A Guidebook to Writing Thematic Essays

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Animal Farm Essay ASSIGNMENT: Choose one of the themes below and write an essay that details how Animal Farm supports the theme. Be sure to use specific textual evidence (i.e. direct quotes) to support your claim. Your essay should result in 4-5 paragraphs. Possible Dystopian Themes: 1. Utopian worlds do not work and will eventually fail. 2. Society is divided into castes or groups with specialized functions. 3. Human beings may feel a strong sense of justice when they realize that others are being mistreated.&nbsp; 4. When a society strives for equality, there is danger of a loss of freedom and individuality.

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In addition to those who were on the run, there have been those who have found compassion within themselves when faced to choose a side. These are regular everyday people who, when confronted with the choice to either help the underdog or conform to society, choose the riskier side. Like the teacher on page 84, “She holds out her hand to the frightened kids. ‘Come with me,’ the kids are hesitant, so she says, ‘If they’re looking for you, they’ll find you once the building is empty. You can’t expect to hide here if you want to get out you’ll have to leave with everyone else. C’mon, I’ll help you.” The teacher did not have to help them. It would have been easier and safer to just turn them in. Instead of conforming to the law, the law which the teacher knows to be unfair and unjust, the teacher chose to help the underdog and to show compassion for those in need, to be human. On page 213 the Admiral sacrificed too, “Think! Do I care about money and lavish things! I do not live in a mansion, I do not vacation on a tropical island, I spend my time in a stinking desert living in a rotting plane 365 days a year.” For the Admiral, saving unwinds is not a one time thing, it is his way of life. He lives in bad conditions and risks arrest every single day to help unwinds. Just like the fatigues, who spend their time living constantly in danger. Nobody is asking these people to do these acts of kindness. Their sacrifice and heroism is a true representation that the human spirit is strong.&nbsp; From people who find time to be kind even in the darkest hours, to people who give up their lives to show compassion to those in need, humans will always help those they know to be mistreated. Though many have tried to crush it, all have failed because human spirit is an impenetrable volt which no one can breach. Despite the scary events in our world today, we can take comfort in knowing that whatever oppressive regime, whatever life threatening situation threatens to engulf us, we will be able to rise above it with the power of justice.&nbsp;

Before you turn in your work . . . 1. Reread your writing - OUT LOUD to catch any errors 2. Hold a writing Conference with your teacher (or two) 3. Have a friend edit your essay 4. Run your essay through spell check and grammar check 5. Read through the rubric and evaluate your writing based on the grading rubric

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No sentence in your paper will vex you as much as the CLAIM. And with good reason: the claim is typically the ONE element in the paper that asserts, controls, and structures an argument. Without a strong, persuasive, thoughtful claim a paper will seem unfocused, weak, and maybe unworthy of the reader’s time.

ESSAY EXEMPLAR Throughout history people have done terrible things: genocide, homicide, and many other torturous ways of killing. Yet, even during these times, humans have found ways to be compassionate and kind. They’ve saved lives even when that potentially could get them killed.&nbsp;They found time, even in the worst regimes, to be kind like in the book Unwind by Neal Shusterman. Although there will always be people who try and do bad things, just as likely, there will always be people who feel a strong sense of justice when they realize others are being mistreated.&nbsp; The heroes in Unwind did not merely survive, they helped other people even when that led them off their path to safety. Connor, Risa, and Lev, despite being in life or death situations were kind. This could have cost them everything, but they still found time to help people along their harrowing journey. On page 38 Connor thinks, “He’s got to do something decent, something good to make up for the awful consequence of his kicking AWOL. And so, battling his own instinct for self preservation, he races towards the kid in white who was so happy going to his own undwinding.” Running towards Lev meant that Connor was running back to the police, towards the risk of getting caught. But Connor did it regardless, because he felt compassion towards someone who was raised to have his life ended. Later on page 133, Lev thinks, “I should just let him go. Lev thinks, let him do, then runs in the opposite direction and not look back . . . But there was that look about Cy before he ran. Desperation.” Lev could have left Cy-Fi. He could have run and left Cy to his own devices. But Lev feels compassion for Cy and the desperation he must be feeling. Lev stays to help CY Fi even though it would be much easier on his own. Just as Cy felt compassion for Lev when Cy was stronger, now Lev reciprocates those feelings. When the darkness threatens to envelop a life, human compassion can be the light that guides them.

The first paragraph of your essay should contain a brief explanation&nbsp;of your topic, some background information, and a claim/thesis statement. Attention Grabbing Hook - What is your first sentence? How will you hook your readers? Background &amp; Context - What do we need to know before getting into the nitty gritty of the essay? Give background information about the topic.&nbsp; Claim/Thesis&nbsp;

In class you got a copy of this evidence organizer to help you capture textual evidence to support your theme

Grab a copy <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/11RRzhNEUBaxAKu-L3VtjR5dmr90RU2Et5gvIBbLqJLY/copy">HERE</a>

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Step One: Choose Your Theme &amp; Collect Evidence to Support Your Theme

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Your essay should have a concluding paragraph that gives your essay&nbsp; a sense of completeness and lets your readers know that they have come to the end of&nbsp;your paper. Your concluding paragraph should echo your attention grabbing hook, summarize the main points you have made (this includes re-stating your claim/thesis), and make a relevant comment about the theme you are analyzing, but from a different perspective. Take your conclusion beyond the text; make a real-world connection, and leave the reader to think about a larger idea while still being relative to your topic. Do not introduce a new topic in your conclusion.&nbsp;(5-6 sentences) Hint:&nbsp;If you asked a rhetorical question, your conclusion should seek to answer that question.&nbsp;If you began with a quotation, you should re-affirm that what he or she said is true in your conclusion.&nbsp;

Your claim helps to outline the entire essay. Use this organizer to help you craft a thesis or claim that encompasses the whole text. You will be writing two to three body paragraphs that support your thesis.

Grab A Copy <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1SEOJ3N5jWfJnS7t7Hy7ZNwlBBZOX4vC28Akm2WneMoU/copy">Here</a>

Clarifying Relationships between Evidence &amp; Ideas Building Your Body Paragraphs Using the TEXASAS Format

Leading Into and Out of Textual Evidence

Watch this video on leading into textual evidence and leading out of textual evidence

TEXAS Paragraph Graphic Organizer.pdf

Use this organizer to help build a stronger TEXAS body paragraph

Wondering How To Ensure Your Claim Makes The Grade -&nbsp; Use This Checklist

Does my CLAIM attempt to answer (or at least explore) a challenging intellectual question? Is the point I am making one that would generate discussion and argument, or is it one that would leave people asking, ‘So what?’ Does my claim deal directly with the topic at hand, or is it a declaration of my personal feelings? Does my CLAIM indicate the direction of my argument? Does it suggest a structure for the paper? Does my introductory paragraph define terms important to my CLAIM? Is the language in my claim vivid and clear?&nbsp;

How To Find A Theme

What is theme? 
 Watch this video to help you understand . . .

The thematic essay requires the student to investigate a central idea or theme of a text, evaluate evidence, explain and elaborate on that idea in a clear and concise manner. The structure of the thematic essay is held together by the following. A clear, concise, and defined thesis statement or claim that occurs in the first paragraph of the essay. Clear and logical transitions between the introduction, body, and conclusion. 2-3 Body paragraphs that include evidential support directly from the text. A conclusion that does not simply restate the thesis, but readdresses it in light of the evidence provided.

All texts have themes within them. A literary critic, like your self, starts to look for those themes by asking questions like: "What is this text really about?" "What is the text trying to teach me about life?"

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