Final Essay

50 points

Due: October 4, 2013

Pick one of the themes from Tuesday with Morrie and analyze how that theme is developed

in the memoir. Some ideas for what to include would be:

• What the characters say or think about the topic
• How other events or recurring images in the memoir reinforce or contrast with

              these ideas

• Your personal opinion on the merit of the memoirs treatment of this theme.

Assignment: Write at least a 5 paragraph essay about one of the themes in the book, Tuesdays with Morrie.

Themes: Pick one of the following themes: “Love or perish”, Personal values vs society’s values, Attitude, Mentors, Relationships.

Format: One approach might be to tell how Mitch has changed over time in the area you select as a result of his time with Morrie.

Rubric:

	Four (4)	Three (3)	Two (2)	One (1)
Purpose	clear purpose, insights and observations	mostly purposeful, good observations	purpose hard to find;evidence collected, not described, analyzed	purpose not evident;no clear opinion on theme
Substance/Strategy	carefully written, uses textual evidence, reflections on deeper meaning	Not just anecdotal, has and conveys appreciation of meaning	Shares memories and anecdotes; does not connect with meaning behind them; development may be lacking	Unacceptably brief and undeveloped
Diction/Details	Superior word choice; much detail and description	Good (effective)word choice;specific evidence used	Words not chosen without attention;inadequate theme and opinion are present	Words carelessly chosen; generally shallow evidence and commentary
Intro/Conclusion	Engages the reader; sets direction; conclusion enhances opening	Brings reader into piece;sets some sense of direction; conclusion is appropriate	Not much direction; conclusion not well related	No detail, direction or focus; writing just stops
Including textual evidence	Effective quotes, summaries, paraphrases; blends smoothly into body, and commentary	Includes quotes, etc, reasonably well	Some evidence from memoir;might not cite or paraphrase	Insufficient or no textual evidence
Correctness	Errors in spelling, grammar, and usage rare/insignificant	Errors are few don't distract reader	More frequent errors and are somewhat distracting	Errors so severe interfere with clarity and meaning