NAME: _____________________________________________DATE:____________PERIOD:_____
YA Literature/Argumentative Writing
Objective: to show mastery of argumentative writing
Background information: The word HERO is a noun. A hero is defined as:
1. One who is admired and looked up to for valor, achievements, and noble qualities
2. One who performs a particularly courageous act, especially an act that rescues or protects
someone
Argumentative Prompt: Consider the word HERO. Ponder young adult books you have read in the
past year and a half. Focus your attention on the characters, and specifically characters that you
think were heroic. Pick one character from a novel that you think should be named the Top Young
Adult Hero in Literature. In picking a character for this assignment, you need three strong
arguments to support your choice. In addition, you will need to acknowledge that one other character
would be a good recipient of the award. Both characters must be exposed to similar circumstances.
For example, Katniss in The Hunger Games vs. Beatrice in Divergent, or Harry Potter from The
Sorcerer’s Stone vs. Percy Jackson in Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
YOUR Assignment: Write an argumentative essay nominating a character from a book you’ve read
in the past year and a half for the Top Young Adult Hero in Literature award. The essay must
include a beginning, middle and end, and other components of argumentative writing. See outline for
more specific details.
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Writing Process: The following steps must be completed in order.
1. Brainstorm: Select hero and opposing argument hero – character who would be a good
competitor for your selected hero. Remember, with the opposing argument, you must consider
their main point, but discuss why this character is not as heroic as your chosen heroic
character. You MUST use evidence from your character’s story in order to support why
he/she is the most heroic. See brainstorm area on the back of this sheet.
2. Four-Square Argument Chart: Organize ideas and main points in to a four-square argument
chart. Be sure to have at least three bullet points per box. Does not need to be written in
complete sentences.
3. Outline: Fill out the argumentative outline to further organize your argumentative ideas. Your
outline must be signed by the teacher in order to progress to the next step.
4. Rough Draft: Either type or hand write your first draft of the paper.
5. Sentence Fluency Exercise and Transition Check: Follow the sentence fluency exercise to
ensure that you’ve used a variety of sentence starters and sentence lengths. Use the transition
lists provided to make sure you’ve used accurate transitions to make your paper flow easily.
6. Final Draft: Type your final draft using the following format on the back of this paper—
PAPER FORMAT
Left Hand Corner
John Smith (First Name Last Name)
Mrs. Kostellic (Teacher)
Language Arts 1st period (Class Name Period No.)
Date
Times New Roman
12 pt. Font
Creative Title Centered in 12 pt. font of your choice
Your paper needs to be double-spaced in 12 pt. Times New Roman font. You must indent all of your
paragraphs using the ‘tab’ key. Potentially, if you were to start a new paragraph it would look something like
this—
Here is the indented start of a new paragraph. If you have any questions, please refer to a classmate or
Mrs. Kostellic for help.
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Resources for Reference: Great place to find opposing characters!
 http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/04/greatest-girl-characters-young-adultliterature/50746/
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Brainstorm Area: What qualities or characteristics does a hero need to have? What does it
take to be heroic? Fill out the chart below to think of heroes and opposing heroes. Then,
Hero
Opposing Hero
circle your chosen hero and brainstorm heroic qualities/characteristics.
HERO NAME: