Final Essay on The Wars
• You are to write an academic, formal, literary essay complete with an introduction, body paragraphs, transitions, and a conclusion.
• It should be no more than five typed pages
750-1250 words, double spaced, including quotations
Potential Essay Topics
Remember: Choosing your own topic is best! Email your topic proposal to your instructor – even if it’s just a rough idea!
A. Though the novel’s setting is largely the battlefield of World War One, the word war is pluralized in the title. Why do you believe that Findley made this decision? What are different wars that take place throughout the novel?
B. Examine the idea of the private sphere versus the public sphere in the novel. How does the war force private matters into the public sphere?
C. Explore the impact that the female characters in the novel have on the male characters. How do you explain in terms of the power dynamics between the two genders at the time and the traditional/stereotypical gender roles that defined each?
Guiding Documents
Download the following handouts from the attachments:
1. Essay Style & Structure
A guideline for writing and organizing your essay
2. General Essay Planner
• Use this handout to plan your essay. You will need to submit this planner along with your essay.
3. Peer Editing Checklist
• You will read and peer edit another student’s ISU paper. Please complete this checklist to provide the student with the feedback. Your teacher will assign the student to you.
4. ISU Essay Rubric
Essay Requirements
All stages of your writing process are to be submitted, including at least one rough draft and your essay planner.
The support component will assessed a mark of zero if the essay is not documented by parenthetical notation, and MLA works cited.
• A mark of zero will be given for any plagiarized essay. Your paper will be checked for plagiarism.
• Your primary text will be The Wars; however, you may use secondary sources, such as print and internet sources, as long as you provide the MLA citations.
The ISU is more than simply the essay and presentation. Marks will also be allocated for the essay writing process. The various stages of your progress will be monitored; records of discussions in forum, peer- editing, writing plans, and drafts should be kept and will enter into the overall evaluation of study achievement.