Mon-Friday, March 15-19 essay on "The Outcasts of Polka Flat"
Organizer for essay “The Outcasts of Poker Flat” by Bret
Harte
Please respond to the following:
Select one character from the text and show how this individual
is representative of literary realism.
Character choices: John Oakhurst, Mother Shipton, the
Duchess, Piney Woods
Review of qualities associated with literary realism.
1.
The
characters are complex. What you “see” is only the surface and not a thorough
representation.
2.
The characters are representative of an “insurgent
middle class”, working class people, who see themselves as part of the American
democratic process. These are not people of wealth or power.
3.
Like everyone, they struggle against the
environment; that is life circumstances. However, they believe they have the
power to control their own destinies.
4.
Both the plot and life circumstances of the
characters within literary realism are plausible (believable) and pragmatic
(realistic/ practical).
Mechanics of the essay
Size 12 font; Times New Roman/ double spaced. Minimum 400
words/ 3 well-written paragraphs
Begin with your MLA heading
Your name
Instructor (‘s/s’) name(s)
The Outcasts of Poker
Flat (note italics)
18 March 2021
What do you need in paragraph one?
1.
A hook sentence about life in a western mountain
mining community in the 19th century. (This was talked about
in class; check out pictures; look up, if need be.)
2.
A sentence that introduces your genre (short
story), title and author and the character you chose that is representative of literary
realism. (include, if you want a short explanation of literary realism.)
3.
A thesis statement or controlling idea that
states what aspects (see the list above) of the character you chose demonstrates
qualities of literary realism.
What do you need in paragraph 2?
1.
Give the background information on your selected
character. (Don’t forget the town the person comes from/ profession. There are
lots of opportunities to reflect here on their daily lives within the
community; see number 2 above for literary realism connection. This establishes the superficial part of this
individual. (Select some text to weave into your sentences)
2.
What happens to your character initially that presents
a conflict for the character? How does your character respond to the situation?
(Select some text to weave into your sentences.)
3.
How does your character meet up with the people
who are travelling the other way? What obstructs their travels? (see number 3
above to establish a point of literary realism)
What do you need in paragraph 3?
1.
This is where you show the complexity of your
character? What actions does the character take to illustrate that the
individual is not a flat figure, but someone with a greater sense of community
and emotional depth. (Weave in text to prove your point). (see number 1 above
of literary realism).
2.
How ultimately does your character take control
of destiny? What choices does the individual make and IMPORTANT, what does this
say about the character. (This is an analysis statement.)
3.
!!! The last one or two lines of your essay is
where you make a universal statement about the qualities of literary realism?
Answer this question: to what extent is literary realism a representation of
the ideals of being an American?
HAVE YOU PROOF READ FOR LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS? CAPITALIZATION, SPELLING,
PUNCTUATION? READ WHAT YOU WROTE ALOUD IN YOUR HEAD OR LITERALLY ALOUD IF
POSSIBLE. THIS WILL HELP YOU CATCH ERRORS.
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