Short+Fiction+and+5+Paragraph+Essay

= READING: Short Fiction (SCROLL DOWN FOR WRITING INFO) =

Reading Materials
**Homework Links:**  (//print **OR** view and complete on notebook paper//)
 * [|"The Necklace"] - Guy de Maupassant (France) || [|"The Bet"] - Anton Chekhov (Soviet Union) ||
 * [|"A Sound of Thunder"] - Ray Bradbury (America) || [|"The Nightingale and the Rose"] - Oscar Wilde (England) ||
 * [|"The Mapmaker"] - Brandy Bauer (Set in Pakistan) || [|"Eyes of a Blue Dog"] - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (South America) ||
 * [|"It Was Just Boys Walking"] - Dave Eggers (essay about __What is the What__) ||  ||
 * In-Class Reading **
 * [|The Jacket] - Gary Soto ||
 * [|Red Dress 1946]- Alice Munro ||
 * [|First Confession] - Frank O'Connor ||
 * [|A & P] - John Updike ||
 * [|The Grave] - Katherine Anne Porter ||

Key Terms

 * < Title ||< Universal Theme ||< Story Theme ||< Moral ||
 * < Plot ||< Exposition ||< Inciting Event ||< Rising Action ||
 * < Climax ||< Falling Action ||< Resolution ||< Archetype ||
 * < Setting ||< Form ||< Genre ||< Character ||

=WRITING: Narrative, Introduction to the 5 Paragraph Essay=

Key Terms

 * Thesis || Topic Sentence || Hook || Evidence ||
 * Imagery || Dialogue || Audience || Purpose ||
 * Narrative || Transition || Outline || Draft ||
 * Conclusion || Genre || Prewrite || Revise ||

Author's Purpose
What is the prompt asking you to do? [[|cheat sheet]]
 * Compare || Contrast || Criticize || Define || Describe ||
 * Discuss || Evaluate || Explain || Illustrate || Interpret ||
 * Justify || Outline || Prove || Persuade || Relate ||
 * Review || Summarize || Analyze ||  ||   ||

5 Paragraph Essay Graphic Organizer
Use this to make sure that your writing is organized and has thorough, cohesive evidence:

Writing a Thesis Statement

 * You should be looking at the big ideas your groups talked about (the themes, title, characters, plot, and structure). From this, you will be coming up with a strong thesis and evidence.**

So, the steps you should follow are: 1. Look at the common ideas you found. What questions did this raise for you about the book? 2. Come up with a question that you would like to answer in a paper. One example might be: "Is the plot a logical and linear story even with the non-linear structure - and how does this structure express the book's themes?" You may also wish to ask about how the title affects the themes of the story, or how the characters' motivations play out through the story. 3. Now, think of a thesis statement that picks a stance about your question. Remember these things about a thesis: a. It expresses the **main idea** of your essay - what is its sole purpose? (Comparison, persuasion, informational/expository, narrative?) b. It says something **meaningful** and answers your **interpretive question**. c. It is an **arguable** statement - it is not a summary or a "well, obviously..." type of sentence. d. It can be supported with **evidence** from the book, movie, or essay. e. It includes the **claim** you want to make (answer to the question) and the brief **reason** for your answer. - Try the "Magic Thesis Statement": By looking at _, we can see _, which most readers don't see; this is important because _. - For more information: http://www.math.grinnell.edu/~simpsone/Teaching/fiveways.html (the magic thesis). 4. After you have your thesis, think of **three topic sentences** that prove or explain your thesis. These will be the main ideas for your three body paragraphs. 5. Now look through your **quotes** and find anything that relates to your thesis statement. Also look back to the movie and the essay to **find evidence** that supports your thesis. 6. You should now be able to **fill out your graphic organizer**: //your thesis, topic sentence, and evidence// are done. Then, you just need to figure out how you'll tie it together to answer the question "so what?" What I mean by this is: why is this important to you and to me? What significance is there in this topic? "So what?" What's the big deal, anyway? This is a way to be sure that you tie all your information together in a meaningful way.

Next class all you need to have completed is your graphic organizer. I will come around and check your thesis statement and evidence.