Essay Guidelines Stage #2- The Scarlet Ibis

Introduction:

Start by writing a thesis statement. The thesis statement is the sentence that will focus your reader on your key ideas. Your thesis statement for this essay will tell me three things that you think birds represent in the story.

Some of the things we discussed in class include:

Strength/endurance/ fortitude

Uniqueness/ distinctiveness

Hope

Brotherhood (both the good and the bad)

Loss and grief

Persistence/ self-centeredness/ pragmatism/ competition/ aggression /pride

Thesis Statement Template:

In the story, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, images of birds are used to represent ______, ______, and ______

You can polish this rough thesis as you determine what you want to say in your essay and how you want to tie these themes together. As you develop as a writer, your voice will be increasingly present in your thesis statement. For example:

In the story, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, images of birds are used to represent the unique strengths of a boy who does not fit the norm, the hope and joy that comes from shared success, and the pride and arrogance that gets in the way of brotherly love.

See your pink sheet for other introduction guidelines! Use your skills from speech to help you to build interest in your topic. This is similar in speech and in writing.

Body Paragraphs

·  Each partner is responsible for writing one body paragraph.

·  For an “A”, you and your partner must also write a third paragraph. You may do this together in class, or you may work on this independently. Each person will turn in an essay, so this choice is up to you. If your partner does not want to work together on the third paragraph, then you may complete this independently at home.

·  You should not work in a group of three unless you have received my written consent and instructions.

(See the next page for more on body paragraphs.)

Check your body paragraph to make sure that you have the following:

1. Did you start with a topic sentence? What do you think the bird you have chosen symbolizes?

For example: The scarlet ibis symbolizes the unique strength and endurance of Doodle.

2. Explain your general insights into this topic. How is Doodle strong and how does he show endurance? Why is this important? The bird struggles against the storm; against what forces does Doodle struggle? Think about the physical features of this bird and how these attributes relate to Doodle.

3. Explain the context of the quote(s) about your bird from the text. Tell the reader what was happening right before this quote. Identify the speaker. In many cases the speaker will be Brother because he is the narrator of the story. For example:

As the story comes to a close, Brother remembers the painful loss of his brother. Brother says, “For a long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain” (6).

Note that I have cited the page number. I do not need to write the author’s name because all of the quotes in my essay will come from this same story and I have stated the name of the story and the name of the author in my introduction already.

4. Explain the quotation! You need to explain what is being said in the quote. If I were explaining this quote from the end of the story, I would explain why Brother calls him a scarlet ibis. I would explain how Brother now sees the flaws in his own thinking, now that he is looking back at himself, he sees how wrong he was to push his brother beyond his limits. I would build on my explanation from before the quote without repeating the same general ideas.

5. You may choose to include more than one quote in a body paragraph, but for this assignment I am only requiring one. Keep in mind that I do expect you to explain your ideas and develop your ideas. Your paragraphs should each contain well-developed insights into the characters and themes of the story. If you have not written ten complex sentences, you are falling short of my expectation. Take time to explain yourself. Start by asking yourself questions and then answer them in your paragraph.

·  Why do I think my topic sentence is true?

·  How do the specific words in this quote prove my topic sentence? For example, given the quote I used above, I might talk about why he says “the heresy of rain”. I might talk about how he sees now that he should have protected his brother.

·  What theme comes out of this? What can we learn from this?

·  Where are the other places in the story where I see this?

·  How does this relate to other ideas in my essay? How does this relate to the concept of brotherhood that is so important in this story about two brothers?