Name: _______________________
Date: _____________ Period: ____
Symbol Essay Outline
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
Use this outline to help guide you in writing your essay. Feel free to add more
sentences and detail to make your essay more interesting. Make sure to rewrite
or type your rough draft.
I.
Introduction
a. Hook or Attention Grabber:______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
b. Title/author and main idea of the story: The Witch of Blackbird Pond
by Elizabeth George Speare is about_______________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
c. Supporting sentences (How does your topic of symbols relate to the
story?): From the story, it is clear that_______________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
d. Thesis statement (What your essay is about): Some of the most important
symbols in the story are______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Introduction Example:
All of us at one point in our lives have felt left out or alone. The Witch
of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth Gearge Speare is a story about a girl named Kit
who is forced to move to Connecticut and live with Puritans. From the story it
is clear that there are many objects that are actually important symbols. In the
novel The Witch of Blackbird Pond three of the most important symbols are the
meeting house that represents Puritan Society, the Charter that represents
Puritan rights and freedom, and finally the Dolphin that represents escape.
II.
Body Paragraphs
a. First Symbol: The first symbol is _________________ that represents
___________________________________________________________
i. Example: One example ___________________________________________
ii. Quote: On page ______ it says________________________________________
iii. Commentary: This shows that_____________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
iv. Example: Another example ________________________________________
v. Quote: On page ______ it says________________________________________
vi. Commentary: Therefore___________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
vii. Concluding sentence: From these examples it is clear that _________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
b. Second Symbol: Another symbol is _________________ that
represents________________________________________________
i. Example: This is apparent _________________________________________
ii. Quote: On page ______ it says________________________________________
iii. Commentary: This shows__________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
iv. Example: Another example ________________________________________
v. Quote: On page ______ it says________________________________________
vi. Commentary: This means__________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Concluding sentence: As you can see_______________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
c. Third Symbol: And finally the last symbol is _________________ that
represents_________________________________________________
i. Example: In one instance __________________________________________
ii. Quote: On page ______ it says________________________________________
iii. Commentary: It is apparent that___________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
iv. Example: In another event _________________________________________
v. Quote: On page ______ it says________________________________________
vi. Commentary: Therefore___________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
vii. Concluding sentence: So _________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Body Paragraph Example:
The first symbol is the meeting house that represents Puritan society. For
example, the meeting house is described as being dull and boring, which is what
Puritan society is like. On page 48 it says, “The Puritan service seemed to her as
plain and unlovely as the bare boards of the meeting house.” This shows that
the meeting house is very similar to the dull Puritan lifestyle. Another example
that the meeting house represents Puritan society is that it is the most
important building in Wethersfield and is located in the middle of the town. On
page 47 it says, “The meeting house stood in the center of the clearing, a square
unpainted wooden structure, topped by a small turret.” Therefore, the fact
that the meeting house is so important to the Puritans is symbolic of their
beliefs and lifestyle. From these examples it is clear that the meeting house is
representative of Puritan society.
III. Conclusion
a. Restate the Thesis Statement: In the novel The Witch of Blackbird
Pond, three important symbols that are mentioned in the book are
_______________________________________________________________
b. Restate Symbol 1 and what it stands for: The first symbol______________
represents ________________________________________________________________
c. Restate Symbol 2 and what it stands for: Another symbol______________
symbolizes ________________________________________________________________
d. Restate Symbol 3 and what it stands for: And the last symbol__________
represents ________________________________________________________________
e. Concluding Statement (Wrap up your ideas, connecting your paper to life
or human nature): ________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Conclusion Example:
In the novel, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, three important symbols that
are mentioned in the book are the meeting house, the Charter, and The
Dolphin. The first symbol, which is the meeting house, represents Puritan
society. Another symbol is the Charter that symbolizes the colonists’ rights and
freedom. And the last symbol is The Dolphin which represents escape from
Puritan society for both Kit and Hannah. Although objects in people’s lives may
seem meaningless, they can actually hold a deeper meaning, such as the symbols
represented in the novel The Witch of Blackbird Pond.