Example Essay based on the Example Reading the Behold | ENGL 101 | Papers Grammar and Composition

All ENGL 101 Example Essays based on Example Reading, “Behold.”

‘A’ level essay—an excellent example: Score: 5

Life is constantly not fair. Some people live extraordinary lives and aren’t happy and sometimes

the people that have been given the worst news are the happiest. The people that stand out though are

the people that don’t have much time left to live, but make the best of it. The author of this story uses

setting, characterization and irony to express the idea that no matter how bad life seems there is always

some good that can come out of it.

The setting of a story is where and when a story takes place. The author set this particular work

in churches. Almost the entire story takes place inside either Trinity Episcopal or Saint Agatha’s. The day

was also very carefully selected. This story takes place on “the anniversary of [the Lord’s] death” (3). This

is meant to be powerful because the young narrator’s mother has cancer and though she is dying she still

has faith and loves the Lord for saving all humanity. Even the narrator was thankful that “Jesus had been

Jesus and not some slug like [him]” because he felt that “humanity would be in a sorry state if it had been

on [him] to buck up and save everyone” (2). The fact that they are in a church on a day that is meant to

be very solemn worshiping the death of the savior creates a sadness that goes deeper than any emotion

can. The day they are worshiping also shows that no matter how bad life got for every human being their

lives were saved by Jesus and are better now.

The author also uses characterization, which is how the characters in the story are presented. In

this work, the reader doesn’t actually know the narrator’s name, but he is the one who describes the

people that he comes across. The author uses humor in presenting the characters to give the story the

feel of the lighter side of life. The death of Jesus is reinacted by “kids from various churches” and the

narrator “was a nerdy girl with monster glasses and great voice inflection” (2). However, Jesus “was

played by some sorry goober with a hunchback and a nasal whine” (2). These descriptions make the

reader laugh and brings him/her closer to the narrator’s point of view. Even in describing the priests and

the monsignor the author tries to incorporate humor when presenting the characters. Father Pham is not

allowed to give sermons anymore because “the one sermon he had given sounded like a fight sequence

from a karate movie” (2). Again the reader laughs and the heavy emotion of the story is lightened. The

way that the author presents the characters in the work give the reader a happier view of the bad things in

life.

Irony is also used in this story to lighten the mood. Situational irony is when something happens

and it is the opposite of what was expected to happen. In the very beginning of the story the author

employs situational irony when the narrator says “for a Catholic kid, there was nothing good about Good

Friday” (1). This is ironic because the day ends up yielding something good for this Catholic kid. At the

end of the day he is reminded that “life is good” and that he needs to have more faith (3). The narrator

also feels that his “job was to pray for Mom’s recovery and make sure the others didn’t act like chimps in

church” which is exactly the opposite of what ended up happening (1). He didn’t get to watch his brother

and sister, and he was the one who ended up acting like a chimp. Ironically, this is exactly what he and

his mother needed during her fragile state. The situational irony in this story is used to promote the

funnier side of life and to uplift the heart.

In this work the author conveys that there is always some good no matter what the circumstances

are. The author does this through the setting of this work, the characters and their presentation and irony.

In the end, life had given the narrator and his mother lemons and they made lemonade.

Note: This essay is not perfect. For example, not all instructors require a student to define a literary

device before offering the topic sentence. However, each paragraph does have a controlling idea which

directly advances the thesis statement. Students might also notice problems with verb consistency.

Overall, this is still a strong selection.

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All ENGL 101 Example Essays based on Example Reading, “Behold.”

‘A’ level essay—an excellent example: Score: 5

Life is constantly not fair. Some people live extraordinary lives and aren’t happy and sometimes the people that have been given the worst news are the happiest. The people that stand out though are the people that don’t have much time left to live, but make the best of it. The author of this story uses setting, characterization and irony to express the idea that no matter how bad life seems there is always some good that can come out of it. The setting of a story is where and when a story takes place. The author set this particular work in churches. Almost the entire story takes place inside either Trinity Episcopal or Saint Agatha’s. The day was also very carefully selected. This story takes place on “the anniversary of [the Lord’s] death” (3). This is meant to be powerful because the young narrator’s mother has cancer and though she is dying she still has faith and loves the Lord for saving all humanity. Even the narrator was thankful that “Jesus had been Jesus and not some slug like [him]” because he felt that “humanity would be in a sorry state if it had been on [him] to buck up and save everyone” (2). The fact that they are in a church on a day that is meant to be very solemn worshiping the death of the savior creates a sadness that goes deeper than any emotion can. The day they are worshiping also shows that no matter how bad life got for every human being their lives were saved by Jesus and are better now. The author also uses characterization, which is how the characters in the story are presented. In this work, the reader doesn’t actually know the narrator’s name, but he is the one who describes the people that he comes across. The author uses humor in presenting the characters to give the story the feel of the lighter side of life. The death of Jesus is reinacted by “kids from various churches” and the narrator “was a nerdy girl with monster glasses and great voice inflection” (2). However, Jesus “was played by some sorry goober with a hunchback and a nasal whine” (2). These descriptions make the reader laugh and brings him/her closer to the narrator’s point of view. Even in describing the priests and the monsignor the author tries to incorporate humor when presenting the characters. Father Pham is not allowed to give sermons anymore because “the one sermon he had given sounded like a fight sequence from a karate movie” (2). Again the reader laughs and the heavy emotion of the story is lightened. The way that the author presents the characters in the work give the reader a happier view of the bad things in life. Irony is also used in this story to lighten the mood. Situational irony is when something happens and it is the opposite of what was expected to happen. In the very beginning of the story the author employs situational irony when the narrator says “for a Catholic kid, there was nothing good about Good Friday” (1). This is ironic because the day ends up yielding something good for this Catholic kid. At the end of the day he is reminded that “life is good” and that he needs to have more faith (3). The narrator also feels that his “job was to pray for Mom’s recovery and make sure the others didn’t act like chimps in church” which is exactly the opposite of what ended up happening (1). He didn’t get to watch his brother and sister, and he was the one who ended up acting like a chimp. Ironically, this is exactly what he and his mother needed during her fragile state. The situational irony in this story is used to promote the funnier side of life and to uplift the heart. In this work the author conveys that there is always some good no matter what the circumstances are. The author does this through the setting of this work, the characters and their presentation and irony. In the end, life had given the narrator and his mother lemons and they made lemonade.

Note : This essay is not perfect. For example, not all instructors require a student to define a literary device before offering the topic sentence. However, each paragraph does have a controlling idea which directly advances the thesis statement. Students might also notice problems with verb consistency. Overall, this is still a strong selection.

‘B’ level essay—a very good example: Score: 4

Often people go through life facing many difficult situations. It can be a financial situation, an illness or even a death in the family. People have to be strong and overcome any situation to move forward. People need to help each other and support their family through bad situations. When a person in the family is sick, it is hard to cope with life and people have to face reality. In this short story, the author uses irony of situation to reveal that in bad times people can make a bad situation good. In this story, the author uses irony of situation. The irony of situation is when there is a discrepancy or incongruity, or expectation and fulfillment, or what is and what should be appropriate. The kid in this story does not like Good Friday. “For a Catholic Kid, there was nothing good about Good Friday” (1). He does not like Good Friday because it is not good. They have to fast, they can’t watch t.v. or do anything that is good, according to the kid. If it is Good Friday, they have to have some fun. The kids mother has cancer. At church the kid disgraces his family by laughing out loud. The kid is upset. “I had disgraced my family on the most serious day of the year, in the most serious year of my life” (3). His mom has cancer and instead of being a good boy, he is laughing in church. It is supposed to be a serious day in church because his mom is going to die. People face many bad situations in life but when death is involved is has a great impact on everyone. The loss of a family member is no joke. The mom is very sick, but she still makes it to church. When the kid starts laughing, he takes a glance at his family because he thinks he is going to be in trouble. “She was not crying or shaking with anger. She was laughing” (3). This is ironic because she is sick, and instead of being sad, she is laughing. The father is very serious about church. He is also very strict but at church when everyone starts laughing he controls himself. “He brought himself under control, but my mother didn’t even try” (3). The mother is sick and she is trying to enjoy life. She is laughing and she is making the best out of life even in the situation that she is in. When people have happiness in their life anything is possible. The mother is going to die and the family is shocked that she is laughing. “Tears streamed down her face” (3). This is ironic because she is not crying because she is sad, she is crying from laughing too much. The mother is making a bad situation good. The kid tries to remember the last time the mother laughed like that. At the time, she did not have cancer. He remembered a good time. “Our laughter was part of a summer that stretched ahead of us with an endless beat: life is good, life is good, life is good” (3). This is ironic because right now, for the family nothing is good. The mom is sick, they are celebrating Good Friday and there is nothing good for them. The kid is trying to make everything good by going back in time. People need to realize that when something bad is going on, they have to make the best of it. A sickness in the family can bring everyone down, but they have to support each other to be strong. In order to move on in life people need happiness and the support of family members. If people make a bad situation good, they can overcome anything.

‘D’ level essay—a poor example: Score: 2

Prolonged religious events, can often be challenging for the youth of today to endure. The author of this story has chosen to write in first person narrative in order to depicked the many hardships of a child forced to overcome such an event. The narrator is occompanyed by his two younger siblings, showing the different behaviors of each age group, and gender. From the onset of this story it is obvious that this Catholic ritual is more than a pain-steaking task for these children, as stated by the narrator, “There was nothing good about Good Friday.” (1) Although the narrator dislikes going to these church functions, his older presence is shown in his attitude towards the service. He is able to understand the significance in it; and as the oldest he relays this importance to his younger brother and sister. “It’s Good Friday, numskull.” (1) His authority as the oldest is used a lot through out the story. Sean and Mary as the younger one’s are quicker to loose interest. For example when Sean is found with “his head back and stared vacantly at the paintings on the ceiling.” (2) Sean is believed to be the youngest due to his many childish actions, showing his disreguard for the importance of such a significant day. Mary, who is also young, shows more of a maturity in the story. But this is not done to show her older age, but is probably just due to the fact that she is a girl, with less energy. Now the narrator who is shown to be the protagonist, is challenged by many delimas through out this story. The first being the task of watching over his siblings, which is overcome without much hardship. But his real battle is found more or less with himself, having to fight off the urge of laughter during the service. Knowing the severity of his action he struggles with these urges, “I pinched myself and directed my gaze at the carpet, but the terrible feeling grew.” (3) Trying to regain his composure he tells himself, “Mom is going to die,” (3) hoping this would shock himself into some solem mode. But it doesn’t. His laughter grows and becomes contagous, causing the entire congregation to erupt. Ironicly the last person left laughing is the boy’s mother, who is diagnoced with cancer. Her laughter is possible carcastic because she is really ashamed of her son. But this laughter sparks a memory in the boy of when is mother use to “belly-laugh” like that. So the mother’s laughter renews a sense of hope in the boy for a happy future. All and all the boy shows a maturity and childish nature. Mature with is younger siblings, posibly in order to rule over them, and childish nature when actualy faced with somewhat of an adult responsibility. His youth is shown to overcome his disire to be more adult through the enduring struggles of an elongated church service.

‘F’ level essay—an unacceptable example: Score: 1

A deadly disease causes a great impact on a family, but it is their love for each other and their bond that can bring them through the tough situation. In this story a mothers battle with cancer puts a strain on family activities. Every Good Friday the family would fast, and attend church all afternoon. This year was different, mother was sick and father had to stay home and care for her, so they sent the children to church by themselves. The oldest son is in charge on their trip to church and he is asked to be an alter boy for the service. During the service mother and father walk in and sit down. The boy is designated to hold the cross and lead the visiting priest down the aisle, as they proceed the boy notices an unusual sound from the priest and can’t contain his laughter, the whole church then erupts in laughter including mom and dad, and a few tears escaped from his mothers eye. Throughout the rest of the service he sat and remembered the last time his mother laughed like that and he remembered that life is good. The author uses point of view, symbolism, and setting to explain how the struggles of everyday life affect this family and how they overcome it. To begin with the point of view used by the author is that of the oldest son. This point of view shows you how he thinks the situation is affecting his family. “I pinged him in the forehead. ‘Its Good Friday numskull.’” (1). This shows that he is responsible and assertive when his younger siblings just want to goof off and have fun. The oldest son has taken the role of the father since his father must care for his mother then he must care for the family. “I’m supposed to watch my brother and sister.” The responsibility that the author is conveying in the oldest son shows the quality of the family bond and foreshadows how this family will make it through this hard time. Unfinished.

Example Essay based on the Example Reading the Behold | ENGL 101, Papers of Grammar and Composition

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