By now you should have finished and/or revised/asked questions about your first essay about Of Mice and Men. For that one, I gave you a topic and lots of direction/assistance. That essay is now overdue. Now you will be required to write another essay and my feedback on your first essay will help you to do better on your next one!

This next essay one will involve finding details from the book, but it will also require a fair bit of creativity and insight. This one you will write ON YOUR OWN – I won’t guide you nearly as much. You’ll have to come up with a thesis and an outline/structure on your own. You should do those BEFORE you start writing/researching anything! I will be glad to look over your thesis and outline/structure to see whether you’re on the right track, but it’ll be up to you to ask questions, seek help, and take advice.

Your topic:

Choose one of the main characters from the book and describe how they would act and be treated if they transferred here to St. James Collegiate now. What kind of classes would they take? How would students react? Teachers? What kinds of sports/clubs would they be interested in? You’ll have to really understand the character and respond appropriately, based on what you’ve read. You’ll have to use quotes and references to the book in your essay to back up your ideas. 

You’ll have to write a minimum 5 paragraph essay (you might choose to do more!) on this topic. It needs to be organized and understandable. Remember, you’re writing an essay about the book, not writing a story.

You’ll also have to accurately reflect our school and its culture, and how accepting we are of new/different people, and what the interactions would be like between this new ‘student’ and other students/teachers.

As mentioned before, you’re marked on content (is it clear, understandable, does it make sense, does it answer the question, does it demonstrate a real knowledge/understanding of the book, etc.), format (does it look like the essays that we’ve talked about), and yes, spelling and grammar. 

This is another important assignment that will impact your mark a fair bit, and one that will get you prepared for your final exam, which isn’t all that far away!

Remember, this essay is based on THE BOOK, not the movie! The movie may mislead you a bit!