Life of pie project

Life of Pi Unit One Project

Final Draft Due 02-20-19

Introductory Paragraph: Due 02-12-19

Before class, upload a copy of your introductory paragraph to Blackboard. At the beginning of class, bring a typed version of your introductory paragraph containing an arguable thesis statement. Be prepared to back up your thesis. A successful introductory paragraph will signal what evidences the rest of the paper will use.

Paper: Due 02.20.19

Choose a short passage (an exchange of dialogue, a description, one of Pi’s philosophical statements, an author’s aside, anything from a sentence to a paragraph in Life of Pi that seems important to the work as a whole). Perform a close reading of the passage, “unpacking” it to show how these lines crystallize the key themes and problems of the novel, and/or how these lines illuminate something important about the character who speaks them. To put it another way, choose a passage and defend why you think it is Life of Pi in microcosm.

Present your thesis, why the passage is important to the novel, at the end of your opening paragraph, and give a brief summary of what the passage does and why it's important. Then turn to your close reading. Analyze the passage as closely as you can, examining its tone, pace, wording, images, metaphors, symbols, and anything else you notice about how the passage is written. Spend a minimum of 1 ½ pages of you paper performing this close reading. Next, tie the passage in with other parts of the story or novel, explaining why it's important to the text as a whole. While your paper should focus mainly on explicating one significant passage, in order to explain the passage’s significance to the rest of the novel, you will need to draw evidence from other passages as well.

Note: You should reproduce your passage somewhere toward the beginning of your paper.

Papers should contain a strong persuasive thesis that is developed through use of concrete evidence from the novel. No outside sources without prior approval by me. All papers will be graded for the quality of both the ideas and the presentation of those ideas. The “presentation” includes backing up your claims about the significant passage with evidence from other points in the novel, as well as grammatical control and evidence of proofreading.

Assignment Criteria:

· Arguable thesis stated clearly in introductory paragraph

· Significant passage chosen for close reading, close reading a minimum of half the paper

· Multiple relevant passages cited that also back up thesis

· Clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that are well structured and that flow from one point to another

· 600-700 words, 12pt font, double spaced one inch margins MLA formatting (word count on last page)

· Evidence of thorough proofreading, minimum of grammatical and spelling errors