About a Boy Essays

British Literature. Fri, Aug 28th, 2009 at 3:47 pm

Themes: About a Boy, Essays, How To, Writing

All:

The format for any essay in my class (and the works cited page) can be found here. How to head your paper is over here.

Read through chapter 20 for Monday. (See the reading schedule for the rest of the week here.)

Third Hour:

Use the following prompt to guide your first essay over the novel. While we have not finished the book, you should have more than enough information to support your claims.

The following quotation comes from John Donne’s “Meditation #17”:

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

In your paper, create and support an argument about how theme of About a Boy compares or contrasts with the theme of John Donne’s “Meditation #17.” Remember that the actions and thoughts of the characters contribute to the theme of the book, so your support will primarily come from the characters’ thoughts and actions.

Put another way, you should do the following:

1. Decide what you believe Donne’s message is in “Meditation #17.”
   1. Write it down so you can reference it as you begin writing your paper.
   2. Remember the short paper you wrote over Donne’s piece? That might help here…
2. Read through your notes over the book, and skim through previous chapters.
   1. Which characters interact like Donne says he does?
   2. Which do not?
   3. Mark passages that answer these questions.
3. If a character changes his or her actions over time, definitely mark the passages that show this.
4. Create an outline.
   1. Write your overall explanation of the characters’ actions in relation to “Meditation #17” at the top. (This would be your thesis.)
   2. Group together similar (or contrasting) scenes together in your outline. (These would be your paragraphs; include as many paragraphs as necessary to make your point.)
5. Use your outline to write a rough draft.
6. Type it.
7. Be proud.
8. Bring it to class Monday.

This may seem like an awful lot, but break it down into manageable parts. For example, do #1-4 Saturday morning and #4-5 Sunday afternoon, and edit it as you type it Sunday night.

Fifth Hour:

Follow the format guidelines at the top of this page; bring your rough drafts to class Monday.

As always, email or post questions below.

8 Responses to “About a Boy Essays”

1. lezleigh marshall says:

   August 30, 2009 at 12:28 pm

   so, im steadily going through all this madness of a list, but as a side note i have never been taught to write a essay..
   union is a horrible school with a miniscule curriculum, so hopefully my rough draft isn’t an embarrassment.

2. JStallings says:

   August 30, 2009 at 1:13 pm

   Madness? Is it confusing, or just long?
   Don’t be embarassed over your writing. This class is about making mistakes and learning from them. Do you best, and I’ll show you how to make your best even better.

3. Samantha Tompkins says:

   August 30, 2009 at 1:37 pm

   Would it be too much if I use a lot of comparisons with “About A Boy” and “I Am A Rock”? Because I have a lot of ideas how to compare both of them together!

4. JStallings says:

   August 30, 2009 at 2:23 pm

   Sounds good to me!

   • Billy M Johnnson says:

     August 30, 2009 at 8:57 pm

     your going to hate me because i like wrote 3 pages of essay about how i got to where i am now…. so yea. I cant really even shorten it either so just wondering also if were suppose to double space?

     • JStallings says:

       August 30, 2009 at 9:02 pm

       No worries! Definitely double-space. Check the links at the top of the post for the essay format.

5. Aubri Settle says:

   August 31, 2009 at 3:41 pm

   umm… on the peer editing im still confused about. do we have to incorporate what they feel is a needed change to the paper or do we just leave it and print off a new one for you to look at?

   • JStallings says:

     August 31, 2009 at 3:46 pm

     Make any changes you feel are necessary. Hopefully the process showed you a few things you might have overlooked. You will turn all drafts in on Wednesday.