Great Expectations Essay
1. You may choose another character from the novel if you’d like. Develop an opinion about the character similar to those mentioned above for Pip.
2. Develop three general examples that support this opinion. (These will be your topic sentences.)
3. Find specific examples from the book to support these opinions. (These will make up the majority of your body paragraphs.) Use quotes from the book to prove these examples support your opinion. Include at least one quotation in each body paragraph. So you will need a total of at least three quotes.
4. For your introduction, begin with a hook (or attention grabber) that comments on the more superficial perceptions of your character. At the end of your introduction, include a thesis statement that begins with a transitional phrase or clause. For example: “Though often perceived as a negative character, in reality Estella is a victim of Miss Havisham, Orlick, and even Pip.”
Your heading should look like this:
Name /40 PSSA/Keystone Writing Rubric F
Mr. O’Brien, p. 1 /30 Textual evidence C English 9 /30 Sub Clauses (2 of each type) O
9 March 2015 S
C
Please see the reverse side of this page (or click on the other writing option) for examples of how to embed and punctuate your textual evidence (a.k.a. “quotes).
NOTE TO TEACHERS
For clauses, have students identify the clauses clearly. Some ways to do this are highlighting by color, underlining and identifying in parentheses, labeling in the margin.