – but that the zombies are also searching for places of familiarity and comfort even in their undead state:

Quote/Evidence:

Fran: “They're still here.”

Stephen: “They're after us. They know we're still in here.”

Peter: “They're after the place. They don't know why. They just remember - remember that they want to be in here.”

Fran: “What the hell are they?”

Peter: “They're us. That's all.” (Dawn of the Dead)

Analysis: Peter’s pronouncement that the zombies are “after the place” because some part of their lingering consciousness recognizes the mall and maintains some type of internal imperative to seek it out, some internal “want” that drives them to the building, clearly encapsulates Romero’s social critique of consumerism culture. Even in death, the zombies desire a return to – what Elizabeth McAlister calls – the “banality of consumption” (Abdelfatah). The mall is a place to congregate; it is the one-stop shop. The mall invites consumers to spend hours walking slowly from store to store, purchasing anything and everything that one could want. The vague language Peter, Fran, and Stephen employ when talking about the zombies evokes the same type of language that can be connected to the everyday consumer; after all, “[t]hey’re us.” The biological imperative for survival sends the zombies to the one place that in life contains all of their prior “want[s]”. The mall is an inescapable reminder of capitalistic enterprise even during a time of economic collapse and pandemonium.

Explanation: The thing you need to keep in mind when writing any paragraph is order of operations. Some disciplines and essay types allow variation, but by and large, you are always going to have a topic sentence, a sentence that leads into a piece of evidence, the piece of evidence, the analysis of the evidence, and the thesis tie-in. The analysis section is meant to focus on (1) why the included evidence is relevant and (2) how it supports your argument.

In the above example, the language of the quote was used to highlight the comparison of "they" that the film was attempting to make. People have been relegated to passive consumers in a capitalist structure. The living people are obsessed with “stuff”/ Veblen’s concept of Conspicuous Consumption while the dead are obsessed with satisfying an even more basic need: the need to “consume” flesh. Another interpretation for the comparison between the living and the dead is one that is not explored above but would be explored in the larger argument: Romero’s refusal to name the zombies as anything other than “they”. By not naming the zombies, Romero refuses to separate the entities from us: “They’re us.” The zombies therefore serve as a cautionary tale to not be mindless, to not simply consume, to not get wrapped up in material “wants” and desires.

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