3.12 – W ONDERS OF THE W ORLD S PRINGBOARD PAGE : 191 Thesis Writing for Tangerine Objective: Create a paragraph about Paul’s Self Concept Alessandro

W HAT YOU NEED … SpringBoard. Tangerine A Sheet of Paper Pen/Pencil.

W HAT DO I NEED TO KNOW FIRST ? Definition of Self-Concept. Self-Concept is a noun described as the idea or mental image one has of oneself and one's strengths, weaknesses, status, etc.; self-image. To accurately write a paragraph about Paul’s self- concept, you need to first decide how YOU think Paul feels about himself throughout the novel.

Q UESTIONS TO CONSIDER THAT MIGHT HELP YOU DECIDE … On your note paper, write THREE important events Paul has been through in the novel:

N OW, NEXT TO THOSE EVENTS THAT YOU CHOSE … How did this event make Paul feel about himself? Was he sad? Was he happy? Was he dedicated? Motivated? Defeated? Ambitious? Can you think of any others? _________________ (Feel free to search the web for other character traits that might fit Paul in the novel)

N OW THAT YOU HAVE A LIST … You need to pick a one trait that represents Paul’s self-concept that we can see several times in the novel. For Example, If I say that Paul is Confident, I need to come up with THREE situations or events from the story that show the reader that he is Confident.

O N YOUR NOTE PAPER … You need to find evidence from the text to support whatever trait(s) you picked for Paul. These are the REASONS: 1. Paul is confident in the novel when... (this is where I would insert a situation from the book that shows he was confident) Include a page number(s) 2. Evidence can also include setting, his language, actions, actions of others, thoughts, experiences,

N OW THAT WE HAVE ALL OF OUR SUPPORT, WE CAN START OUR PARAGRAPH.. We can come up with our Subject. What are we talking about?? In the novel _______________ by ______________, the character Paul shows the reader he is __________________in many ways by ______________________, ____________________, _______________________. The blanks represent things you need to fill in that are relevant to what YOU chose. An example is on the next page.

A RELATED EXAMPLE... In the movie The Sandlot by Davey Mickey Evans, the main character Scott shows he is timid in many ways by his apprehension to play baseball, his nervousness, and his lack of confidence. Now, write one on your note sheet about the traits you found in Tangerine for Paul. There… we have a solid first paragraph with a thesis that we will prove in the next several paragraphs.

C REATE A TOPIC SENTENCE FOR YOUR FIRST EVENT … Using my example from The Sandlot… The RED is the TOPIC sentence. The black is my support from the book. You can be even more descriptive than what I wrote below. 1. Scott shows that he is timid in the movie when he is apprehensive to play baseball with the group of kids in his neighborhood. In the movie, Scott follows the boys to the ball field, yet he isn’t quite sure if he wants to be involved in the game. His apprehension shows us a lot about Scott’s character, and how he is timid.