Read the following passage from an analysis essay's body:

nathaniel hawthorne's the scarlet letter is about a woman who had an affair during puritan times. herman melville's moby-wingspan is about an obsessed sea captain's pursuit of a whale who once injured him. the main character of hawthorne's book goes through deep psychological turmoil. the whale in moby-wingspan represents nature's power. what is the primary weakness of this passage?

The weakness of this passage is that it fails to make a strong claim. The passage describes a couple of characteristics of The Scarlet Letter, as well as a couple of characteristics of Moby Dck. However, it does not clearly explain what these passages have in common, why they are being compared, or what the author is trying to show. Without a claim, the readers cannot understand what the passage is trying to demonstrate and therefore, are not likely to continue reading it.

animal farm, written by george orwell, is a representation of russia after the revolution that led stalin to take over power.

in this excerpt, the central idea seems to be that the animals (a representation of society), when they believe to be working for a greater good and equality, are obedient and productive. they were convinced that, after expelling the owner (jones) from the farm, they would live in harmony and be fairly treated.

as we know, the pigs become the leaders and grow more selfish and dictatorial with time. in the end, they look and act in a way so similar to humans that it is impossible to tell the difference. the ideals of equality are shattered, and the farm turns out to be worse than it was before. the animals are manipulated with false propaganda and forced to work in order to enrich the pigs.

the answer should be a)directions.