1. A Summer of Kings Essay Get ready to write!

2. As we complete our study of our class novel, each student will write an essay about a topic presented in the book. You will have choice in the specific topic of the essay. Your essay will be graded for these qualities: thoroughness, organization, clarity of thought, tone and word choice, as well as idea support, smoothness, editing, and creativity. It is 25 points in the major grade category.

3. Choose one of the following topics: Girls’ sports in school (Esther can’t be on a cross country team even though she is a good runner – there weren’t many girls’ teams in schools in 1963) – Why do sports matter? Why should young women be involved in school athletics? Why is it important that schools offer girls’ teams? The power of writing (Esther and Monsieur Vichy have challenged each other to write a ‘good’ play; one of Pip’s hobbies is writing letters to pen pals all over the world) – Why is writing an important skill? What benefits does it have? How does it connect us? Family relationships (Esther clearly has difficult family relationships with her parents, her sister, her brother, and her aunt in the book) – How do family relationships make us who we are? Why is family important? Why should families try to understand their family members? The power of protest (Esther has her ‘moment of change’ at a rally for civil rights; she studies the work of Martin Luther King, Jr.; King-Roy attended a march in Alabama) – How do rallies and protests make change in the world? Why should people express themselves through public protests? What difference do they make?

4. More topics… Race relations and civil rights (King-Roy had his ‘moment of change’ at a civil rights march; racism and prejudice is a major theme throughout the novel; Esther ‘goes on strike’ demanding her own civil rights) – Why is it important that we rid society of prejudice? Maybe you could explore three ways we can make our society less prejudiced. Competition (Esther races with Pip on a run; Sophia ‘competes’ for a part in a play; Pip and Esther both have ‘competitors’ in their ‘romantic’ lives – Pip has to compete with King-Roy for Esther and Esther has to ‘compete’ with Randy) – How is competition sometimes a positive agent for change? How can we be better people by facing our opponents? Are there ways we can be sure competition is healthy rather than hurtful? Or: how is competition hurtful? Question authority (the protests and marches try to make positive change; Esther confronts her parents and other characters about how they treat her; even Stewart makes choices that go against his parents’ wishes) – Why is it sometimes important and valuable to question the policies of an authority? How does positive change arise when we question what the folks in power believe? Or you can come up with another topic and get it approved by Ms. C

5. Step #1: Thesis Statement A thesis statement is a sentence that comes at the end of your introduction. It tells your SUBJECT, POSITION, and THREE SUBTOPICS. Write a thesis statement for the essay (a sentence that tells your main idea). The thesis should give the topic, the position (opinion), and the three reasons. Make sure your thesis statement is parallel in structure – that means that the three subtopics are written in the same way.

6. Some example parallel thesis statements …. Example: Young women should be encouraged to participate in sports because it gives girls confidence, helps them be strong and healthy, and teaches them skills for life. Example: Writing is a valuable activity because it develops our thought processes, allows us to get our feelings out, and allows us to communicate with others. NOT a parallel example: Racism needs to stop today because it is unfair to everyone, it shows people’s ignorance and hatred, and holds people back from being the best they can be.

7. Step #2: Topic Sentences Once you have your thesis statement, you can plan out the rest of your essay. Do this by planning three topic sentences. For each of your subtopics, write a sentence that explains the subtopic in general terms. These three sentences will be your topic sentences – each of your body paragraphs will start with one of these sentences.

8. Step #3: Developing support Plan the support for your three reasons. Each reason will be a well-developed paragraph, so give plenty of support. Make the support specific. You can give examples to show your points. Prove to the reader that what you are saying is true.

9. Step #4: Putting it all together Once you have your thesis, topic sentences, and support planned out, you can plug it all into an outline format Ms. C will provide. And then once you have an outline to work from, you are ready to draft your essay!