“Nethergrave” and “A Sound of Thunder”
Unit 4 Portfolio: Writing Critically
Which is the better Science Fiction story: “Nethergrave” or “A Sound of Thunder”?
For this paper, you get to be the critic! I want you to pretend it is your job to read each story (“Nethergrave” and “A Sound of Thunder”) and to provide the public (me!) with a detailed, well-written, and logical argument about which story is better.
Full heading at left margin—MLA format
Centered, creative title
Double-spaced, 12 font, Times New Roman
5 total paragraphs/ 2 pages—Standard
4 total paragraphs/1 page—Foundations Level
Intro should include a bolded thesis that clearly states which story is better and why. Intro should name the stories (in quotation marks) and their authors. You should not say, “I think that this story is better.” Leave yourself out of it. Just make your points and prove them.
3 Body paragraphs should include italicized transitional words in each topic sentence. (2 body paragraphs for Foundations Level students) Each body paragraph should name one story element that shows your chosen story’s superiority over the other one. Each body paragraph should be filled with specific story details that illustrate how your chosen story embodies that element and how the other story does not, or how the other story does not embody that element as well as the chosen story does. Each body paragraph should be unified around one story element that you are comparing and contrasting. Choose three story elements from the list below. Construct a body paragraph about each of your choices.
Setting – How realistic/unrealistic it is, how well the reader can relate to it, how it’s described (detailed, vaguely), how much a reader might want to “go” there—figuratively speaking Descriptive Passages--Does one story have more than the other? Does one story have better descriptive passages than the other?
Characterization – Who the characters are, how they are described (directly or indirectly), how well the reader
Which is the better Science Fiction story: “Nethergrave” or “A Sound of Thunder”?
For this paper, you get to be the critic! I want you to pretend it is your job to read each story (“Nethergrave” and “A Sound of Thunder”) and to provide the public (me!) with a detailed, well-written, and logical argument about which story is better.
Full heading at left margin—MLA format
Centered, creative title
Double-spaced, 12 font, Times New Roman
5 total paragraphs/ 2 pages—Standard
4 total paragraphs/1 page—Foundations Level
Intro should include a bolded thesis that clearly states which story is better and why. Intro should name the stories (in quotation marks) and their authors. You should not say, “I think that this story is better.” Leave yourself out of it. Just make your points and prove them.
3 Body paragraphs should include italicized transitional words in each topic sentence. (2 body paragraphs for Foundations Level students) Each body paragraph should name one story element that shows your chosen story’s superiority over the other one. Each body paragraph should be filled with specific story details that illustrate how your chosen story embodies that element and how the other story does not, or how the other story does not embody that element as well as the chosen story does. Each body paragraph should be unified around one story element that you are comparing and contrasting. Choose three story elements from the list below. Construct a body paragraph about each of your choices.
Setting – How realistic/unrealistic it is, how well the reader can relate to it, how it’s described (detailed, vaguely), how much a reader might want to “go” there—figuratively speaking Descriptive Passages--Does one story have more than the other? Does one story have better descriptive passages than the other?
Characterization – Who the characters are, how they are described (directly or indirectly), how well the reader