Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Tuesday / Wednesday March 18 and 19 in class argumentative essay

REMINDER: Maggie 2 vocabulary test and semicolon test this Thursday. You may take them earlier, if you anticipate being out or are on a field trip. Grades close Friday at 3.

In class essay. The following material has been available on the blog since last Friday; as well, handouts were passed out.  Everyone has already committed to a topic 8 days ago. 
Essay environment: This is an assessment, much like you will have on the ELA common core exam on June 6. There is no talking. There are no electronics. You will receive an automatic 0, the same as you would on the exam.
You may use your graphic organizer and a book during class. As there has been lots of time to pose questions, none will be taken during the exam.
The essay is due at the close of class on Wednesday.
For anyone who has finished the assignment- you had the opportunity to write this at home- there is bonus work.


Maggie, Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane     essay directions
At this point, everyone should have committed to one of the following four topics.
1.       What role does religion play in Maggie, Girl of the Streets?
2.       Why is Maggie unable to survive in the environment in which she was raised?
3.       To what extent is Maggie, Girl of the Streets a realist novel?
4.       How do sociological and economic circumstances influence Maggie and Jimmy?
General information:
1.       MLA heading
2.       Minimum 500 words (approximately 3 handwritten pages of medium-sized script.
3.       Supporting text. Remember that you make a statement, prove it and then offer of an analysis, which is saying why this particular piece of information is significant in terms of contributing to your original thesis statement.
4.       You must have at an introduction with a clearly stated thesis / controlling idea.
5.       You must have a minimum of three body paragraphs, each with textual evidence.
6.       Your conclusion should not be a restatement of the introduction, but an insightful observation or extension of the controlling idea. Possible scenarios include historical, sociological, psychological connections.
7.       Due at the end of class on Wednesday.
Advice for individual topics.
1.       Religion: look at the specific characters; note hypocrisy
                 Look at religion of the gentility and the mission church

2.       Survival in the environment: lots of concrete information; focus on imagery; think about the people, places and society as a whole.  What do you know of Maggie’s character and how can you demonstrate this?

3.       Maggie as a realist novel:  Consider use vernacular language, who  these characters are, control of one’s destiny, complex ethics


4.       Sociological and economic circumstances:  these ties into the immigration movement. Make connections to Riis’ How the Other Half Lives.


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