Pre-AP English II: IWA Sample

In class on Friday we walked through the IWA thesis. We ran out of time before we got to the body paragraph. So here's a walkthrough on both....

The thesis paragraph has two parts. One part is the thesis, what you'll prove in your essay, which will include the theme of the novel (a theme is always a complete sentence). The other part is how you'll prove it, what literary devices you'll use to prove your thesis.

Ayn Rand uses the names of her characters to add to the meaning of her work. She uses symbolism and irony to help the reader understand that collectivism is based on lies.

The paragraph would probably be a little better if I revised it so the theme appeared in the first paragraph, something like this:

Ayn Rand uses the names of her characters to help the reader understand that collectivism is based on lies. She accomplishes this with the symbolism and irony inherent in her characters' names.

In the first body paragraph, you'll use text evidence from the novel to make your point using the first literary device mentioned in your thesis paragraph. In the case of this essay, you'll need the symbolic characters' names as part of your quoted evidence.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the scene involving Equality 7-2521's visit to the Home of Scholars in Chapter VII. "Collective 0-0009, the oldest and wisest of the Council" quizzes Equality 7 about his discovery of electric light. When Equality 7 says he worked on the invention on his own, Collective 0 says, "'What is not thought by all men cannot be true.'" Clearly, this is a lie. Collective 0's name acts symbolically for the collectivist society Rand so strongly opposes. By putting the falsehood in his mouth, Rand implies that the collectivism he represents is also based on lies.

To complete this body paragraph, I'd need to look at another symbolic name and link it to a lie of the collectivist society, too.

In the second body paragraph, I'd look at two ironically-named characters, and analyze how the irony in their names demonstrates the falsity of the society.

Of course, in your essay you'll be looking at names and name changes, but you'll still need at least two quotes from the book to make your case for each body paragraph (four total for an 85%, six total for 100%).