Prompt Research Paper: The Pentagon Papers

In June 1971, the New York Times began publishing material from what came to be known as “The Pentagon Papers.” The material was part of a 47-volume study by the Department of Defense that was labeled Top Secret, and related to American’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The papers were given to the newspaper by a man named Daniel Ellsberg, who had as a civilian employee of the DoD had worked on the research for the study in 1967, when it was compiled.

Ellsberg said his expose was a matter of conscience; that he could no longer know about the lies and not do something about the situation. The impact on the country of Ellsberg’s leak was sensational. The nation was tired and injured by the war. Thousands of Americans had been killed and millions of Vietnamese lives had been sacrificed. Billions of dollars had been poured into the fight. The Papers showed that most of the stated reasons for US involvement were lies.

The Papers revealed that the U.S. had expanded its war with bombing of Cambodia and Laos and made unauthorized coastal raids on North Vietnam. None of this had been acknowledged by the government or reported by media in the US. The most damaging revelations in the papers revealed that four administrations, from Truman to Johnson, had misled the public regarding their intentions regarding Vietnam. The U.S. wanted to exploit Southeast Asian resources, and to contain China and Russia from influencing the region. The administration challenged the publication of the papers. Eventually a US Senator opposed to the war read 4,100 pages into the Congressional Record to make sure they could not be missed, and Times went ahead with publication.

After a government challenge was defeated by the Supreme Court - a crucial victory for freedom of the press - the Times went public. As a result, Ellsberg was charged with espionage, conspiracy, and theft, and faced 115 years in jail if convicted. In 1973, after the government’s lies were thoroughly exposed, the charges against Ellsberg were dropped.

In this paper, you must research the Pentagon Papers. What were they? Discover what they exposed, and why was the information so controversial. Then, based on what your research tells you, decide if you think Ellsberg did the right thing. You must base your opinion on your research.Keep in mind that recently an NSA contractor named Edward Snowden did essentially the same thing with respect to government spying on citizens around the world and at home. He is currently in exile in Russia, because he'll be arrested and tried if he comes home to the U.S.

Facts about your research paper:

1. This research paper should present a thesis that is specific, manageable, provable, and contestable—in other words, the thesis should offer a clear position, stand, or opinion that will be proven with research.   You should analyze and prove your thesis using examples and quotes from a variety of sources.  
2. You need to research and cite from at least five sources.  You must use at least 3 different types of sources.  At least one source must be from a library database. At least one source must be a book, anthology or textbook. At least one source must be from a credible website, appropriate for academic use.
3. The paper should not over-rely on one main source for most of the information. Rather, it should use multiple sources and synthesize the information found in them.
4. This paper will be approximately 2000 words in length, not including the Works Cited page, which is also required.  (use the word count function to check the length) The Works Cited page does NOT count towards length requirement.  
5. You must use MLA format for the document, in-text citations, and Works Cited page.
6. You must integrate quotations and paraphrases using signal phrases and analysis or commentary.  
7. You must sustain your argument, use transitions effectively, and use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
8. our paper must be logically organized and focused.

REVISED Prompt, Essay 3: How to Tell a True War Story

English 103
Essay 3: “How to Tell a True War Story”
Mr. Tompkins
April 29, 2015

The Things They Carried is a work of fiction set during the Vietnam War. It’s a war story, one that’s so believable that a reader unconsciously reads it as a piece of non-fiction. The chapter “How To Tell a True War Story” - despite its title - is definitely not a by-the-book explanation of how to share the facts of wartime experience. Instead, it creates a company of young American soldiers who remember examine, bend, boast, invent, mourn, worry, and argue about their experiences. The stories they share are entertaining, ambiguous, heartbreaking, bitter, and bursting with life. Truth and lies and right and wrong turn out to be as elusive as the relationship between feelings and facts.

Near the end of the chapter, you’ll find the following paragraphs:

“To generalize about war is like generalizing about peace. Almost everything is true. Almost nothing is true. At its core, perhaps, war is just another name for death, and yet any soldier will tell you, if he tells the truth, that proximity to death brings with it a corresponding proximity to life…

“Mitchell Sanders was right. For the common soldier, at least, war has the feel - the spiritual texture - of a great ghostly fog, thick and permanent. There is no clarity. Everything swirls. The old rules are no longer binding, the old truths no longer true. Right spills over into wrong. Order blends into chaos, love into hate, ugliness into beauty, law into anarchy, civility into savagery. The vapors suck you in. You can't tell where you are, or why you're there, and the only certainty is the absolute ambiguity. 

In war you lose your sense of the definite, hence your sense of truth itself, and therefore it's safe to say that in a true war story, nothing much is ever very true.”

Write a 700-1000 word essay, using “How To Tell a True War Story” to examine the role of storytelling in The Things They Carried. Use the section quoted above as the launching pad for your paper. With those paragraphs in mind, ask yourself what we learn about war from the chapter’s stories: 

-Rat Kiley’s letter to Lemon’s sister

-Mitchell Sanders’s story - second-hand, since he wasn’t there - about the six-man patrol into the mountains

-Sanders’s additions to the story.

-The “drop dead” moral of the story: nobody’s listens (ask yourself: was there anyone in the world more isolated and insignificant than a grunt in the jungle of Vietnam) 

-The death of Curt Lemon - the narrator admits he’s told it many times with many different versions - a story about two boys playing catch in the sunlight, followed by sadistic, cruel payback. 

Use MLA formatting and citation standards.

April 29: Outline and write thesis statement

May 4: Limited discussion of rough drafts/progress

May 6: Paper due. Deliver your paper via turnitin.com

MESSAGE 4/28 to students (Tuesday night)

Message to students, Eng 103  April 28

Students, 

I said I’d have the prompt for our next essay available by dinner time tonight. I’m running a bit behind schedule, so please give me a bit more time.

When I finish, I will post it and also email it to you at the address you gave to school when you registered.

Sorry for the delay, I hope to have it finished in a couple of hours (it’s a little before 6 pm now). Thanks, I’ll see everyone tomorrow.

Mr. Tompkins

Question for Reading Presentation Book IV

The Gods are particularly meddlesome in Book IV of The Iliad. Describe how Zeus and Hera argue about the war at the start of the book. Then note what happens as things unfold, where the important and lesser gods all try to influence the fate of one side or another.

Prompt, Essay #2: Gods and Men in The Iliad

Gods and Men in Books I-IV of The Iliad.

The gods play a crucial role in The Iliad. These Olympian gods stir up trouble, they play favorites, and they sometimes scheme, trick, and lie.  They have passions, desires, and intense rivalries with each other. They often seem to regard mortals as so many chess pieces in the games Gods play. They are most predictable when considering - and being part of - the affairs of their mortal sons and daughters, but even then their powers can be thwarted and their selfish interests frustrated. Mortals regard the gods as powerful, but they rarely count on them for anything. Mortals might appeal to the gods’ sense of right and wrong or fair play, but those standards apply more to humanity than to the gods. 

Using Books I-IV in The Iliad, examine the role of the gods in the confrontation between Agamemnon and Achilles. The gods had favorites, and they played favorites. The made deals, they lied, and they changed their minds. Meanwhile, the Trojans and the Greeks had to play the hands they were dealt - even when they couldn't see all the cards. Discuss the relationship between gods and men. Examine the gods’ behavior as they argued or colluded with each other, and discuss what they did to interfere (or not) in affairs of man. Examine how mortals on both sides of the war tried to influence the gods in order to gain advantage, and how the gods responded.

Respond to this prompt in a 700-100 paper, using specific details from the text to prove your point (your citations must note the book and line number). Use MLA format standards.

Book II and III Reading Presentation Questions for April 8

Book II: Write a paragraph discussing how Agamemnon's speech in which he tells the Greek warriors to cut and run backfired. Discuss what was his intention, what happened, and why that happened.

Book III: Homer tells us that Paris was hated by the Trojans. Why was he hated? If he was indeed the cause of all their troubles, why were they fighting a war for him? (How would Homer have answered these questions?) Do you think this system of values is peculiar (or particularly well adapted) to a world of small city-states?

Agenda and notes for April 6 (if you missed class)

April 6

Agenda

Quiz

(character names)

(where is Troy)

Announcements:

  -I agree, too much reading. However, students need to be clever. What might that mean in the case of one of the most widely read poems/stories in the history of Western civilization?

(a little research please)

-tonight we’re going to tear apart chapter 1. 

General Discussion of The Iliad

HERE’S WHERE IT FITS INTO THE WORLD - PAST AND PRESENT

a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccdneMYVVVo

Today:

Here is as good a summary - background and all - as you’ll find: http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/arch/iliad/IliadGuide00.html

-compare the role of warriors in the Iliad with today’s NBA stars (team sucks? change team).

-who was P?

-what is “the judgment of Paris? 

story background: Paris the golden apple (Athena, Hera, Aphrodite) 

Agamemnon is the Greek king (Thracian), but Achilles is superstar warrior. The destroyed a Trojan town, and each got a woman for the effort. Ag - Chryseis, Achl -Briseis

Play the "K-Dot" summary: http://tompkins.websitesdepotla.com/eng103/

BOOK 1

-Achilles rage (god-like - it doesn’t really peak until Patroc dies - note that he really goes for B. but his love is reserved for P chapt 18)

  -what’s happened to provoke it (find lines)

-That rage and the course it runs is the driving force throughout the book

-Compare earthbound desires with those of the Gods. Who plays by what rules? for example examine the battle between hector and achilles (zeus - urged by athena - played a trick on hector in chapt 22)

-how do the mortals look at the gods? do they appeal to the gods ethics, their sense of right and wrong? describe how mortals might have looked at fate?

-What motivates mortals? Honor

-Hector vs. Achilles: bk. 6, lines 390-502 (Hector, Andromache, and Astyanax scene)

Book 1 questions:

Chapter 1: The Petulance of Achilles

1.1. Where did the “treasures” come from that the Greeks are squabbling over? Explain. 

1.2. What is Agamemnon’s relation to the other Greek leaders? (If he is in charge, why do people disobey him sometimes) - examine honor as the glue between leaders, sometimes it works, sometimes not

1.3. What is the relationship between the seer Kalchas and (1) the Greek forces in general and (2) Agamemnon in this instance? Why is Kalchas worried about his oracle? Should he be? 

1.4. Why is Agamemnon unwilling to settle for Achilles’ proposal that he get a girl from the next town they take to replace Chryseis? 

1.5. To what extent are women viewed by Homeric men as “property”? Are they like other “property”? How did they probably view themselves, under the circumstances? Why? How could we find out? 

1.6. Why does Hera love Agamemnon and Achilles both? 

1.7. Why do Athena and Hera, who show little affection for each other, both support the Greeks? 

1.8. What seems to be the political order that the Greeks are trying to maintain? How successful are they? Explain. 

1.9. Why is Achilles participating in the war? What arguments would be likely to persuade him that he should continue or ought to withdraw? Why?

Gods and Mortals in The Iliad.

Gods and Men in Books I-IV of The Iliad.

The gods play a crucial role in The Iliad. The Olympians stir up trouble, they play favorites, and they sometimes scheme, trick, and lie to suit their needs.  They are can be passionate and selfish, and have intense rivalries with each other. They often seem to regard mortals as so many chess pieces in the games gods play. They are most predictable when considering - and being part of - the affairs of their mortal sons and daughters, but even then their powers can be thwarted and their selfish interests frustrated. Mortals regard the gods as powerful, but they rarely count on them for anything. Mortals might appeal to their of right and wrong or fair play, but those standards apply more to humanity than to the gods. 

Using Books I-IV in The Iliad, examine the role of the gods in the confrontation between Agamemnon and Achilles. Discuss the gods’ behavior as they argued or colluded with each other, and discuss what they did to interfere (or not) in affairs of man. Discuss how mortals on both sides of the war tried to influence the gods in order to gain advantage, and how the gods responded to their entreaties.

Respond to this prompt in a 700-1000 paper, using specific details from the text to prove your point. Make sure to cite each example with a book and line number. Use MLA format standards.

Study Questions for The Iliad

Time of Action: About 3,200 years ago in recorded history's infancy, when humankind's imagination peopled the known world with great heroes and villains and nature reflected the mood of the gods inhabiting the mountaintops, the seas, the forests, and the unseen worlds above and below. Homer fashioned The Iliad, the story of the Trojan War, about 600 years after the war ended. The story is a mixture of fact, legend, and myth. 

Place of Action: The walled city of Troy and the surrounding plains in northwestern Anatolia, a region that is part of modern-day Turkey. Anatolia is west of Greece (across the Aegean Sea) and north of Egypt (across the Mediterranean Sea).

Names and Places

• Gods
  Zeus (Roman names, Jupiter and Jove): King of the gods, who prefers to remain neutral in the war but intervenes after a plea for help.
  Hera (Roman name, Juno): Queen of the gods, who favors the Greeks.
  Athena (Roman name, Minerva): Goddess of wisdom and war, who favors the Greeks.
  Hephaestus (Roman name, Vulcan): God of the forge, who favors the Greeks.
  Aphrodite (Roman name, Venus): Goddess of love and beauty, who sides with the Trojans.
  Apollo (or Phoebus Apollo): Highly revered and feared sun god, who sides with the Trojans.
  Ares (Roman name, Mars): God of war, who sides with the Trojans.
  Artemis (Roman name, Diana): Goddess of archery and hunting, who sides with the Trojans.
  Hermes (Roman Name, Mercury): Messenger god. He guides Priam to Achilles' tent to ransom the body of Hector.
  Thetis: Sea nymph who is the mother of Achilles. 
  
  
  Trojans
  Priam: King of Troy.
  Hecuba: Wife of Priam and queen of Troy.
  Hector: Bravest and most accomplished of the Trojan warriors; son of Priam. Achilles slays him. 
  Andromache: Hector's noble and dedicated wife.
  Astyanax: Son of Hector and Andromache.
  Paris: Trojan who took Helen From Menelaus. 
  
  
  Greeks
  Achilles: Temperamental Greek warrior and king of the Myrmidons, who were soldiers from Thessaly in Greece. Achilles, the protagonist, leads the Myrmidons against the Trojans. He is revered as the greatest warrior in the world; no man can stand against him. Achilles is the son of Peleus, the former king of the Myrmidons, and a sea nymph named Thetis. 
  Agamemnon: Commander-in-chief of the Greek armies and son of Atreus, the king of Mycenae. He incurs the wrath of his greatest warrior, Achilles, by taking the latter's prize of war, the beautiful Briseis. 
  Menelaus: King of Sparta and brother of Agamemnon. After his wife, Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, was taken by a Trojan named Paris, the Greeks declared war on Troy. 
  Helen: Wife of Menelaus, paramour of Paris, and the most beautiful woman in the world.
  Odysseus (Roman Name, Ulysses): King of Ithaca and brilliant strategist. He is unsurpassed in cunning.
  Patroclus: Greek warrior and beloved companion of Achilles.
  Diomedes: Greek warrior of extraordinary valor and ability.
  Calchas: Greek soothsayer who advises Agamemnon.
  Nestor: Wise old king who advises Agamemnon. 

Books 1-10

(1) Why are the Greeks and Trojans fighting?

(2) Why does Chryses come to Agamemnon?

(3) What is the cause of the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles?

(4) What does Achilles ask Thetis, his mother, to do for him? Why?

(5) How does Priam (Alexandros) behave in the following situations:

____1. When the Greeks and Trojans met in battle?

____2. When Menalaos accepts his offer?

____3. When he sees Helen?

____4. When Hector shames him?

(6) What kind of person is Paris?

(7) Which gods fight for the Greeks? Which fight for Troy? Why?

(8) During the first battle Hector visits home. Why?

(9) Briefly describe Hector�s visit with his wife and child. Why is it hard for him to return to battle? Why does he go?

(10) How do the Greeks try to protect their ships? What is their fear?

(11) Why do the three envoys visit Achilles? What arguments do they present? How does Achilles respond to them?

Books 11-24

(1) Briefly describe how Agamemnon, Diomedes, and Odysseus become wounded. Who is winning at the end of this day's battle?

(2) How do the day's events affect Patroclus?

(3) Why does Patroclus want to enter the war? What is Achilles' reaction?

(4) What is Achilles' reaction after Patroclus' death?

(5) Why is it important for Achilles and Agamemnon to reconcile publicly?

(6) What hardships have resulted from Achilles' anger?

(7) How does the tide of war change after Achilles enters the war?

(8) What is to be Achilles' own future?

(9) How does Achilles honor Patroclus and dishonor Hector?

(10) Why do the gods interfere with Achilles' plans for Hector's body?

(11) What are the results of Priam's meeting with Achilles? Why?

(12) The Iliad ends without total victory for the Greeks. Why?

(13) Suppose the Greeks had come to regain Helen, but Achilles and Agamemnon had not quarreled. How would the story have changed?

(14) In what ways do the Greek gods behave differently from our own divinity?

(15) Contrast Hector and Achilles. Which do you like better? Why?

(16) In your opinion, is Achilles any different at the end of the story than he was at the beginning? Explain.

Detailed questions for chapter 1-6

Group assignments for The Iliad

The entire class is responsible for the Introduction, chapters 1-6, and chapters 23-24

Group 1 is responsible for chapters 7-10
Crystal
Georgeta
Wilson
Virginia
Cristina
Derek
Sebastian

Group 2 is responsible for chapters 11-14
Wilson
Min Suk
Pili
Cristina G
Jessica
Irubi
Xiao

Group 3 is responsible for chapters 15-18
Ashika
Edith
Albert
Deven
Sanjun
Nicolette N
Chia

Groups 4 is responsible for chapters 19-22
Irubi
Yvette
Nam
Bianca
Angelina
Axl
Nicolette K

Prompt: In-class essay on Sebastian Junger's War

Your in-class essay will challenge your ability to gather what you know about Sebastian Junger’s book, War, in order to apply this quote from Sun Tzu's Art of War:

Knowing the other and knowing yourself,

In one hundred battles, no danger.

Not knowing the other, knowing oneself,

One victory for one loss.

Not knowing the other, not knowing oneself,

In every battle, certain defeat.

Think of this when reading Junger’s portrait of young American soldiers who are thousands of miles from home in the remote Korengal Valley of Afghanistan. Who are these young men? Why are they in the Korengal in the first place? Are they old enough to understand themselves and the war they are fighting? Are these the “heroes” we hear about? Is it enough that they’re fighting for each other? Do they understand that they are on the front line of a war that the entire planet is looking at?

Junger offers a glimpse of the stress and hardship of constant if not always deadly fire from Taliban soldiers, of rugged, harsh conditions, little contact with the world, and incredible boredom. Village elders complain about collateral damage they’ve suffered in firefights. They seem to regard the Americans as if they just walked in from another galaxy. Do they listen to plans for soldier-villager projects? Do they care about the virtues of a U.S.-installed government? What is the relationship between the villagers and the Taliban? 

Think about Sun Tzu’s statement, and find examples of how it applies to the soldiers of Battle Company and the Taliban. There are no right and wrong answers, but you must go through the text and provide examples to back up what you believe.

Your paper should be 400-500 words long, and it must have a clear thesis statement. You must write an outline before starting the essay (and turn it in), and then you must use the outline to organize your paper. Remember that the best essay writing features, clear, concise sentences that say the most with the fewest words. 

You’ll have approximately 90 minutes for the mid-term.

Reading Presentation Guidelines: Non-Fiction

Guidelines for Reading Analysis Presentations 1 

Each student must complete a written and oral analysis five times. Each presentation is worth 4% of your grade.

Make a note of the article titles and presentation dates that you sign up for below. To receive credit, you must complete the written section of the assignment and participate in the presentation of your analysis. You will be graded primarily on your written analysis (breakdown of scoring below), but outstanding presentations will be rewarded. If you fail to hand in the written analysis when you present – or if you fail to present when you deliver your written work – you will not receive credit. If you forget you signed up, you will not receive credit. There are no makeup exceptions.

You will be presenting your analysis in class along with two to five of your classmates. The class will be counting on you to be on top of the article you are covering, so please be prepared!

Read the article you will be analyzing carefully. If possible, read it twice. On your first reading, just try to identify the main idea(s) and get a feel for the writer’s approach and the flow of the piece. On your second reading, go over the text more carefully; notice how the writer constructs his or her argument. You will probably want to mark up your text and/or take notes.

To prepare your written analysis:

Identify the author’s name and the title of the article. Answer the following questions. Put your answers in outline form (see sample analysis on the reverse side of this sheet).

1.     What is the central claim (or thesis) of the selection? Your answer should be a complete sentence in your own words (not a quote!). Be as specific as possible, but remember that your claim should cover the whole article. (25%)

2.     Is the central claim expressed explicitly or implicitly? The claim is explicit if the writer spells out what it is. The claim is implicit if the writer only implies the claim but does not state it outright. (5%)

3.     What reasons link the evidence to the claim? In other words, why does the evidence support the claim? Reasons may be presented explicitly or implied. (20%)

4.     What evidence does the writer present to support his or her claim? Specify and categorize the evidence (e.g. examples, personal experiences, analogy, authoritative opinion, facts, statistical data, cause-effect reasoning, results of scientific experiments, comparison, interviews, etc. – see sample on back). Do not answer this question with detailed quotes or paraphrases from the article! For additional guidance, see the table of Kinds of Evidence on pp. 91-4 of your textbook Writing Arguments. (25%)

5.     Comment briefly on the persuasiveness of the article by answering one or more of the following questions.  (25%)

·       Is the argument convincing? Does it rely on emotional, ethical, and/or logical appeals?

·       Are there flaws in the reasoning of the argument? Does it rely on questionable sources?

·       Does understanding the argument require knowledge of the historical or cultural context in which it was written?

·       How do the style, organization, and/or tone contribute or detract from the persuasiveness of the argument?

·       What is your personal reaction to the article?

HERE IS A SAMPLE ANALYSIS of “The Myth of ‘Practice Makes Perfect’” by Annie Murphy Paul. Read this to see how a good paper is prepared.

Central claim: Mastery of a skill demands deliberate practice, focusing on improving weak areas, rather than just spending time repeating the activity (Explicit).

Reason: Improvement at a skill only occurs when the practitioner works to notice and eliminate errors through practice.

Evidence:

• Authoritative opinion from cognitive psychologist Gary Marcus argues that deliberate practice is much more effective than unfocused just-for-pleasure practice.
• Marcus cites studies that show that working to improve weaknesses is more likely to result in improvement than just spending more time practicing.
• Authoritative opinion from a 1993 Anders Ericsson paper suggests that although practice focusing on fixing errors may not be the most enjoyable, it is probably the most effective.
• Research on practice sessions of pianists published in the Journal of Research in Music Education indicates that the best pianists put a stronger focus on immediately fixing
• errors so they do not occur again. 

Comment: The argument is fairly persuasive because, as presented, it makes good logical sense (logos = logical appeal) and basically validates my personal experiences. The results of the studies on the musicians’ practices made the argument much more credible (ethos = ethical appeal) and convincing to me. In fact, I would have liked hearing about the studies in more detail. I liked the author’s use of the example of learning to play an instrument because I could relate to it (pathos = emotional appeal) and it made the argument more “real” for me. Perhaps, for the same reason, the article might be less interesting and compelling to someone without any formal musical experience.

Reading Presentation Prompt: fiction

On the day that you present in front of the class you must also write your response to the questions below and hand in your answers. You must hand in your answers on the day you signed up for.

Reading Analysis Guide for Sebastian Junger’s War.

Guidelines for Reading Analysis Presentation

Sign-up on the presentation calendar on my desk. Make a note of the chapters and presentation date that you sign up for below.

Reading analysis chapter: __________________________Presentation date: _______________

You will be presenting your analysis in class along with other classmates. The class will be counting on you to be on top of the article you are covering, so please be prepared!

This assignment is worth 40 points – to receive credit, you must participate in the presentation of your analysis. You will be graded primarily on your written analysis (breakdown of scoring below), but outstanding presentations will be rewarded.

Read the chapters or section that you will be analyzing carefully. On your first reading, just try to identify the main idea(s) and get a feel for the writer’s approach and the flow of the chapter. On your second reading, go over the text more carefully; notice how the writer creates characters and tells the story.

To prepare your written analysis:

Identify the author’s name and the title of the chapter(s) you are covering. Answer the following questions, numbering each answer in the way the questions are numbered.

1.     What is the central theme of the selection? Your answer should be a complete sentence in your own words (not a quote!). Be as specific as possible, but remember that the theme of a book refers to the authors overall concerns. The plot is what happens as the book moves ahead. The theme refers to the overall concerns of a book.

2.     What are the concerns of the characters in the chapter(s) you have read? This book is fiction. Do you think the events in the book could happen in real life? Do you think the way the characters act is believable. If the events in the book are exaggerated by the author, does it make the book less effective? If the behavior of the characters are exaggerated, does it make the book less believable or effective?

3.     Is the central theme expressed explicitly or implicitly? The claim is explicit if the writer spells out what it is. The claim is implicit if the writer only implies the claim but does not state it outright.

4.   Did the events and actions in your chapter(s) surprise you or change your mind about the characters in the book?

4.     What is the tone – the feel – of the chapter(s) you read?

5.     What things in the story give the most insight into human nature?

6.     Does the writer leave the opinions and feelings to the readers? If so, why? Is this approach effective?