Essay

Literary Essay for Of Mice and Men

This literary essay will have a minimum of four paragraphs, will be in MLA format, and will require quotations from the novel, of course.

The introductory paragraph will have a thesis statement.

Each body paragraph will have at least two quotations from your primary source (i.e., the novel), as well as at least one quotation from a secondary source.

Your concluding paragraph should be at least three sentences long.

The essay should be double spaced and in 12 pt, Times New Roman or Courier font.

Here is a link to the scoring rubric.

Here are some resources for writing an essay. Please ensure that you look at the "Editing your Paper" Powerpoint within these resources.

If you are unsure of how to write a literary essay, please visit the following website.

Here is a brief order of operations for writing an essay:

Order of operations for writing a literary essay:

-          Decide on a topic

-          Gather quotes from the novel about your topic

-          Gather quotes from secondary sources about your topic

-          Organize quotes into groups/paragraphs

-          Introduce quotes (eg: “At one point in the novel, our narrator tells us that, “

-          Explain quotes (eg: “This shows us….”   “Here, we see that …)

-          Insert quote from secondary source (eg: “As the experts at Sparknotes tell us…)

-          Write your intro (with thesis statement) and conclusion.

Independent Novel Study

Part A - Keeping a Notebook (GLO3)  50 marks

Directions:             Students will create and maintain a well-ordered notebook. Students will have a page for each of the following:

Characters -             Keep an ongoing list of important characters. For each character, provide a brief description and a quotation either said by the character or said about the character (with a page number).

Symbols -             Keep an ongoing list of important symbols and a brief explanation of what each one symbolizes.

Concepts (Ideas) -            Keep an ongoing list of important concepts. These concepts will later be turned into themes.

Events -             This will be the largest section of your notebook. After each section (usually a chapter), write down a brief description of at least one important event that happens. Find and write down a short quotation about the event (with page number). Then write down the related concepts for that event. Finally, write down any important symbols related to that event and a very short analysis of those symbols.

Part B – Presentation (GLO4) 50 marks  - Here is the rubric

Directions:            Students will create an online presentation using a format of their choosing. The presentation will be approximately 5-10 minutes in duration.  The presentation will cover the following aspects of the novel:

The Genre:             What genre does the novel fall under? How does it fit the criteria of this particular genre?

The Plot:            Give a VERY BRIEF description of what happens in the novel, and tell us about the main characters.

The Main Themes:            What is being said about the concepts that you’ve listed in your notebook? What is the a main message that comes across through your study of the novel?

The Symbols: Find and display images that represent the main symbols in your novel, and talk about what these symbols represent.