This I Believe

Your This I Believe essay is due at the beginning of class on Thursday Jan 14th. You will need two copies, one for me and one for you. As this is a radio show staple, it will be presented aloud. Here are the requirements adapted from the This I Believe submission page (I encourage you to submit them to This I Believe if you wish).

Keep the following in mind when you write your essay:

1.    Limit your essay to 350-500 words.

2.    Describe an event that shaped your beliefs or a person who inspired them.

3.    Avoid sermons and editorials—no soapbox declamations, please!

4.    Read more of the This I Believe essay-writing tips.

You can peruse multiple examples at http://thisibelieve.org. Often the ones put on the radio are a bit better, but not necessarily so.

Andrea Kang's (Class of 2009) This I Believe essay. They re-posted it from its original posting so all of the comments are gone, but her essay is there.

The Crucible Final Essay

Assignment sheet with rubric

Literary Analysis Essay: The Crucible

Directions

Choose 1 (ONE) of the following topics and write a complete, organized essay (introduction, body, conclusion) using correct MLA format. Use complete sentences and balance your evidence with analytical commentary (it will help many of you to use the CD/CM/CM format to ensure this). Provide SPECIFIC DETAILS from the text!  

Essay Choices

1. The Crucible is an argument made by an author in a particular time and place. In a well-written essay, examine the methods Miller uses to make his argument to the American people when it opened on Broadway on October 10, 1953. Make sure you discuss specific elements and passages of the play to support your analysis.
2. From the play The Crucible, select an important character that is a villain. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze the nature of the character's villainy and show how it enhances meaning in the work. Be sure to include specific textual evidence.
3. Analyze how one or more characters in The Crucible deals with adversity. Give specific reasons for your choice and use concrete evidence from the play to support your assertion.
4. Select either HYSTERIA or CRUCIBLE and explain through specific references to the play how important these terms are to the understanding of Miller’s play. You will need to have a dictionary definition as part of your answer. Make sure you discuss specific elements and passages of the play to support your analysis.
5. There are many themes that Miller attempts to explore in The Crucible. Select one (1) of them and discuss what his insight into human nature and life is as it relates to the way he presents the theme in The Crucible. (Hatred, jealousy/envy, lust for power, hypocrisy, evil, prejudice/narrow-mindedness, greed are some examples of topics you could develop a theme from.)
6. Discuss how the girls were like wolves in sheep’s clothing and how the citizens of Salem were blind little lambs, willing to be taken to slaughter. Again be sure to use text evidence to support your point of view.

Requirements

• Analytical claim (thesis)
• 3 direct quotations and 3 indirect quotations, cited in MLA format
• Approximately 450 words (give or take 10% – 405-495 words); MLA format (see website)
• When you turn in your essay, you MUST include the following:

1. Final Draft on the top
2. Rough draft
3. Prewriting
4. Rubric on the bottom

Points: 80