Not my best writing, but you'll get the idea.
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Topics |
Themes | Literary Device or Element |
| Racism Segregation Friendship Family Neglect Happiness Healing Communication Unconditional love Death Abandonment Fear Homelessness Isolation Naiveté Literacy Manipulation Selflessness Determination A family can be made of anyone |
There has to be communication between people or groups of people in order to understand one another When you help a physical need, you can also help an emotional need Race does not determine character Everyone wants a place to call home. People are not as simple as black and white Friendship should know no color lines Neither railroad tracks, or national borders, nor streets should limit our ability to treat each other as humans |
Hyperbole Metaphor Simile Conflict Characterization Symbolism Irony Setting Imagery |
Thesis statement
Through ______ (literary element), Spinelli demonstrates that ____________ (theme).
If you're thinking of doing setting, identify how the setting is described. For instance, with Maniac, you would identify all of the places he lives: with Grayson, with the Beales, with the Pickwells, with the McNabbs, in a divided town, even in the zoo
Find evidence in the text that supports descriptions of these settings.
Thesis statement: Through setting, Spinelli demonstrates that we first have to become conscious of racism before we can fight it.
Sample:
Historically, race in the United States has been an issue. From the time whites captured Africans and brought them to this land, this nation has experienced disagreement, strife, and conflict. How ridiculous. We know that genetically, there is no difference; still race has a way of separating Americans. Certainly that can be said for Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee in Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee, a novel about a young white boy who tries and eventually succeeds in crossing color lines. He does this in an interesting way in that Spinelli focuses throughout the text on various places. Ultimately, Spinelli demonstrates through setting, we first have to become concious of racism before we can fight it.
Finding and keeping a family isn't easy for Maniac. He is orphaned at a young age when his parents are killed. He then goes to live with is Aunt and Uncle, but they do nothing but fight. And then, Maniac runs away and he makes a home in a zoo--with buffaloes of all things--in Two Mills. He initally goes to the east end of Two Mills, a town that is divided by race. Indeed, the name of the town suggests division, for the number two coincides with binaries: good/bad, right/wrong, yes/no, life/death. That binary is evident, for Jeffrey mistakenly crosses the street and finds himself in the "wrong" part of town for a young white boy. As he crosses over, he encounters Amanda Beale, a young black girl, who carries a suitcase full of books with her. We soon discover, however, that it makes no difference to Maniac the color of Amanda's skin. In fact, Maniac sees himself in her. The narrator tells us, "he figured she was like him, running away, so he stopped and said 'hi'" (10). In other words, he doesn't see color in the reflection. He sees a kindred soul. And she and her family will eventually invite him--a young white boy--into their home. Nevertheless, "Amanda was suspicious. Who was this white stranger kid? And what was he doing in the East End, where almost all the kids were black?" (10). Immediately, then, the narrator emphasizes the importance of place and division, of black and white, and where one should and shouldn't be.
You would then continue this eassy by describing different places Maniac visits and stays, how he becomes aware of racism, and how he fights it.