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Sample Essay About Literature
In the following model, student Dave Burling writes about a poem. (See page 288.) He discusses what happens in the poem and the way the writer makes meaning. Specific details support his analysis.
Old Dog, New Trick
Beginning
The writer introduces the poem, sets the scene, and delivers his focus statement. “Dog Park Dance” tells what happens when a girl and her old beagle show up at a dog park in a new town. The girl is nervous about being a stranger. She fears rejection. Her dog, Pepper, doesn’t have any such fears. The poem shows the messy and goofy way that dogs and their people make friends.