Oh No! I've Got an Essay Due!

I think people over think essays. Really just think about how a conversation would go. For the people who ask, "HP or Twilight?" a teacher would say "compare and contrast the characters in Harry Potter and Twilight"
I haven't read either one of these, but I know what the teachers would look for. A thesis statement comes first. In a conversation with your friends, this is your short answer. So you pick Harry Potter.
Begin:

Harry Potter is superior to Twilight because he has a natural ability that sets him apart from others and still has room to grow as a character so everyone likes him.

What the teacher looks for is the example. Or you can choose Twiligt.

Bella's character is already developed so the book can proceed with the action which is the purpose of a fiction novel. Or Bella provides a strong female rolemodel for the girls who are most likely to read this book. In chapter 2 she stands up to her domineering parents and meets Edward... (I actually had to make this up, but the point is there's not a right or wrong, but only that the teacher is asking you to back up your statement.

An example of a real one is: compare and contrast the action in "The Yellow Wallpaper' with that of "Incident at Owl Creek Bridge".

In both of these stories the action takes place inside the main character's head. In Owl Creek Bridge, The action is his last longing to be home right as he is being hanged. In the Yellow Wallpaper the action is the character's attempt to remain sane during an enforced rest where she is literally ordered to 'turn off' her very active and creative mind.

Also in both the stories, the attempts end in failure, as the Owl Creek Character did not escape, but was hanged, and in the Yellow Wall Paper, the woman goes insane as demonstrated by seeing things that aren't there.

A contrast might be that in Owl Creek Bridge, the character deserved to die, but the character in the Yellow Wallpaper was taking a health retreat, so she was harmed by those who loved her. In this part of your essay, can't you hear yourself telling your friends, "yeah, but.."?
Teachers usually want three examples of each (3 comparisons and 3 contrasts)

A conclusion might be that life is gennerally better when you are in charge of your own life as demonstrated by the woman id The Yellow WallPaper would have been fine if she was allowed to determine when she had enough 'rest' rather than let the doctor's program or tradition determine when she could go home, or the man who was hanged at Owl Creek Bridge only commited treason through Hobson's choice and would have gone home and retired from the war if given the chance rather than the Union army commander hang him so his men could blow off steam.

The other type of essay is also a conversation. I see the question "Does he like me?"
A teacher would ask, "What does the author mean when he says...?"

When you post online does he like me?, you have no problem digging for examples of behavior, like 'every time I look at him, he is already looking at me', or 'he started sitting next to me at lunch'. This is really all your teacher is looking for.

Start with the short answer as your thesis statement:

He likes me as demonstrated by his change in routine of sitting with me instead of his friends, and looking to see if I notice him.
The body of the essay would be actions you would take to encourage this behavior, such as changing hairstyle to confirm that he is in fact watching you, or start attending his track meets to show you have an interest in him also.

The conclusion is something like he likes me and this is something I would like to take to the next level by introducing him to your circle of friends so you can be comfortable around each other.

A teacher might have an assignment like: What is the theme of "The Way to Rainy Mountain"?

Again the thesis statement is the short answer.

Momaday is tracing his roots through three means. Go into your examples for the body of your essay.
One method is to tell his grandmother's stories. Even though she grew up after the decline of the Kiowa People. She knew their factual history through knowing where each of the the legends came from.

Then you'd give one of the legends, say the origin legend that shows the Comanche started as hunter-gatherers in the Rocky Mountains. This is a long story so finding examples is easy.

But don't get carried away at this point because YOUR theme is the way Momaday shows his own history. You need another statement about Momaday's methods. So you say something like:

Another way Momaday traces his roots is through personal trips to the places where the legends originate. In the Black Hills he sees for him self that they saw the plains as an empty land and yet saw the Comanche People living there. Traeties were made for passage and trade remembered through the legends of a people who had no written language.

Finally he honors his past by celebrating his grandmother's life at her gravesite through remembering her contributions to their people

The conclusion is his resolve to add his own contributions at preservation of a dying culture through his writing.

I had intended to split this blog into two entries, but I have a conclusion of my own. A good writer keeps on top of things even though they may not seem important in themselves as far as getting words on paper. This is shown by my total inability to edit what I write.

Looking back through most of my blog entries, I see typos, ommissions, and a few duplicate sentences. Is that a reflection of a bad writer or one who grew up in an age before computers?

fanfic

This post is short, but just to keep the blog active... I've seen some successful fanfiction out there. There's a couple of things I found out. Copywrite of course. The easiest way to get around the copywrite infringement is to send your story to the same publisher as the original story and clearly label it as fan fiction.

The other thing to note is do NOT make it a love story. We fall in love with characters and that tends to show up in our stories about them. You can't do that if you stand a chance of getting published. Captain Kirk must always ride off into the the unknown, and Spock does not acquire emotions. I'm giving away my age here, but you get the idea. Characters that go on a quest are worn out by their experience and while they may get married in the end of the book, it's a wrap up of the story, not a part of it. He changed and no longer fits into the culture he saved.

Remember YOU did not make up the characters, so you can't change their personalities.