Digital+Essays

Visual Essays enable you to participate in Web 2.0 and express your artistic side, while also building your understanding of the text and your essay writing skills. You will work in groups of four in order to answer the essential questions below, and you are required to include the following elements in your Visual Essay: 1. A Thesis Statement with Projected Order that addresses the Essential Question 2. At least three clear topic sentences - these must be statements of position, not statements of fact. 3. At least three pieces of textual evidence for each topic sentence. 4. At least two visuals per topic sentence. Please be sure that you use copyright-free images, which can be found at [|Wikimedia Commons] or [|Flickr Creative Commons]. Or, you can create your own art/photography and upload that, provided that you don't mind offering it for others to use under a [|Creative Commons License].
 * __Overview__**

__**Essential Questions for Major Works**__ 1. How does the work echo 21st century life, if at all? 2. In what ways do adults behave in childlike ways? Children in adult ways? 3. Does the work reinforce or question traditional gender roles? In what ways? 4. How does the author portray the idea of monetary, racial, political, or class privilege? 5. In what ways does the author use setting of time and place to influence theme? 6. How does religion or spirituality play a role in the work? What are the positive and negative influences of religion? Does religion operate as a character in the work? 7. In what ways does the author weave art and/or music into the story? Are these important to the characters, and if so, in what ways? 8. How does the idea of personal responsibility (or the lack thereof) operate in the narrative?