"The Monkey's Paw" final paper

For the past week, we have been studying "The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs.  Our focus has been on how the author creates suspense in his writing.

Students are now beginning their final papers for the year - this essay will count as a test grade in Language Arts.  Since there will only be two test grades in Language Arts this 9 weeks and tests are weighted at 40%, this paper will make up 20% of the final grade for Language Arts this term.

To access the full text of the story online, click here.

Here is the timeline and rubric for the paper:

Timeline
Thesis Statement due:
Thursday, May 3
Planning Sheet/Outline due:
Friday, May 4
Color-Coded Rough Draft due: Tuesday, May 8
Final Paper due:  Friday, May 11

Rubric/Checklist
You will be graded in three areas for a 100 point TEST GRADE: 
Content (50 points)
*Does your thesis statement contain both a subject and an opinion?
*Do you support your 3 claims with adequate and relevant details from the text (two per claim)?
*Do you provide insightful commentary for each example from the text, and is your commentary relevant to your thesis?
*Is the content of each body paragraph directly related to how the author creates suspense in the story?

Organization (35 points)
*Does the content of your paper follow the structure of your planning sheet?
*Is your introductory paragraph shaped like a funnel (not literally…remember…go from GENERAL to SPECIFIC)?
*Do you have a clear pattern of blue, green, yellow in each body paragraph (claim, evidence, commentary)?  You will not color-code your final paper – highlight on your rough draft only
*Do you begin each of your three body paragraphs with a strong topic sentence that introduces your claim?

Mechanics (15 points)
*Are all of your verbs in the present tense?
*Are your direct quotes from the story in quotation marks?
*Is your paper free of spelling mistakes?
*Have you used complete sentences throughout your paper?
*Have you used appropriate punctuation and capitalization throughout your paper?
*Is your paper typed in Times New Roman, size 12 font (including your title?)
*Is your paper double spaced throughout?

 If you can answer YES to all of these questions, CONGRATULATIONS!!  You’ve earned an A+!!!!