Grade 8 ELA Final Exam Essay
During your final, you will actually compose an essay that meets the following requirements:
 Well-developed, grammatically-correct five-paragraph essay
 Original/Creative Title
 Introduction must include:
 Hook
 Context/Background
 Thesis Statement with three clearly-defined components
 Three Body Paragraphs: Each body paragraph consists of:
 Topic Sentence
 Follow CPR:
o Claim: 2 per body paragraph
o Proof: 2 quotes/details from text per body paragraph
o Reflection: 2-5 sentences of reflection/analysis/elaboration per quote/detail
 Concluding sentence at the end of each body paragraph
 Conclusion must include:
 Reinforces/restates thesis
 Summarizes major points
 Leaves reader with a strong takeaway message
 Remember that when you are handwriting an essay, you must underline the titles of novels and put shorter
works, such as short stories, in quotation marks.
I WILL BE CHOOSING THE ESSAY FOR YOU!
1. Racism in To Kill a Mockingbird
“I’m simply defending a Negro—his name’s Tom Robinson” (75). With these words Atticus informs
Scout of his life-altering task of standing up to the prejudice and racism that pervades the sleepy
southern town that was Maycomb, Alabama in the 1930’s. Discuss the effects of racism on Maycomb
citizens such as Tom and Helen Robinson, Calpurnia, Scout, Jem, Dill, Mayella Ewell, or Dolphus
Raymond.
2. Courage in To Kill a Mockingbird
Atticus says to Jem that he wants his son “to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that
courage is a man with a gun in his hand” (112). How is courage defined in this novel? What characters
best exemplify courage? Why? What point does Harper Lee want to make about courage through her
use of these characters?
Of Mice and Men Essay Topics
1. Discrimination in Of Mice and Men
Look at the various examples of discrimination in Of Mice and Men. How does discrimination affect
different characters? How do characters respond to discrimination, and how does it affect their lives,
and the outcome of the story?
2. Friendship/Loneliness in Of Mice and Men
How does Steinbeck portray friendship in Of Mice and Men? How does its presence or absence affect
different characters, in their actions and in their relationships? What does friendship require of people,
and what does it offer them in return?