Short Story Essay

Short Story Essay

Instructions: Pick one of the following short stories: “Lamb to the Slaughter,” “The Most Dangerous Game,” “Harrison Bergeron.”

Prompt: You will write an essay answering the following question: What does the short story suggest about the idea of survival/living?

STEP 1: BRAINSTORMING Once you have decided on a story, brainstorm your ideas by writing down any facts, thoughts, and insights you have. Actual brainstorming will include many entries-- questions, answers, quotations from the work, and/or specific examples from the work. One of the tricks to effective brainstorming is to really logically think about the topic, considering as much as possible about it.

STEP 2 CRAFT A THESIS STATEMENT The thesis statement is the summary sentence that supports your opinion and ideas-- the LAST sentence in the introduction paragraph.

Why Should Your Essay Contain A Thesis Statement? To put your main ideas into one summary sentence; To better organize and develop the opinion/argument of your essay; To provide your reader with a "guide" to your argument

How Can You Generate a Thesis Statement? The thesis should answer the essay prompt in connection to the short story you chose.

Quesiton: What does The Hunger Games suggest about the idea of survival/living?

Answer / THESIS: In The Hunger Games Series, Suzanne Collins suggests that living under the control of someone else is not truly living.

The thesis statement can focus on character, symbolism, plot, theme, conflict, etc. This particular thesis focuses on theme.

How Can You Tell a Strong Thesis Sentence from a Weak One? A strong thesis takes some sort of stand or states some kind of opinion (Remember that your thesis needs to show your overall main idea about a subject.) A strong thesis expresses a main idea and is specific.

STEP 3 PLAN THE OPENING SENTENCES OF YOUR INTRO PARAGRAPH: There are three common techniques that are utilized to open the introductory paragraph:

 Factual Information: The writer opens his or her paragraph by giving a list of facts that will eventually lead to his or her thesis. (Animals that survive being hunted do so because of an instinctual desire to live. In the same way, Katniss Everdeen survives “the hunt” of her life.)

 Anecdote: The writer opens the paragraph with a story that relates to the thesis. (e.g. Babe Ruth once said, “You just can’t beat the person who won’t give up.” In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen is a tenacious character that seems to thrive off others trying to suppress her. Just like Babe Ruth said, Katniss can’t be beat because she does not dare to give up. She continues to fit the Capital with everything she has.)

Short Story Essay Topics Objectives: _ To evaluate the relevancy of a literary work’s themes to everyday life. _ To write a multi-paragraph literary response scoring 75 or higher according to the literary analysis rubric.

Directions: Choose one of the stories below and write a polished, well-organized analytical essay of at least 4 paragraphs (introduction, 2 body paragraphs, and conclusion). This essay is worth 100 points

Due Dates: ___ Outline – attached to this paper (due Monday 5/10) ___ Rough draft (Tuesday 5/11) ___ Conference/Peer Edit/Revision time (Tuesday 5/11) ___ Final draft due (Wednesday 5/12)

Essay Topic

II. Short Story Theme. . In a well-organized, unified essay, identify a theme focuses on survival/living from one short story and analyze its relevance to readers in the real world.

• Identify a theme that is relevant to readers about survival, life, or living. . (This will be your thesis statement.)

• Discuss the theme and its relevance to readers. (This will be the body of your paper).

o Body Paragraph 1: _ Provide events from the text that demonstrate the theme you have identified. (CDs) _ Discuss how the theme is developed throughout the play. (CMs)

o Body Paragraph 2: _ Draw connections between events in the story and events in modern life. (CDs) _ Explain how the theme relates to events in modern life. (CMs)

o Body Paragraph 3: _ Identify events in the story (related to your theme) that contain lessons for modern society. (CDs) _ Explain what modern society can learn from these moments in the story. (CMs)

Name: __________________________________________ Date ____________ Outline

Directions: Everything with a line beside it needs to be filled in!

Hook: ________________________________________________________________________________

Bridge Summary

Thesis:___________________________________________________________________________________

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Point 1: _______________________

A. Sub Point 1 ______________________________ a. Quote: (page #____)

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b. Explanation

B. Sub Point 2 ______________________________ a. Quote/example: (page #____)

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b. Explanation

Point 2: _________________________

A. Sub Point 1 ______________________________ c. Quote: (page #____)

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d. Explanation

B. Sub Point 2 ______________________________ a. Quote/example: (page #____)

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b. Explanation

Point 3: ___________________________

B. Sub Point 1 ______________________________ e. Quote: (page #____)

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f. Explanation

B. Sub Point 2 ______________________________ a. Quote/example: (page #____)

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b. Explanation

Conclusion: Restatement of Thesis Answer “So What?” Kicker: _____________________________________________________________________________