“ The Most Dangerous Game” Essay
(copy this!)
This will be 4 paragraphs: an intro, 2 body paragraphs, and
a conclusion
Topic: What are Rainsford’s 2 strongest character traits
AND how do they affect his situation?
Rules for initial thesis statement:
1. Author, character, and “title of story” must be
included.
2. Your two best traits must be in it
3. NEW: you must tell what these two traits help him
ultimately do.
Sample Thesis Statements
What was Tom Benecke trying to do in “Contents of
the Dead Man’s Pockets” ?
What skills did he use to accomplish this?
Sample thesis: In “Contents of the Dead Man’s
Pockets,” by Jack Finney, Tom Benecke’s
DESPERATION and STRENGTH enable him to break
through the window and change his life.
Samples, continued…
What was Mr. Underhill trying to do, ultimately?
What skills did he use to accomplish this?
Sample thesis: The false wizard Mr. Underhill, in
Ursula Le Guin’s “The Rule of Names,” employs
magical powers as well as his cunning nature in order
to maintain the secret of his true identity and hide
his treasure.
Samples, continued…
What was General Zaroff’s goal and what traits did
he use to accomplish this?
Thesis:
In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell,
the nefarious General Zaroff demonstrates his
arrogance and immoral nature as he maintains
dominance of Ship-Trap Island.
What is the difference between a thesis
statement and a topic sentence?
Thesis statements are for the whole essay; topic
sentences begin each paragraph, but are related to
one element of the overall thesis.
So, the thesis is a roadmap to your whole paper,
while the TS is a roadmap to that paragraph.
Each of these Topic Sentences sets up a body
paragraph w/a specific goal in mind.
ALL sentences in your paragraph will relate back to
the TS. The paragraph will follow the 8
sentence, 2 chunk format.
Sample Topic Sentences:
1. Mrs Mitty is a domineering woman who likes to
be in control.
2. Walter Mitty craves respect from the world
around him.
3. Mr. Underhill undergoes a test of endurance in
his struggle to conceal his true identity.
4. General Zaroff demonstrates his ruthlessness
while hunting Rainsford on the island.
Some basic things to remember
-You must have the Anchoring the CD’s chart done
before you can do the next step, which is the
outline
-You are using one trait per body paragraph; so
both traits will be in your thesis statement, but
each TS will focus on only one trait.
-We are fleshing out the body paragraphs before
we do the opening and closing paragraphs.
-All CD’s must be direct quotes, w/proper MLA
format and TLQ