Angela Hindo
Laurie Webb
FALL16 ENG1123 #009/V09
September 19, 2016
Rags to Riches and Back
Thesis statement: People want more than they have, get what they want, and lose it all in the end.
In the short story, “The Necklace, written by, “Guy de Maupassant,” wrote how Mme. Loisel
wanted more than she had. He also wrote about her losing everything. He told a story about how
she got everything that she needed to go to the ball and before she got home that early morning
she had lost a beautiful necklace.
I. Wanting to be beautiful.
A. She wanted to have the best clothes, best jewels, and to be beautiful like the rich people.
B. She was very angry and crying because she had none of this.
1. Mathilde
2. She is ranting about not having the appropriate clothes and jewels to wear to the ball.
C. “Nothing. Only I have no dress and therefore I can not go to this ball.”(20)
D. Mathilde wanted to have all the things she thought that she deserved.
E. She felt she needed all these things to go to the ball.
II. Her husband wanted to make sure that she had all the beautiful things to go to the ball.
A. He asked her what she needed to go to the ball.
B. He was in despair. He felt horrible that she did not have what she needed to go.
1. M. Loisel
2. She was trying to figure out what she needed to be able to go to the ball.
C. “Come, let us see, Mathilde. How much would it cost for a suitable dress, which you could
use on other occasions. Something very simple?”(25)
D. He offers to give her 400 francs to buy a dress with.
E. She finds a beautiful dress to wear to the ball but it is still missing something.
III. She needs to find jewels to wear to the ball.
A. She will go to her friend to borrow some jewels to wear.
B. She opens her jewelry box for her to choose from.
1. Mme. Forestier
2. She is choosing a particular piece of jewelry to wear.
C. “Choose, Choose, my dear.”(40)
D. She has everything the riches have now.
E. She goes to the ball and dances to early morning.
IV. She has found her way home not realizing that she is missing something.
A. She has lost the jewelry her friend loaned her.
B. The jewels were gone from her neck.
