Essay Assignment for The Lightning Thief
In The Lightning Thief, Riordan places the setting in modern day United States, and he uses the old
Greek myths brought to life in a modern day tale. In his telling of the story, Riordan may be seen as
commenting on several problems of modern day American society. Write an essay in which you answer
the following prompt:
Use information from both the text and from your knowledge of Greek mythology to explain in what
ways The Lightning Thief comments on problems of modern day American society.
Your essay should have the following 5 paragraphs:
1) An introduction with a thesis statement that answers the essay question.
2) A body consisting of the following three paragraphs: (The absent parental figures will be
discussed in class on Thursday.)
 The author’s purpose in the Lotus Casino in Hotel and how this comments on the problem
of teen video game usage.
 The author’s purpose in Grover’s wish to search for Pan and what is said of Pan and how
this comments on the problem of our environmental crisis.
 The author’s purpose in the absence of parental figures for the demigod children and how
this comments on the problem of households with only one parent, especially the lack of
male role models as seen through both the protagonist, Percy, and the antagonist, Luke.
3) A conclusion that refocuses the thesis statement without restating the thesis as well as
explaining why it should matter about the three problems the author comments upon.
Additional Directions:
 You must skip lines. If you type the essay, you must double space, use 12 font, black ink,
standard margins, and print text like Times New Roman.
 For each of the paragraphs in the body of the essay, you must cite evidence from the text. You
will need the page number the information you are citing comes from. You may paraphrase the
information or use direct quotes, but you should have a mixture of both and both should be
cited with a page number. You will cite the text using parenthetical MLA citation. (Riordan,
page#) No bibliography is required.
 See the scoring rubric that is included on the back side of this assignment sheet. Failure to
follow assignment directions, write legibly, or place your name, class, and date on the paper will
result in a loss of points from the rubric.
 This assignment sheet with the rubric on the back will be turned with the rough draft on the
bottom, then the final copy, and this sheet on top with the rubric facing up. Your name class
and date should be on the draft, the final copy, and the rubric.
Due dates:
 You must have a rough draft in class on Monday, 9/30. You will trade essays with a peer and
must have your proofreading marks and a red pen to make corrections. Failure to have a rough
draft in class on Monday will result in a zero for the class work grade that day.
 The final copy is due 10/4.