Definition and Heroism Essay Assignment
8th Grade Language Arts
Heroism Essay
Assignment Due October 9, 2009
Your assignment is to write a multi-paragraph essay that defines your concept of heroism. You will use various strategies of definition (definition by function, example, and negation) to explain your unique opinion on the concept. Steps
Prewriting/Planning
1. Revisit your responses to the Essential Question: What defines a hero?
You may ask yourself, “To what extent or to what degree can a person or an action be heroic?”
2. Next, categorize your ideas on a graphic organizer, and brainstorm details that will support your ideas. Details may come from texts (fiction, nonfiction, film), your own experiences, and historical or current society.
Drafting
3. Introduce your ideas by providing a hook, context, and a thesis (your ideas should move from general to specific). One way to draw your reader into the essay is to use a quotation related to the concept. To contextualize your thesis; you might discuss commonly held beliefs about heroism that do not match your definition. This allows you to point out the weaknesses in those definitions in comparison to yours.
4. Use a variety of definition strategies to define heroism as you draft the body paragraphs of your essay. Consider organizing each paragraph around a different strategy. Remember: using the function strategy demonstrate how heroism functions or operates in the real world. and using the example strategy use examples to help the reader understand your definition. These examples often come from texts. *Paragraphs using the negation strategy explain what something is by showing what it is not. Using negation helps to contrast your definition with others’ definitions.
5. Draft a conclusion that leaves the reader with a final impression about your definition. The conclusion of a definition essay often ends by focusing on the question: “So what?” It
Heroism Essay
Assignment Due October 9, 2009
Your assignment is to write a multi-paragraph essay that defines your concept of heroism. You will use various strategies of definition (definition by function, example, and negation) to explain your unique opinion on the concept. Steps
Prewriting/Planning
1. Revisit your responses to the Essential Question: What defines a hero?
You may ask yourself, “To what extent or to what degree can a person or an action be heroic?”
2. Next, categorize your ideas on a graphic organizer, and brainstorm details that will support your ideas. Details may come from texts (fiction, nonfiction, film), your own experiences, and historical or current society.
Drafting
3. Introduce your ideas by providing a hook, context, and a thesis (your ideas should move from general to specific). One way to draw your reader into the essay is to use a quotation related to the concept. To contextualize your thesis; you might discuss commonly held beliefs about heroism that do not match your definition. This allows you to point out the weaknesses in those definitions in comparison to yours.
4. Use a variety of definition strategies to define heroism as you draft the body paragraphs of your essay. Consider organizing each paragraph around a different strategy. Remember: using the function strategy demonstrate how heroism functions or operates in the real world. and using the example strategy use examples to help the reader understand your definition. These examples often come from texts. *Paragraphs using the negation strategy explain what something is by showing what it is not. Using negation helps to contrast your definition with others’ definitions.
5. Draft a conclusion that leaves the reader with a final impression about your definition. The conclusion of a definition essay often ends by focusing on the question: “So what?” It