THE PROMPT Your prompt for this essay is
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THE PROMPT • Your prompt for this essay is the following: What is an unreliable narrator? How is John Nash an unreliable narrator? How is he a different unreliable narrator from the one in Tell-Tale Heart? • Name three ways A Beautiful Mind uses the medium of film to present John Nash as unreliable yet make you sympathize with him? • Why do you sympathize with him more than the narrator of TTH? Give 2 examples and reasons.
Intro. paragraphs • Introduce the topic at hand briefly mention the main points you’ll present to prove what you’re writing about is accurate. • You are not providing any evidence now, just introducing the topic and highlighting main points. Think of it like a well-written summary or preview. • Remember, no more than 4 sentences here. Keep it brief.
Body paragraphs • Start off with the first question from the prompt you want to answer. Using your own findings, mixed with citation and evidence from the movie and reading, answer it. • For questions asking you to compare the book and film, you obviously need to have an equal balance of information from both sources. • If you plan on citing directly from either the film or book, make sure to put the excerpt in quotation marks and mention the source material you’re citing from.
Reasoning • This is the part where you need to pretend someone is asking you, “So what? ” Every piece of evidence you present should come with reasoning, which are your own words used to make sense of the evidence you’re presenting and connecting it to the question from the prompt you’re answering.
Body paragraphs (CONT. ) • Then do the same thing for the rest of the questions. Basically, each paragraph is a new question answered using: – Evidence – Reasoning – Personal insight • Please be sure to answer every single question and if there is one that calls for less evidence and more personal insight, use your own words, thoughts, and personal insight. That’s the most important, interesting part of these essays. I want to hear what you have to say.
CONCLUSION • Don’t summarize here but leave us thinking. Remember, even though it’s an informative essay, your opinion is somewhat coming through. You might not feel John Nash is unreliable while others might. Maybe two people in this room feel he is but for completely different reasons. • This final paragraph is your last chance to drive home your point in a way that is poignant and leaves the reader thinking. So, do that. Please don’t summarize.
Rules of Thumb • Please use proper grammar and spelling throughout, make sure your writing makes sense. • Pair up with someone in class to read your essay. • Check your work. If you cite something, make sure you do so correctly and that it is from the source you say it is. (Don’t quote something from Beautiful Mind and say it’s from TTH). • Watch your tense shifts. (If you write in past tense, stay in past. And vice versa).
FORMATTING • Failure to follow these formatting rules will result in the dropping of one letter grade: – Double spaced. – Pages numbers centered at the bottom of every page. – Your name must appear at the upper right hand corner of every page. – Font must be 12 -point, either Times New Roman or Arial. – All grammar and spelling will count against you. Again, check your work yourself and give it to someone else to check. – You will need to turn in a hard copy on the due date given. No electronic copies or late turn-ins will be accepted.
