How to answer an essay question - Honors

1. How to answer an essay question - Honors By Ms. Earhart

2. In one detailed paragraph, explain 3 qualities Rainsford and Zaroff have in common. Use examples from the story to support your opinion.

3. Highlight the focus of the question • Brainstorm (qualities) • Write reasons (proof from text) • Create topic sentence from the question or prompt • Put ideas in a logical order (parallelism) • Use transition words (first, next, then) • Write a concluding sentence

4. In one detailed paragraph, explain3 qualities Rainsford and Zaroffhave in common. Use examples from the story to support your opinion.

5. Brainstorming • Rainsford - Courageous – defends his thought that hunting ppl is wrong; won’t hunt even tho Z wants him to; jumps off the cliff; goes back to Z’s house to win the game • Zaroff – Courageous – decides to hunt a very experienced hunter; is willing to fight him at the end • Rainsford - Sneaky – creates traps (loops his footprints, Malay man-catcher, Burmese tiger pit, knife trap) • Zaroff – Sneaky – knows R is in the tree but doesn’t catch him on purpose; uses Ivan & dogs to help him hunt but doesn’t tell R • Rainsford - Smart – realizes that “straight flight was futile,” so he made the trail; didn’t jump on Z when he could have (saw gun); realized Z was playing w/him; figured out how to use the island to his advantage w/his trap; decided to jump when the dogs were after him • Zaroff – Smart – has never lost his hunting game; can track guys at night

6. Topic Sentence Student Example: Although Rainsford is quite different from Zaroff, he proves to have similar qualities as Zaroff by being courageous, sneaky, and smart.

7. Logical Order – courage, sneaky, smart, Rainsford first, then Zaroff First, Rainsford shows that he has courage because he defends his thoughts that hunting humans is wrong to man who is a murderer. He also jumps off a cliff when the dogs were getting near. Zaroff is courageous because he is hunting an excellent and experienced hunter and is willing to fight Rainsford at the end. Next, Rainsford is sneaky. He creates several traps, like the Malay man catcher and the Burmese tiger pit, to try to survive and kill Zaroff. Zaroff uses Ivan and the dogs during his hunting and knows Rainsford is in the tree, showing that he is also sneaky. Finally, Rainsford is smart. He knows that running won’t help him, so he creates traps, doesn’t jump on Zaroff when he wanted to because Zaroff had a gun, and figures out how to use the island to his advantage. Zaroff proves he is smart by never losing a hunting game and can track men at night.

8. Transitions First Next finally

9. Concluding Sentence Throughout the short story, Rainsford was challenged by Zaroff’s skills, but in the end, he wins the game because he had the courage, sneakiness, and intelligence to do so.