The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor AEC Paragraphs

The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor AEC Paragraphs

Indirect Characterization of Alyss from Chapters 1-9
Type / Evidence – Quotations with MLA citations / Commentary – Explain in your own words
Speech / “’Where did you come from?’ She took the kitten in her arms. It wore a ribbon for a collar, and attached to the ribbon was a card with a simple greeting: Happy birthday, Alyss!” (Beddor 41). / Alyss is naïve and never suspects that anyone could be out to hurt her and her family. She is easily duped into bringing The Cat into the palace.
Thoughts / “She would rather have hidden with her friend Dodge in one of the palace towers, dropping jollybellies from an open window and watching them splat on the guards below” (Beddor 11). / Instead of behaving like a proper princess, she prefers getting into trouble with her best friend, Dodge. However, her pranks are never mean-spirited; Alyss just enjoys being mischievous.
Effect on others / “Even in her pouts, he thought his daughter a delightful creature” (Beddor 19). / Alyss’s father says this, but other adults who sometimes find themselves as Alyss’s targets, such as Bibwit Harte, also, find Alyss to be endearing. They appreciate her playfulness and are charmed by her.
Actions / “’It’d be more fun if it had fountains of water coming out of it,’ Alyss said, and immediately the hoop was spurting water from tiny holes all along its surface, the surprised inventor still wiggling to keep it swinging round and round” (Beddor 13). / Alyss has the strongest imagination a seven-year-old has ever had; whatever she thinks becomes a reality. The reader infers that Queen Genevieve and Bibwit worry because Alyss’s powers remind them of Redd’s at her age.
Looks / “How could this beautiful girl with her soft eyes and her black hair styled like the princess’ not be Alyss Heart?” (Beddor 38). / Wonderlanders instantly recognize her as the lovely princess; Since she is beautiful and regal, most people seem to be almost in awe of her.

1. Looking back at the explanations on the STEAL. Based on them, identify an adjective to describe Alyss’s personality for each components of the STEAL. The first three have been done for you.

____naïve______mischievous______ endearing______

2. The following is a writing prompt based upon the STEAL analysis of Alyss: How is Princess Alyss characterized in the beginning of the novel?

Assertion: To answer the writing prompt, you must create an assertion, also known as a topic sentence. First, turn the question into a statement:

In the beginning of the novel, Princess Alyss is characterized …

This is a good start, but it does not answer the question. To answer the question, the writer must identify how Alyss is characterized. Complete the following framed assertion with the three provided adjectives from number one:

In the beginning of the novel, Princess Alyss is characterized as ______, ______, and

______.

3. Evidence: Now that you have an assertion, you need to back it up with textual evidence. Look at the evidence provided in the STEAL; these quotations can be used to support the assertion in an AEC paragraph.

4. Commentary: Next, you need to provide commentary for the textual evidence. Look at the commentary provided in the STEAL; these explanations can be used to justify how the textual evidence backs up the assertion in an AEC paragraph.

5. Conclusion: Finally, the paragraph needs a concluding sentence to emphasize the main idea of the paragraph.

Writing the AEC: Now, take a look at how this paragraph uses the assertion, evidence, and commentary together to create an AEC paragraph.

1. Highlight the assertion in blue.

2. Highlight the evidence in green.

3. Circle the citation and quotation marks for each quote.

4. Highlight the commentary in yellow.

5. Underline the concluding sentence.

In the beginning of the novel, Princess Alyss is characterized as mischievous, endearing, and naive. Alyss loves to play pranks such as “dropping jollybellies from an open window and watching them splat on the guards below” (Beddor 11). Instead of behaving like a proper princess, she prefers getting into trouble with her best friend, Dodge. However, her pranks are never mean-spirited; Alyss just enjoys having fun. Although Alyss is mischievous, her father finds Alyss to be “a delightful creature” (19). Besides her parents, other adults who even sometimes find themselves as Alyss’s targets, such as Bibwit Harte, also, find Alyss to be endearing. They appreciate her playfulness and are charmed by her. Since Alyss is so accustomed to people loving her, she barely questions, “’Where did you come from?’” when a kitten randomly appears as a birthday present for her (41). Alyss is naïve and never suspects that anyone would want to hurt her and her family. She is easily duped into bringing The Cat into the palace. Despite her faults, Alyss is loved by many, but her sheltered life has left her vulnerable to The Catt and his master, Redd.

Part One: Chapters 1-9 Teaching Suggestions