San Diego Jewish Academy 10th Grade Humanities Cyrano de Bergerac, Literary Analysis Essay

In the afterword of our text, critic Henry Hewes discusses some of the major issues and themes related to the play. Choose one of the following possible thesis statements derived from his discussion, or create your own thesis statement:

1. p. 209, discussion of panache: the character of Cyrano appeals to audiences despite his faults, because of his overarching trait of panache
2. p. 214, discussion of "self-sacrifice in love" and "beauty adored by a grotesque": these motifs combine to create the characters of Cyrano
3. p. 215, Rostand's use of descriptive and eloquent language makes Cyrano a true hero
4. character development of Roxane, Christian, and DeGuiche (growth, change, maturity): In a relatively short work of drama, Rostand manages to develop even the minor characters
5. p. 219, the play lends itself to interpretation: 3 film versions and differences amongst them show examples of this
6. your own thesis choice

Enter your two most-recent writing skills here. (These are the areas of concentration you identified from our last essay on Julius Caesar.) We will concentrate on these two skills as you write this essay.

1. writing skill:
2. writing skill:

Review the punctuation rules for transitioning into quotations. You must provide direct textual evidence in each of your body paragraphs.

1. use a colon when
2. use a comma when
3. embed a quotation into your own sentence by using the word "that" or just taking a small portion of a quote.
4. to cite your source with this particular translation, use page number
   1. (p. 21) for single page citation
   2. (pp. 21-2) for quotation appearing on more than one page

Use this template to plan your essay and then type your own outline.

1. Introduction
   1. Powerful lead:
   2. Introduce the thesis topic and work of literature:
      1. Title and genre:
      2. Playwright and brief socio-historical background:
      3. Major characters and conflict:
   3. Thesis statement:
2. First body paragraph
   1. Transitional statement/topic sentence emphasizing the focus of this evidence chunk and connection to your thesis:
   2. Evidence (quotes, examples, scenarios)
      1.  
      2.  
      3.  
3. Second body paragraph
   1. Transitional statement/topic sentence emphasizing the focus of this evidence chunk and connection to your thesis:
   2. Evidence (quotes, examples, scenarios)
      1.  
      2.  
      3.  
4. Conclusion
   1. Conclusion specific to Cyrano de Bergerac and thesis
   2. Relate conclusion to life

Brainstorm - shows how different tools facilitate the brainstorming process. http://www.writedesignonline.com/organizers/brainstorm.html

Sense Web - starts the brainstorming process for creating show, not tell senses. http://www.writedesignonline.com/assignments/senseweb.html

Design Expectations - standards of design for all projects. http://www.writedesignonline.com/human/design

How to Use Quotes - humm, what you do think, it's about using quotes in text. - http://www.writedesignonline.com/assignments/usingquotes.html

Re-vision - another check list, this time intended to correct your vision. - http://www.writedesignonline.com/assignments/re-vision.html

Works Cited and Writing Style Guides - shows an example of a Works Cited listing and provides links to several writing style guides such as MLA and APA. - http://www.writedesignonline.com/workcited.html