Rhetoric Writing and Literature Co-op 12 (POC Mrs. Ingalls)

[JodyI]

Great work on the Ivan Illych essays!

Before co-op 12, please do the following:

1) Select one of the threads of notes you've been taking on Huck Finn so far (mentally or otherwise), based on the questions in the Huck Finn homework.

2) Formulate a thesis (go from topic, to theme, to thesis as we did in class--include all three in your thesis submission. Be sure the thesis is clearly identified).

Example (I'm picking rather limited, somewhat benign topics, so I don't steal any meaningful options you might be considering):

Topic--loyalty in friendship
Theme--Loyalty can cause a person to endanger their own safety.
Thesis--In Huck Finn, Mark Twain uses the relationship between Huck and Jim to show that loyalty can trump even the instinct of personal survival.

OR

Topic--literary characters (or religion)
Theme--some literary characters change through a story, but others remain constant (or religion can create hypocritical people).
Thesis--In HF, Twain comments on the hypocritical nature of religious people in his portrayal of Miss Watson as a flat/static pious busybody.

At this stage of your learning, your thesis should do three things:
-pull in the author author or the book
-state how he/she portrays
-the theme you're discussing

Example three: In Death of Ivan Illych, Tolstoy uses characters and plot to illustrate that true life is more than appearances and can only be found in honest living and selfless connections with others.
[/color]


3) Send me your thesis for approval by Monday, February 16, 2026.

4) Write a full rough draft (developed intro/conclusion, clear thesis, and supporting paragraphs with ample quotes from the book). You will have a chance to polish your draft into a final, but all the content should be there by co-op 12.