In Cold Blood Final Essay
Answer one of the following questions:
1) What point is Capote making about human nature and evil and how does he
convey this point in In Cold Blood?
2) What point is Capote making about justice and punishment and how does he
convey this point in In Cold Blood?
3) What point is Capote making about nature and/or nurture and how does he
convey this point in In Cold Blood?
4) What point is Capote making about human fate and/or free will and how
does he convey this point in In Cold Blood?
Don’t forget the sophistication you have learned in APEL:
Human Nature (bigger picture)
What is the statement he is making? (central claim – thesis – theme statement)
Text specific (smaller picture)
What does he do in the writing ?(the how)
First choose your question. This means you have chosen a topic. From that topic,
you will want to narrow your focus by deciding on one opinion about that topic you
believe Capote is making. This will most likely become the central claim for your
writing.
Second, narrow your focus. To write this essay, you will first need to narrow your
focus. Construct your essay based on one (or slightly more) character(s) or on one
(or slightly more) setting(s) in the text.
Third, choose the text your essay will respond to. You will choose 3-6 sections
from the text to be the basis of your response. Remember, we have talked
extensively about choosing elements from the beginning, middle, and end of a text to
show a comprehensive understanding of a text. So, the sections you choose should
not all be from one section (nor – and this is important – should they be Sparknotes’
Favorite Quotes). To do so will be to restrict your potential. The sections you
choose should show development of the point you will be arguing. Make sure the
sections highlight not only content, but also author’s style. Pull from sections
marked for imagery, sentence structure, juxtaposition, symbolism, etc as well as
content so that you are able to argue how Capote makes his point rhetorically.
To be completed prior to Thursday 5/10
You will type these sections on a piece of paper. Make sure to include the page
numbers for each section. You will turn this in with your final essay.
In Cold Blood Final Essay
Finally, write the essay. Your essay will answer the question you have chosen
based only on the sections you have chosen. You will be graded using the 1-9 AP
grade scale. You will be in the Computer Lab to write this essay, so you may either
type or handwrite the final essay. You will only have 46 minutes to complete this
essay, so make sure you have done all of the thinking before you get to class.
What you may bring with you on Thursday, 5/10
You MUST bring all of your sections typed and ready to submit.
You may e-mail and print these on 5/10, but that will take some of your writing time.
You can bring both your central claim and an outline to class on Thursday 5/10 to
help you write your essay. Your outline can be as extensive as you want.
Tuesday 5/8 and Wednesday 5/9 are work days for you to prepare for this final
essay. You can use the class time to: discuss the novel with others, to read, to write,
and/or to type (if I have the Ipads or if you bring your laptops/ipads/smartphones).
I will be available on both days during class to discuss your central claim and
sections and to give you feedback in response to any specific questions.
Friday 5/11 we begin our review for the APEL exam.
Grade: 125 points. 100 for the essay 25 for the quality of your quotes.