Happy Holidays!
Today's class was devoted to writing the following in-class essay. If you missed class you will need to complete this assignment as a "take home" essay. I will expect it to be better polished and about four pages long.
The Stranger—Analytical Character Essay
You have read The
Stranger, discussed The Stranger,
loved and hated The Stranger. Now it is time to write about The Stranger.
Specifically, write about Meursault. As we have seen, he is a fascinating
character, sometimes quite upsetting, sometimes admirable, and sometimes just confusing. But you all have feelings about
Meursault. How did you come to have
those feelings? How is the character of
Meursault revealed to us?
As you noticed, Meursault rarely allows us more than the
quickest peek into his heart or mind. Or, more accurately, throughout most of
the book he reveals little about himself, his thoughts and feelings, in a direct
and descriptive way. Rather, Meursault’s
character is largely revealed indirectly.
Assignment: Write
an in-class essay (2-3 pages) about how Camus has Meursault reveal himself
indirectly to the reader through his descriptions of an exterior object or
image. Keep the following in mind:
Ø
Be specific and limited in the object or image
you select to analyze. For example,
writing about Meursault’s character as revealed through his description of the
sea would likely be far more successful than writing about Meursault’s
character as revealed through his description of nature.
Ø
Have a clearly stated thesis. What
is revealed about Meursault’s character?
Ø
Support your thesis with specific facts from the
text, including quotes and page citations.
Ø
Use the model, claim, support, explain
significance, for your body paragraphs
Ø
Discuss how the object or image you have chosen
to analyze is effective at revealing Meursault’s character.
Ø
Consider change.
Meursault seems to change in some ways by the end of the book (while remaining
the same in some other ways). Does the
way he views or relates to the object or image also change? Why or why not? To what purpose?
Remember, you have done a lot of work with this novel over
the past several weeks. That work can
help you develop your thesis and your paper.
Use your notes from discussions and your memory of your reaction to the
Silent Discussion questions to help you decide what is important to you. Use
your sticky notes and your journal to find specific quotes and passages that struck
you. Use your Character Profile to find
those traits about Meursault that were most noticeable. Come prepared with all
of the above plus your book and an outline, graphic organizer, or brainstorming
sheet.
One more thing: don’t summarize! Yes, sometimes you need to summarize a bit
for clarity, but spend most of your time doing analysis (explaining what is
revealed about Meursault and how). Only
use enough summary to place a quote in context.
Your essay will be scored on the State Writing Rubric.
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