Name:
Date:
Period:
Of Mice and Men
By John Steinbeck
READING SCHEDULE
Monday 4/8 – Read Chapters 1 and 2
Tuesday 4/9 – Read Chapter 3
Wednesday 4/10 – Read Chapters 4-5
Thursday 4/11 – Read Chapter 6
NOTE: Please fill out the attached worksheets for every chapter as you read (worth 5 points
each).
PERSUASIVE ESSAY
Over the April vacation, you are being asked to write a four to five paragraph persuasive essay
on the following…
At the end of the novel, George shoots Lennie in the back of the head. George feels he has no
alternative. If he doesn’t kill him, Carlson or Curley might. And if they don’t kill him, he
definitely will go to jail for killing Curley’s wife. In this paper, you are being asked to take a
position on whether or not George should have killed Lennie. Remember, as with any persuasive
essay, you need to provide reasons and evidence. In the second body paragraph, write whether or
not mercy killing or capital punishment is good. Again, make sure you provide a reason. Why
should mercy killing be allowed? Why is it good? How does the novel make this clear? OR Why
is mercy killing bad? And why shouldn’t it be allowed? And how does the novel make this clear?
Paper must be typed and have proper formatting, which includes double-spaced, Times New
Roman, 12 pt. font, 1 inch margins, and a proper heading. In this case, you are permitted to use
first and second person.
DUE MONDAY, APRIL 22nd
PERSUASIVE ESSAY FORMAT
First Paragraph (Introduction):
Attention getter – To catch the reader’s attention… can include any of the following:
• Rhetorical question
• Relevant quote from an outside source
• Relevant quote from the story
• Fact or statistic
• Description of initial response to the work
• Shocking or amusing generalization.
Necessary information
• Author’s full name – John Steinbeck
• Title of story – Of Mice and Men
• Brief plot summary
Thesis Statement:
Your thesis should consist of a clear statement of your position on this issue, and set up a road
map for how you will make this argument in the rest of the paper. It should NOT be a
restatement of the question. It should also be underlined.
Body Paragraphs (2-3):
• Topic sentence: Each paragraph should have a topic sentence. A topic sentence also has a topic
and a focus (limiting idea) that will unify all the information in the paragraph.
• Support: The rest of the paragraph should support your stance using reasons, facts, examples
(personal or otherwise) and so forth.
Final Paragraph (Conclusion):
• Restate, or reword, your thesis – DO NOT USE THE EXACT SAME WORDS.
• Tie it all together. This is not a summary. For example, you might want to remind your reader
how you have shown that they should agree with you.
• Clincher: Try to end your paper with a short sentence that reinforces your argument. This is
like the attention-getter. It should relate back to your attention-getter, and perhaps bring in a new,
wider angle to your argument that your reader can continue thinking about.