Station 11 Essay Prompts (75 pts)
For your analytical response essay, you will choose ONE of the following prompts and write a thesis driven analytical essay. I will provide you with the ultimate organizing tool, The Hammer, to organize your work in a 5-paragraph fashion if you’d like, but don’t feel limited to the 5-paragraph format. Your essay should contain at minimum: an introductory paragraph that ends with your thesis statement, 3 body paragraphs that include 2-3 “fluidly included and properly cited” citations each in support of your thesis statement, and a thoughtful conclusion paragraph that wraps up your paper and leaves the reader thinking (Shea 43). Remember that your writing should be analytical in nature, and you should avoid plot summary as well as hypothetical arguments.
Choose from one of the following prompts to generate an original and insightful thesis for your essay.
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Discuss similar/contrasting views of “survival” amongst multiple characters.
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Discuss the impact of the media and/or entertainment in the novel.
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Discuss how “hope” or “fear” influences multiple characters – or a single character in multiple ways – throughout the novel.
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Discuss the symbolism of a specific object/artifact that has significance for multiple characters – or changes over time for one.
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Discuss how Mandel utilizes a specific GWH to great effect in the same way over multiple instances in the novel.
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Discuss the significance of legacy for multiple characters; alternatively, analyze how one character’s legacy influences others in surprising ways.
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Discuss how the setting influences the development of a character in surprising or unexpected ways.
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Discuss the impact of a minor character – or a series of minor characters – on a primary character’s development.
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Something totally different that you want to explore? Email me and get written approval by Mon. 3/4/24.
Rubric/Breakdown
Writing/Editing (20 pts): The essay contains minimal writing/grammatical errors. The writer followed the ‘editing guidelines’ as suggested by The Hammer document. The writer uses a variety of sentence structures (PT rules) and imbues their own voice as a writer.
Thesis Statement (5 pts): The thesis is a well-defined, insightful, statement of opinion, based on fact. It reveals thoughtful, original insight on the literature discussed.
Citation Selection & Literary Analysis (15 pts): The citations chosen to defend the thesis are relevant and strong supportive evidence. They are analyzed and related clearly to the thesis statement in a cohesive manner.
Three Cs – Context, Citation, Claim (10 pts): The writer properly includes context for each chosen citation; the citations are “fluidly included within the flow” of their writing in (mostly) 5-7 word segments; the analysis relates the language of the citation back to the thesis statement in an insightful manner.
Organization & Clarity (10 pts): Work is organized into paragraphs that are cohesive and transition smoothly form one idea to the next. Paragraphs open with topic sentences and conclude with transitions. The ordering of paragraphs makes sense given the content of the arguments.
Originality and Intellectual Expression (10 pts): Presentation goes beyond our class conversations and demonstrates thoughtful, original ideas that add to the canon of literary analysis & discussion.
Timely Submission & MLA Formatting (5 pts): Submit your work on time and in proper MLA format.
Essays must be shared as an editable GoogleDoc via myW by 11:59 PM on March 8th, 2024 to be considered.