How Joy Harjo Turns the Reader into "The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window"

This literary analysis of Joy Harjo's "The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window" argues that the central figure of the poem, the woman, becomes a stand-in for the reader, forcing the reader to wonder how their life might mimic the woman's predicament.

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Bridget's feedback:

"It's clear you've worked closely with the poem, going line by line to discover Harjo's deeper themes and meaning. Right now, the essay is arranged according to this close read, with each paragraph dedicated to one or two stanzas. Is this the most effective way to prove your thesis? You do a good job connecting back to the thesis (the woman is a stand-in for the reader) at the end of each body paragraph, but this stanza-by-stanza approach may cause the reader to lose the forest (the big picture of the thesis) for the trees (the details in the stanza). Some other approaches could be by theme, by literary device, or by how the reader's understanding builds or grows. You've done the heavy lifting of analyzing each aspect of the poem, so this is more about organization and presentation to persuade your reader. In terms of argumentation, a few of your claims rest on general or broad claims ("most of them skip the 13th floor" or "all mothers can relate..."); generalizations should be backed by a source if appropriate or replaced with a different approach.

Finally, make sure to proofread and double-check that you are properly incorporating all quotations and following MLA formatting for punctuation around the parenthetical citations."

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In-text citation:

(Kibin, 2025)

Reference list entry:

Kibin. (2025). How joy harjo turns the reader into "the woman hanging from the thirteenth floor window". http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/how-joy-harjo-turns-the-reader-into-the-woman-hanging-from-the-thirteenth-floor-window-bQOleND2

Be sure to capitalize proper nouns (e.g. Egypt) and titles (e.g. Macbeth) in the essay title portion of your citation.

In-text citation:

("How Joy Harjo Turns the Reader into "The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window".")

Works Cited entry:

"How Joy Harjo Turns the Reader into "The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window"." Kibin, 2025, www.kibin.com/essay-examples/how-joy-harjo-turns-the-reader-into-the-woman-hanging-from-the-thirteenth-floor-window-bQOleND2

Footnote:

1. "How Joy Harjo Turns the Reader into "The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window"." Kibin, 2025. http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/how-joy-harjo-turns-the-reader-into-the-woman-hanging-from-the-thirteenth-floor-window-bQOleND2.

Bibliography entry:

"How Joy Harjo Turns the Reader into "The Woman Hanging from the Thirteenth Floor Window"." Kibin, 2025. http://www.kibin.com/essay-examples/how-joy-harjo-turns-the-reader-into-the-woman-hanging-from-the-thirteenth-floor-window-bQOleND2.