English 12

Wow - things are moving fast. Due today is your DEJ for The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. Considering how fast the class needs to move, we're going to progress to our first composition. For our first composition, we'll be working with some simple criteria:

1. Thesis Statement: Declare your position clearly. What will you prove? Respond directly to the prompt. This belongs at the end of your introduction.
2. Body paragraphs support a point and provide evidence. See below.

There are several ways to use evidence to your advantage. One effective strategy is to use the below sentence pattern - and you can repeat it as often times as you need to make sure each point is sufficiently supported. In an essay, once you have made your point for the paragraph, you can repeat sentence 2 and sentence 3 if you feel you need further evidence.

Example of a body paragraph:

Sentence 1: Make your point.

Sentence 2: Evidence.

Sentence 3: Connect your point with the evidence (even if it's obvious).

Sentence 4: Evidence

Sentence 5: Connect your point with the evidence.

In this example, you have two pieces of evidence to support the main point. This is usually plenty for a body paragraph.

    3. Conclusion. Restate your thesis in different words. Review the findings in your composition. For your final sentence, answer this question: What have we learned about ourselves as a result of this new reading of Omelas?

    4. Writing and Grammar: Check your grammar and spelling!

---------- 

We'll be writing about allegory in Omelas. Here are a couple topics to chose from:

• Our Imagination as a vehicle for Complicity: As the narrator invites the audience to create an image of Omelas, we become complicit in the moral consequences of its greatest crime: the agreement to allow a child to continue suffering in order for everyone else to be happy. Think about what this allegory represents. Considering an allegorical reading, do you agree with Le Guin's claim?
• Coming of Age and the Loss of Innocence: All children between 8 and 12 learn about the child in the basement. At this discovery, the narrator states that everyone is disgusted and horrified at first. How might the contrast of childhood and adulthood (or at least puberty), be represented through the coming of age in Omelas?