Carman Ainsworth High School out Of the Dust Theme and Literature Essay

Goal

Create a document

Role

Imagine you’re a consultant who has been hired to to give prospective students an overview of the scope of the course.

Audience

Your target audience is students in 11th grade who are preparing to choose their 12th grade English class.

Situation

You have been hired by a school district to describe or illustrate some of the common themes running through the literature of this part of the course. Much of the literature has been concerned with one group or entity infringing on the rights of others, or it has covered the strong connection Americans feel to the land in which they live. Your task is to identify a strong theme and then show how that theme connects the literature you have studied.

Product or Performance

To accomplish this task, you may write an essay, create a slide show presentation, or construct a piece of visual art. Whatever form you choose, the product should clearly illustrate the theme and its connections to the literature in the module. It would be appropriate to see quotes from the literature in all three of these options, and it is necessary that you provide proper attribution for any quoted material. A separate works cited page should accompany the document or project you have created. If you choose the art project, any images used that are not solely created by you should also have an attribution.

Requirements:

If you choose to write an essay, your essay should include the following in a well-organized, well-written report (in your own words):

1. Introductory paragraph that clearly establishes the theme or themes you will be working with
2. Overview of the literature to be discussed as illustration of the theme (title of work, author, brief context of the piece–for example: The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, narrative and social commentary on events occurring during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl era)
3. Thorough discussion of each work of literature and how it connects to the theme, focusing on such elements as figurative language, author’s style of writing (or speaking), any other literary devices or elements
4. Connection to historical context of the time; how does the literary work reflect its time period?
5. Conclusion: connections (if any) to literature or events from other cultures or time periods. For example, is the literary work/theme still relevant today? Why or why not?
6. Works cited page