English 9 Speak Essay Assignment

Due Thursday, May 1 in English 9

Write a five-paragraph essay that explores the tone and humor of the Melinda’s narration in Speak. You may also discuss the tone and humor of her dialogue.

Your five paragraphs should be structured like this:

1. Introduction
2. Body paragraph 1
3. Body paragraph 2
4. Body paragraph 3
5. Conclusion

Introduction

This must be a minimum of three sentences, but can be more. The introductory paragraph must contain these elements:

1. Hook – quick statement that gets the reader interested but doesn’t reveal much information

2. Topic – What you are going to write about; give the name of the book, the author and a brief summary of what concrete details are going to show up in your body paragraphs

3. Thesis – Tell the reader what you are going to prove. With each CD there will be two commentaries (opinions). That means you will have written TWELVE opinion sentences by the end of the essay! Think hard about what single statement can unify these opinions.

Body Paragraphs

Remember that each body paragraph should follow the format of the SHAPER (attached). That means each of these paragraphs has 8 sentences.

Conclusion

Restate your thesis, but don’t repeat the exact words. Take on more of a ‘see-I-proved-it’ tone in this paragraph. Help your reader connect all the thoughts you have brought up in your opinions and tell us what you have proven.

How you will be graded

Your essay is worth 60 points, which is a lot. Each paragraph is worth 10 points, for a total of 50. The remaining 10 points will be based on the following standards:

Formatting

Double-space, 12pt font. Use either Courier or Times. Your name, the name of this class and the date must be either in the top right or on a cover page if you choose to do one.

Hardcopy Presentation

At the beginning of class on the due date, you need to turn in a PRINTED HARDCOPY. If it is more than one page, the pages must be STAPLED.

Email Presentation

Simply email a file that can be opened with Microsoft word by the due date.

Proofreading

Points will be taken off if your essay contains errors that you could have easily corrected by re-reading your work before turning it in. These errors include:

· Obvious misspellings or typographical errors

· Your name being written in, instead of typed

· Computer or printer errors such as low ink, weird symbols that weren’t on your computer but show up on the printout, etc.

PERFECTIONISTS TAKE NOTE – if you find an error in your printout but don’t have a way to reprint it before the due date, you may neatly pencil in changes before you turn it in. If the penciled in changes are not extensive (four or less) no points will be taken off.

Body Paragraph #______________

Paragraph Topic: ______________________________________________

TOPIC SENTENCE
CONCRETE DETAIL 1	COMMENTARY
	COMMENTARY
CONCRETE DETAIL 2	COMMENTARY
	COMMENTARY
CONCLUSION