1. Response to Literature Response to Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt

2. The Checklist • Use your checklist to ensure that you include all the required information for your essay. • Complete the checklist in order, so that you stay organized.

3. The Outline • Use the outline to help you organize your information. • Outlines will help you stay focused on supporting your thesis statement. • There are a variety of different types of outlines to use, so choose one that you understand the best.

4. Write a Thesis Statement • Review your Response to Literature notes on “Writing a Thesis Statement” • Remember that in this essay, your thesis statement covers the main idea of an essay, while the topic sentence covers the main idea of a body paragraph.

5. Write a Thesis Statement • Avoid using the words “I believe…” or “I think that…” • Include words from the prompt to help you write your thesis.

6. Reasons= Topic Sentences • What three reasons that your thesis statement is true? • Those reasons will become your Topic Sentences for your three body paragraphs.

7. Supporting Details • In order to prove that your reasons are true, you need to include details from the novel. • Make sure that the details directly support your topic sentence. • These details can be quotes or statements that you wrote in your notes. • If directly quoting the novel, make sure to put the quote in quotation marks and include the page number. • In the story, Dicey states, “Quotation” (#).

8. Elaborative Statements • Elaborate,in your own words, to give the reader more information about your detail.