Honors English______

6th grade

Mr. Kowalick______

______

Common Core ELA Standards: RL 6.1, 6.2, 6.6, 6.10; W 6.2, 6.4, 6.9

Prompt: Write a four-paragraph essay in which you explain how the narrator of “Charles” (Laurie’s mother), based on her descriptions and the story’s plot, made some mistakes in her approach to parenting Laurie.Be sure to organize your ideas, provide textual evidence, and include thoughtful commentary in your essay.

Outline for Essay

  1. Introduction
  1. Hook the reader. Begin with an interesting first sentence that grabs the reader’s attention.

You might include some fact or interesting point you learned from “experts” in parenting.

  1. Provide a brief summary of the story’s plot. Include the title (“Charles”) and author (Shirley Jackson) of the story. Example: In the story “Charles” by Shirley Jackson, a boy named Laurie…
  2. Thesis statement: Laurie’s mother shows the reader through her actions that she makes some big mistakes in parenting.
  1. Body Paragraph
  1. Begin with a topic sentence that starts with The first mistake Laurie’s mother makes is…
  2. Supporting details: Find evidence to support your topic sentence. Give examples of when Laurie’s mother acts in a way that supports your topic sentence.
  3. Supporting quote: As you are giving your supporting details, incorporate a quote of two or three sentences from the story. Follow the rules for citations: introduce the quote, punctuate it correctly, and include the page number in parenthesis.
  4. Commentary: Explain why the supporting details prove that Laurie’s mother shows poor parenting.
  1. Body Paragraph
  1. Begin with a topic sentence that starts with The second mistake Laurie’s mother makes is…
  2. Supporting details: Find evidence to support your topic sentence. Give examples of when Laurie’s mother acts in a way that supports your topic sentence.
  3. Supporting quote: As you are giving your supporting details, incorporate a quote of two or three sentences from the story. Follow the rules for citations, which means you need to introduce the quote, punctuate it correctly, and include the page number in parenthesis.
  4. Commentary: Explain why the supporting details prove that Laurie’s mother shows poor parenting.
  1. Conclusion:
  1. Begin by restating your thesis statement but in a different way when compared to the introduction.
  2. The “So What?”: In this section, imagine your reader saying, “So what that Laurie’s mother made some mistakes in parenting. What does this topic have to do with me or anything else?”

Additional requirements:

1.Write in present tense. Examples: “Laurie’s mother makes…” or “Laurie tells…”

2.Write a rough draft. Skip lines between paragraphs. Do not write on the back of your rough or final draft.

3.The rough draft will mostly be written in class. The final draft must be typewritten and printed (follow instructions provided).

Using Quotes/Citations in Essays

Selecting and Introducing Quotes:

1. Select a quote that illustrates a specific and important point in your paragraph. The quote should back up your main argument or evidence.

2. Pick a quote that is EITHER character dialogue OR narration. It will make punctuating your quotes easier.

3.Pick a quote that is no longerthan three full sentences in length. Remember, you can take parts of a sentence. Take only what is most important and relevant.

4.Alwaysintroduce the citation with your own words by give plenty of context (situation and speaker) before presenting the quote.

Quoting Dialogue:

When Laura tries to motivate her team after a terrible loss, she yells, “Fight to the death!” (356).

Quoting Narration:

William’s courage is clear when he is described as “sacrificing everything he had known to fearlessly charge the hill” (246).

5.Explain why the quote is important, if it is not already obvious. If you don’t have a good reason, then it must not be important and should not be included in your essay. Do not mistakenly believe that your entire commentary should only explain the importance of the quote. Commentary discusses ALL major points in the supporting evidence.

Punctuating Quotes:

7. PUNCTUATE the quoted materials correctly.

►Introduce your quote properly, “Blah, blah!” (123). (Keep exclamation point if it ends your citation.)

►Introduce your quote properly, “Blah, blah?” (123). (Keep question mark if it ends your citation.)

►Introduce your quote properly, “Blah, blah” (123). (Drop periods when they appear at the end of your quoted material.)

►Introduce your quote properly, “Blah, blah…” (123). (Use an ellipsis only at the end of a citation to show that you left out the end of the sentence you are quoting.)

8.Never use the following references/citations in essays:

(page 123)

(p. 123)

On page 123