3/16/2015

 Why do we need a claim statement when we’re writing? What happens when we don’t have one? Also, why is it important to have a clear conclusion in mind? DO NOW

AGENDA AND OBJECTIVE Agenda  Do Now/Share Out  Developing universal themes across the texts independent work  Creating claim statements  Creating concluding statements  Exit Objective  Students will analyze their Victorian texts and identify similarities in order to develop common themes and claim statements for their analysis essay.

CLAIM STATEMENTS/CONCLUDING STATEMENTS

 Step 1: Read the prompt  Step 2: Find similarities across texts  Step 3: Develop themes  Step 4: Establish lenses used to support themes  Step 5: Create a claim sentence  Step 6: Create a concluding statement FOLLOW THESE STEPS

HERE’S A PROMPT TO GET US STARTED… Write an essay in which you analyze how authors use literary elements to develop a common theme.

STEP 3: CREATE THEMES

I’VE CREATED THEMES… (THG, TFIOS, TKAM) Similarity: One event changes the protagonists’ perception of the world as they knew it. Theme: Sometimes, all it takes is one event in our lives to completely turn our world upside down and change our perception forever. Similarity: Each protagonist deals with great trauma. Theme: Fear can motivate people to do things they never thought were possible. Similarity: All three girls are outsiders. Theme: Society fears that which is different.

STEP 4: ESTABLISH LENSES USED TO SUPPORT THEMES

I’VE FOUND LENSES TO SUPPORT THEME… Similarity: One event changes the protagonists’ perception of the world as they knew it. Theme: Sometimes, all it takes is one event in our lives to completely turn our world upside down and change our perception forever. (Character, Conflict, Structure) Similarity: Each protagonist deals with great trauma. Theme: Fear can motivate people to do things they never thought were possible. (Character, Conflict, Figurative Language) Similarity: All three girls are outsiders. Theme: Society fears that which is different. (Character, Conflict, Setting)

STEP 5: CREATE A CLAIM SENTENCE

Theme: Fear can motivate people to do things they never thought were possible. Sentence Frame 1: In Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars, the authors use major plot events, vivid figurative language and several types of conflict to convey the idea that fear often motivates us to do things we never thought were possible. Sentence Frame 2: Thesis: Extraordinary, life-threatening circumstances (plot events) driven by vividly described (figurative language) antagonists (conflict or character) force Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games, Hazel Grace Lancaster of The Fault in Our Stars and Scout Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird to better understand that fear can motivate people to do things they never thought possible. PROMPT: WRITE AN ESSAY IN WHICH YOU ANALYZE HOW AUTHORS USE LITERARY ELEMENTS TO DEVELOP A COMMON THEME.

STEP 6: CREATE A CONCLUDING STATEMENT

 Writing an essay is a lot like taking a road trip: WE ARE ALWAYS WORKING TOWARDS A DESTINATION.  Everything that you write must be working towards THE END (THE CONCLUSION).  Your thesis is great, but what do you have to say once the text is finished? You need to say something profound if you are to raise your writing above other writers.  Your concluding statement should leave your reader thinking, “Wow! I hadn’t thought of that!” LET’S TAKE A ROAD TRIP…

Claim Number 1: In Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars, the authors use major plot events, vivid figurative language and several types of conflict to convey the idea that fear often motivates us to do things we never thought were possible. Concluding Statement: When faced with impossible obstacles, you can choose to hide, or you can choose to fight. Though all young characters, the three females of these novels prove that working through your fears can actually make you stronger in the end. CONCLUDING STATEMENT #1

 If you haven’t done your themes, finish that!  Step 2: Create a claim sentence  You can use a sentence frame OR you can create your own.  When finished, call me over and I will approve it or tell you to fix it.  Step 3: Create a concluding statement INDEPENDENT PRACTICE

I’VE FOUND SIMILARITIES… The Hunger GamesThe Fault in Our StarsTo Kill a MockingbirdLiterary Elements Three no-nonsense female protagonists (Katniss, Hazel and Scout)(Character) Each protagonists deal with great trauma (the games, Gus’ death, being attacked by Bob) (Character and Conflict) Their normal “worlds” are turned upside down(Setting) All three characters are outsiders, in a way(Character) All stories have person vs. person, person vs. self, person vs. society conflicts (Conflict) All three authors use first person narration(Structure) Outside characters serve as a way for diverse points of view (other districts in Games, Gus in TFIOS and Miss Caroline in TKAM.) (Character) All three stories use simile and hyperbole to emphasize traumatic events (Figurative Language)

3/17/2015

INTRODUCTIONS

DO NOW Have you ever met someone for the first time and automatically hated them, even if you couldn’t explain why? Were you ever able to get over that first impression? Why are first impressions so important? Answer in 2-3 complete sentences.

AGENDA AND OBJECTIVE Agenda  Do Now/Share Out  Introductions  Independent Work  Creating claim statements  Creating concluding statements  Introductions  Exit Objective  Students will analyze their Victorian texts and identify similarities in order to develop common themes and claim statements for their analysis essay.

COMPONENTS OF AN INTRODUCTION The introduction paragraph typically has: ●Attention-Getter (Hook) ●Set Up for the Claim ●Thesis

IDENTIFY THE TEXT ●ITALICIZE THE TITLE OF THE NOVEL. Do NOT underline it. Make sure that you write it out exactly as it appears on the book’s cover. ●Short stories and poems get QUOTES. ●You don’t need a unique sentence to introduce the author and the title; you should build it into a sentence in the introduction. For example: –“Most readers of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre find Mr. Rochester an attractive and sympathetic figure…”

SET-UP YOUR CLAIM! After the attention getter or hook, writers need to gradually narrow the broad subject towards the thesis. Gradually narrowing can: provide background information, explain underlying information, describe the complexity of the issue, introduce various layers of the subject, and help transition from these more broad ideas to the narrow thesis.

INTRODUCTION CHECKLIST ●Do you have a hook? ●Provide the name of the authors. ●Title of the literary works. ●Do you have enough backstory to create a connection between the texts you are discussing? ●Is there a clear and specific claim? o Located at the end of the introduction?

NEVER, EVER, EVER DO THIS... ●bluntly announce the essay's intent ("In this essay I will...) ●make unreasonable statements (“ALL people in Victorian times…”) ●apologize for the material that is being written ("In my humble opinion...") ●go into a detailed account of the writing (plot summary) ●include random information that has nothing to do with the essay (“Queen Victoria is actually the alleged founder of the Illuminati...”) ●use an encyclopedia or dictionary definition ("According to Webster's...) ●dilly-dally. Get to it. Move confidently into the essay.

EXAMPLE In his 1994 autobiography Long Walk To Freedom, Nelson Mandela wrote, "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear" (50). Being afraid does not make someone weak; instead, overcoming fear proves that the person has the strength to defeat anything. Katniss Everdeen, teenager forced to represent her district in a death-match against other children; Scout Finch, a child dealing with the effects of Jim Crow racism; Hazel Grace, a young girl attempting to beat cancer all exhibit the triumph over fear. These protagonists all demonstrate the idea that without courage, there is no fear. In Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and John Green’s The Fault In Our Stars, the authors use major plot events, vivid figurative language and several types of conflict to convey the idea that fear often motivates us to do things we never thought were possible.

INDEPENDENT WORK Step 1. Finish your claim and concluding sentence. Step 2. Begin your introduction.