Essay

Choose one prompt to write a 850-1000 (3-4 full pages) word essay. Your essay should contain:

• An outline stating your thesis statement and main points of the essay in complete sentences.
• A proofread and revised essay following the outline

Please specify which prompt you have chosen in the top left corner of your essay as the fifth line of the header. For information on how to format the first page of your essay in MLA format, review Week 1's resource: MLA Formatting and Style Guide (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. For all prompts, include at least 5 quotes from 5 different short stories, poems, or other pieces in War Dances.

Prompts:

1. Sherman Alexie's War Dances presents recurrent themes of race, ethnicity, and gender, and how they tie into the American-Indian families' struggle in the U.S.. In which selections of War Dances do you see race and gender issues creating climactic situations? How do these issues affect Alexie's characters and how do they overcome these issues?
2. How do Alexie's characters identify with their past? Are they always on a quest to change that past or do they feel at peace with it?
3. Do you feel that Sherman Alexie's War Dances is a cry for social awareness and activism? Explain.

Essay 1 Rubric:

Outline (5 points)

Content (50 points)

effective introduction (preparing the reader for a clearly-stated thesis statement in introduction) and conclusion (a fresh closure to the essay)
clear topic sentences that support the thesis
concrete evidence that support your points

Depth and Breadth of Arguments (10 points)
critical thinking
in-depth arguments, discussions
broad development of arguments

Organization (10 points)
coherent paragraphs (PIE: Point, Information, Explanation)
organized and focused essay (logical presentation of the arguments)

Clarity (20 points)
effective use of grammar/mechanics/spelling
clear and fluid syntax
Correct MLA formatting and documentation 

Works Cited Page (5 points)

Be sure to include in-text citations and a bibliography for all your quotes from War Dances. Review Purdue OWL  (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.for information in how to use citations. 

*Please use actual quotes from the book, or we gonna have some problems :P