how do you develop a topic for an explanatory essay?

Happy Tricky Tuesday

Bellwork is on your table.

How do you develop a topic for an

explanatory essay?

In this lesson you will learn how to develop a topic for an

explanatory essay by analyzing the text and your reading notes

for relevant evidence.

Let’s Review

How does an author develop a dual theme? After reading and analyzing “O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman, write an essay in which you relate how the author developed a dual theme. Support your discussion with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples from the text.

Let’s Review “O Captain! My Captain!” By Walt Whitman

What is meant by a dual theme? – More than one theme in the

poem

What are the dual themes in this poem?– Joy– Sorrow

Core Lesson

Analyze the prompt1

2Review reading notes and the text

3 Organize the most important notes

Core Lesson 1) Analyze the prompt

How does an author develop a dual theme? After reading and analyzing “O Captain! My Captain!” by Walt Whitman, write an essay in which you relate how the author developed a dual theme. Support your discussion with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples from the text.

- Dual theme: 2 things that the text is all about

- HOW the dual theme was made

- Support with evidence

Core Lesson 2) Review reading notes and the text

- prize is won- hear bells- exulting- following eyes- steady

- fearful- weather’d- grim- daring

“heart, heart, heart”- Signal to me that

something big was about to happen; emotion

- Shows the Captain’s death is a shock to the narrator

“fallen cold and dead”- This is the most

important line in the poem

- narrator is trying to accept the shock

“O Captain! my Captain!”

- Shows mood is shifting: excitement, shock, acceptance. t

Core Lesson 2) Review reading notes and the text

Focus- Lines 1-4- Lines 9-12- Lines 19-21

Focus- Lines 5-8- Lines 13-16- Lines 17-18- Lines 22-24

Core Lesson3) Organize the most important notes

Think about all the information you have collected and about the things we have

discussed relative to “O Captain, My Captain.” In what order would

organize your notes from least important to most

important.

Core Lesson

How do you clearly introduce a topic for an

explanatory essay?

Core Lesson

Review notes on response to the prompt1

2 Ask, “How do my notes fit together into an answer to the prompt?”

3 Draft a central idea statement

Core Lesson 1) Review notes on response to the prompt

Word Connotations

Dual Focus

Perspectives

Core Lesson 2) Ask, “How do my notes fit together into an answer to the prompt?”

Word Connotations

Dual Focus

Perspectives

Core Lesson3) Draft a central idea statement

Your statement needs to include four things:

1. Title of the poem (“…”)2. Author3. Mention “dual theme”4. What is used to develop the dual theme?

(Order of importance list)

Core Lesson 3) Draft a central idea statement

The author, Walt Whitman, developed his dual theme in the poem “O Captain! My Captain!” by…

Core Lesson 3) Draft a central idea statement

The author, Walt Whitman, developed his dual theme in the poem “O Captain! My Captain” by using positive and negative word connotations, two points of view, and a dual focus.