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M‌‌‍ain Focus for the Traditional Essay Prompt How does the novel follow, or deviate,
from the monomyth format (Hero's Journey)? Some things to consider: 12 Steps of the
Hero's Journey Rupert's journey Julia's journey Other characters: the unicorn, the
dragon, Rupert's family, the demons and goblins, etc. Hero vs Anti-hero Formatting for
the Essay: Introduction: Your introduction can act as a stepping point, a place for you to
just start writing, but you need to remember to come back to it and fix it. Make it the best
“here is what is about to happen” paragraph that you can. Introductions should follow
this formula: Start with a Hook: your hook can be anywhere from a sentence long to a
few sentences long. It can be a quote, a fact, an anecdote (short story relating to the
topic), or even a rhetorical question (you ask of the reader, but don’t forget to answer it).
Background/Context: you want to give a brief look into your topic. Introduce your short
story title (written “in quotes”), and your author’s name (first and last name). You will
also want to bring up the literary criticism that you are focusing on. You are taking a few
sentences to tell you readers about what you will be discussing, without saying “I will be
discussing.” Think of it like a trailer for a movie, or the summary on the back of a book: a
hint of what is to come. Main Idea, aka a thesis: your last sentence should be your main
idea of the essay, otherwise known as a thesis. Don’t let that word intimidate you. I refer
to your main idea(s) as a “working thesis,” as it can change as you write. Your ideas can
shift, and you may need to write a new thesis. Go for it! Make sure that the last
sentence of your Introduction is your main idea- your thesis- that makes the Main Focus
of the essay clear. The thesis of your paper is very important: it can help you create a
focused argument and give your reader a road map so she/he doesn’t get lost in the
sea of points you are about to make. As in any paper, you will want to replace vague
reports of your general topic with something more detailed and specific; to get your
thesis there, ask the obvious question: “So what?" Body Paragraphs: You want to be
sure that you are covering your argument in a logical way. This is your rhetorical choice-
how will your lay out your argument? The best way to do so is to leave your most
important, or strongest pieces of evidence, for the last body paragraph. Lead up with
your points and finish strong. To use a baseball metaphor, you have Paragraphs on first
and second base. You want to make sure your Paragraphs can round the bases and
run their points home. To do that, your strongest Paragraph is up last, waiting to hit that
home run so everyone can finish the essay strong and win the rhetorical game. Your
Logos: Don’t assume your readers think like you do. You saw something worth writing
about. Maybe they never saw what you did. Make your writing clear by explaining the
importance of your statements. No matter what you discuss, be sure you answer WHY,
HOW, SO WHAT, WHO CARES to make your statements become analysis. If you
make an argument and don’t follow it up by answering one, or more, of those capitalized
words, you’re leaving part of your logic out (think back to enthymemes vs the entire
syllogism in the Rhetoric PowerPoint). See the "Writing Tips and Tools" page and the
"MC Writing Center: Brainstorming/Outlining an Essay" page under the Helpful Content
module for more inspiration on writing and organizing (logos). Topics: To make it
through, to give yourself enough space to talk about your ideas, and to not get hung up
on the length of your paragraphs, divide your ideas into Topics. Each Topic can then
result in one, or multiple, body paragraphs. That way you have time (and space) to
develop your ideas, rather than trying to fit it all into one body paragraph. Only, in this
case, you will need more than three body paragraphs to make the required page length:
instead of 3, aim for 6-8. To do this, you need to think of Topics for your Body
Paragraphs. Each Topic will have Points under them, with the Points making up a
couple Body Paragraphs themselves. EX: Essay Main Focus: Traditional American
Sports Topic 1: Football Point (Paragraph) 1: When It Started/How to Play Point
(Paragraph) 2: Teams/Fans Topic 2: Baseball Point (Paragraph) 3: When It
Started/How to Play Point (Paragraph) 4: Teams/Fans Topic 3: Point (Paragraph) 5:
Impact on American Culture Topic Sentences: Each body paragraph needs to be self-
contained. This means your you should have one main idea per paragraph The first
sentence of each paragraph should give the m‌‌‍ain idea; this is your topic sentence. If
you find that your paragraph is more than a full page when you double-space it, then
you have another topic in there somewhere. It may be so closely related to the one you
started with that you weren’t even aware that you changed your topic. Transition
Sentences: Once you have your paragraph finished and wish to move on (or see that
you need to split one paragraph into two), you need to make sure your ideas connect.
This is your transition. The last sentence of your paragraph should give a lead up to
what comes next, like a bridge that connects Point A to Point B. Your readers need to
be able to follow your logos, so this is very important. Conclusions: Your ending should
be a wrap up of your main ideas. It is a way to remind your readers about the examples
you gave and their importance to your argument. Do NOT give new information, nor use
quotes, in your conclusion. This is the end. You want to include this, do it in your body
paragraphs and then reference it in the conclusion. If you’re having trouble writing your
conclusion, try working one paragraph at a time. Read one paragraph and then
summarize the main idea (without copying your topic sentence) in two-three sentences.
Guidelines: Avoid ‘I’ and focus on the text itself. No ‘In my opinion’ and ‘I believe’ type of
phrases. Also, avoid the fallacy of assuming the author meant to do something; stick
with “the text reveals” and “the narrator” or “the speaker in the poem” type of wording.
Titles reveal something about what is being talked about, so no “Research Essay” as
your assignment’s title. It should also include your poem’s title. Example: The Negative
Impact of Culture in To Kill a Mockingbird Include quotes from the play itself to enhance
your argument(s). When it comes to the body paragraphs, you want to be as specific as
possible. The biggest questions with analysis are WHY and SO WHAT. If you notice
something, what else does it tell you? Does it create an image in the mind? Is it used to
place emphasis? This is your main analysis; deconstruct the novel and show your
readers what it has to say. MLA Formatting: Left Header (only on first page)- Your
Name, Professor Lewis, English M01B, Due Date; Right Marginal Header (on every
page)- Last Name Page #; Times New Roman font; 12-point font (even the Right
Marginal Header), 1-inch margins, Double Spaced Page Length: 6-10 pages total; Work
Cited Page (does not count toward the page length) Secondary Sources and Citations:
For this essay, you will be REQUIRED to utilize credible, secondary sources. This
means you will have to look up information for help with your Main Focus. This could be
anything from something specific to the novel itself, the Hero's Journey, or to the lens
you are working through. You are required to have 2-5 secondary sources in this essay.
See the "MC Finding and Using Sources" written by the MC Writing Center for
suggestions in finding your own Main Focus Question, planning your Topic ideas, and
searching for credible sources in various ways. See the "Doing Research" page for
understanding credible sources vs the ones you should be avoiding. See the Mc Library
pages "Popular and Scholarly Sources" for information on what kind of secondary
sources you can look through and "Where do I find...?" for information on how to use
the library databases to find any scholarly articles (should you choose to use them). See
the "Citations" page for more information on how to cite sources in an essay and on a
Work Cited page. After you have gone through and made some analysis progress in
Week 13, you will be asked to find secondary sources during Week 14 and Week 15.
Those weeks will have multiple pages on what it means to find and use credible
sources, focusing on keywords in searches, and keeping track of your sources. Avoid
plagiarizing! The best way to get this done is to keep track of what your thoughts are vs
what you learned somewhere else. If you did not know it before reading the novel, you
cite the novel (this is your primary source). Any thoughts/insights you take from the
book are your own; these contribute to your authorial voice. Any information you get
outside of the novel, from site, articles, essays, journals, texts, interviews, tweets,
videos, etc. must be cited as a source- both in your essay and on a Work Cited page.
Failure to cite both in you essay and on a Work Cited page will result in plagiarism. This
will get you a zero for the essay grade. Any student who decides to have someone else
write their paper (be it someone you know or a paper bought from someone you don't
know) will be ‌‍subject to not only failing the essay, but the entire course as well.