Hello I created a simple Essay. It's not done yet, as i'm missing the conclusion. I'm unsure about my punctuation, could you please tell me if it's ok? I'm worried about whether my quotations are ok. Does the period come before or after quotations at the end of a sentence? Also does a period come after a quotation with a question mark in it?
Tell me if these parts are ok:
"Women were given the right to vote in 1945 by de Gaulle's short-lived postwar government" (Williams, et al., 55).
In the book the sister of the deceased Janvier says, "I couldn't turn him out without so much as a piece of bread" (Greene, 120).
Here's my essay
I believe that the war, economy, and role of women of the 1930's and 1940's from The Tenth Man are similar to the actual 1930's and 1940's that took place in France during the German Occupation. The Tenth Man is about a middle-aged, rich, lawyer called Jean-Louise Chavel who gives up his life's possessions at a concentration camp to a less-wealthy, young, adult called Janvier to take his place and die for him. Jean-Louis Chavel ends up surviving the concentration camp and ends up working as a servant for dead Janvier's family, who takes ownership of his house and inherits everything he used to own. He ends up falling for Janvier's twin sister and an imposter posing as Chavel shows up. The imposter tries to make Janvier's sister fall in love with him, but Chavel ends up stopping it and gets shot in the process. The imposter disappears and Chavel dies. The book is very similar to the 1930's and 1940's because of the war, concentration camp, deterioration of society, crashing employment rate, and the role of women.
In the Tenth Man there was German occupation of France and a concentration camp was created. The Tenth Man's description of the concentration camp is very similar to what actually happened in France during that time period. The book portrayed the setting for the prisoners as harsh, one-tenth of the prisoners were executed, some of them lost their minds, and their possessions ended up being stolen or lost. The book mentioned that the first officer that they saw in weeks was very young (Greene, 49), so this shows the neglect of the captivated prisoners that occurred at the concentration camp. While the prisoners were held hostage, they heard a shooting for the third time during one of the nights (Greene, 47). This shows that they had to deal with a lot of stress and lack of sleep. In the book it said "hysteria and not hope had dictated his behavior" (Greene, 56). This shows how the prisoners were mentally put to the limit with what they had to see and deal with. In the book it also said, "They would play for things such as pairs of socks" (Greene, 45) and "the two wristwatches were the first to go" (Greene, 39). This shows how the prisoners lost their possessions in games and how they had their possessions forcefully taken from them. In reality, Germany divided France into zones for occupation and a Nazi concentration camp called Natzweiler-Struthof was set up in France to gather Jewish prisoners. The concentration camp was harsh, as the prisoners were forced into labor in horrible working conditions. The prisoners were also executed using a gas chamber, through strenuous work, or through poor nutrition to provide specimens for medical schools. This shows how the Nazis had treated them and how most of them died off. Considering the way they were inhumanely treated, they most likely had suffered mentally and their possessions had been taken away from them in the process. The war had deeply affected French economy, as employment had plummeted and the land was crumbling into pieces.
In the Tenth Man French economy had plummeted, as the unemployment rate had increased and people were barely able to survive. The Tenth Man's description of the economy is very similar to what actually happened in France during that time period. The book portrayed people as unemployed, businesses as dying, and an increase in crime rate. In the book it said, "Nearly every day someone came to the door to beg or to ask for work" (Greene, 92). This shows the lack of work which occurred after the war. In the book the main character also said, "There was no future for the store" (Greene, 93). This shows how the businesses were dying in France during this time period. The book also said, "We had returned to the day of the armed citizen" (Greene, 127). The book shows us that the normal citizen in France was armed for protection. In reality, France's economy came under complete authority of the German war effort (Willmot, Cross, Messenger, 69). "France emerged from the war bankrupt and devastated by heavy bombing" (Sommers, 33). This shows the lack of financial resources and ruin that Germany left France in, so this explains the high unemployment rate and beggars in France during and after the war. "A wide variety of raw materials, food, and other goods was earmarked for German consumption (Willmot, Cross, Messenger, 69). This explains why there was a shortage of French supplies and why some places went out of business, as they didn't have any resources to use. "Banks, including their gold reserves, were taken over, and the foreign exchange rate was rigged to favor the mark" (Willmot, Cross, Messenger, 69). The French currency which was taken over and the war explain why the average French citizen was armed. The French economy had suffered by German rule, as there was a lack of income, resources, and fear of crime by the average French citizen.
In the Tenth Man women had suffered because of the war, and they contributed by helping people. The Tenth Man's description of the role and suffering of women is very similar to how the way women were portrayed in France in the 1930's and 1940's. The book portrayed the role of women as helpful, because they provided food, shelter and employment for the less fortunate. They also suffered by the war because they lost family. In the book the sister of the deceased Janvier says, "I couldn't turn him out without so much as a piece of bread" (Greene, 120). This shows how women provided food for the less fortunate. She also says in the book, "Looking for a job?" (Greene, 88) This shows how women provided employment and income for the less fortunate. The book also says, "The married should not be included. They have responsibilities" (Greene, 50) and "We loved each other so much. I feel dead too" (Greene, 86). This shows that men were lost during the war and that women lost their husbands and brothers.
In reality, women participated in the work force during the war, were underpaid, were discriminated, and contributed to the restoration of France. "Men and women did the same work side by side" (Willmot, Cross, Messenger, 70). During the war, women worked side by side with men. This means that they suffered working for the Germans along with the men. "Women's pay was half that of the men" (Willmot, Cross, Messenger, 70). Not only did they suffer with the men, but they were degraded by being underpaid. "Sexist discrimination was common everywhere" (Willmot, Cross, Messenger, 71). They were also discriminated because of their sex. However, they made huge contribution to the Resistance of France (Willmot, Cross, Messenger, 71). They participated in fighting for France. Not only were women involved in helping people the less fortunate French people, which was mentioned in the book, but they were involved in fighting for their country. Furthermore, French women were given the right to vote after the war was over. "Women were given the right to vote in 1945 by de Gaulle's short-lived postwar government" (Williams, et al., 55). Therefore, that is why I believe that the book has a similar perspective of how women participated and suffered during the German-French war.
Conclusion
Work Cited
Good questions! Are you using APA or MLA? If it is MLA, you don't need to use commas... Just write (Williams et al. 55)
Take out the comma after Williams, too, like this: "Women were given the right to vote in 1945 by de Gaulle's short-lived postwar government" (Williams et al. 55).
For this one, just take out that comma in the parenthetical reference: In the book the sister of the deceased Janvier says, "I couldn't turn him out without so much as a piece of bread" (Greene 120).
I ALSO SUGGEST THAT YOU get the titles of online articles to use instead of putting a link in th in text citation. Or, you can use the name of the organization. For example, I followed your linkb holocaustresearchproject and found that it was written by the Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team (HEART). You can put that name in parentheses, and on subsequent instances of it you can put HEART. For example, The prisoners were also executed using a gas chamber, through strenuous work, or through poor nutrition to provide specimens for medical schools (HEART).
And the last thing I'll say is that you are punctuating correctly. The quotation mark omes first, then the parenthetical reference, and then the period. However, if it is a question mark or an exclamation mark, the punctuation goes inside the quotes! So, there is an exception to that rule...
Good luck!!!
Kevin
