After you choose your topic.....  Introduction:  Step 1.Hook your readers with an attention grabbing opening  Step 2. Connect “hook” to your topic.  Be sure to include the title, author of the novel, and genre.  It is a good idea for this sentence to be a miniature summary that points your reader to your claim.  Include three or more points/reasons that you will argue in your essay  Step 3. Claim This is what you are trying to prove.  Use the wording from the question to write your claim/thesis statement.  State your three or more points/reasons that you will argue in your essay if you did not do this in the previous sentences.  State your claim/thesis without using I.  Please copy everything in green! Informative/ Literary essay for The Pearl

 Hook – Grab the reader’s attention/get them interested in what you are about to write!  SAMPLE Prompt: 'Is Kino a hero or fool?' I will be arguing that he is a hero  Strategy 1: Make general comments about the topic you have chosen:  Example: In Literature, as in life, characters and people are often faced with tough decisions. In our finest moments, our decisions can turn us into heroes! Other times, such choices can make us foolish and can have a negative impact on our lives. Hook Strategies - Please copy everything in green!

 Strategy 2: Use a famous quote regarding the topic from a credible source:  Example: "True heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life, in whatever shape they may challenge us to combat. " Napoleon 1  Strategy 3: Use an arresting sentence to shock your reader in regard to your topic.  Example: In the novella, The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, a father’s foolishness triggered the death of his only son. Hook Strategies - Please copy everything in green!

In Literature, as in life, characters and people are often faced with tough decisions. In our finest moments, our decisions can turn us into heroes! Other times, such choices can make us foolish and can have a negative impact on our lives. In the novel, The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, Kino is a great example of a character that is faced with tough decisions. Kino is a hero for the tough choices he was forced to make because he went to extreme limits to ensure that his family was safe from attackers, intruders, and trackers. Ultimately, it was Kino’s unwavering desire to build a better life for his family that makes him a true hero. Sample Introduction

"With great power comes great responsibility" is moral code that is the downfall of man. In the novella, The Pearl, by John Steinbeck, Kino acquires the key to unlock his social station, but murder, illness, and death stand in his way after the acquisition of the pearl. Although at first the pearl appeared to be the key to a better life, it was in fact the key to Coyotito's coffin. The pearl was truly responsibly for the disease that spread itself within Kino's life that left illness, domestic violence, and death in its wake. Sample Introduction II Body 2 Body 3 Body 1