Literary
Essay for To Kill a Mockingbird by
Harper Lee
A
literary essay should develop and discuss an element of a piece of literature
with appropriate details including specific citations from the novel which
support your thesis. Your assignment is to write a five-paragraph literary essay
in which you discuss one of the themes below.
Be sure that your essay includes an appropriate introductory paragraph, three
body paragraphs and a concluding paragraph. Essays often follow a formula which
I have expounded on in the following paragraphs.
Often an
essay will start with a bigger idea which is linked thematically to the literary
text and topic of the essay. This may
include some general introductory remarks about the subject and why it is
interesting and important to you and to the reader. Naturally, every essay you will ever write
will include a thesis statement. Your
introduction should also include the title, author, and genre of the text you
will analyze, a quick summary of the text in question, an introduction to the
supporting ideas developed in the body paragraphs of your essay, and a
transition sentence leading your reader into the body of the essay. Sometimes the transition sentence occurs at
the beginning of the next paragraph.
Each of
your three body paragraphs should explain in full one reason or example for
your thesis, a quotation which supports this reason or example (include page
number), and a complete and clear explanation of how the quotation and reason
or example is relevant to your thesis.
Your
concluding paragraph should include a general introductory sentence guiding the
reader into the conclusion, a quick review of all three reasons or examples and
why they prove your thesis statement, some concluding remarks about how well
you have proved your point, and general concluding remarks about how important
your topic is and how important it is that your reader be convinced of your
opinion. At the end, many writers choose
to return to the original “big idea” they had introduced at the beginning of
the essay.
Naturally, your
essay should be typed, double-spaced, in a clean clear font (preferably Times
New Roman), 12 pt. type. This is
standard academic format. Please always
use it for my class and I believe you will find that most of your teachers will
want this for the rest of your academic career.
In short, then, To Kill a Mockingbird opens many
thought-provoking philosophical issues. You must choose one theme from the
following list and develop your essay about it:
Your essay will be
graded on the following criteria: you will earn up to 20 points per rubric for meaning, development,
organization, language use, and mechanics.
Keep them in mind as you revise and edit your essay!
Please Note! You will need to turn
in a rough draft, outline, or graphic organizer which you used to develop your
essay to receive full credit. Good
writing deserves, and indeed requires, planning, which is why I require you to
turn in proof of your planning process.