Ransom of Red Chief
Persuasive Letter
Holt Online Essay Scoring Program
Writing Topic
Your principal wants to
invite a celebrity speaker to your school. Think about the celebrity you would
choose to have speak; then, write a letter to persuade your principal to invite
this person. Be sure to include convincing reasons and details to support your
choice.
· For this essay, the celebrity is going
to be O’Henry, the writer of the story “Ransom of Red Chief.” ( Yes, I know he
is dead, so I do not want you to say he would be pretty quiet! Use your imagination!)
· I will be teaching you claims, opposing claims, and using credible
sources.
· I will teach you how to organize your reasons and evidence logically.
Specific focus:
Examine the writing skills of O’Henry as we read “Ransom
of Red Chief.” (We have already focused on how the author’s choice of setting, plot, and characters
impact the theme of a story when we read “Raymond’s Run.”)
· For this piece, focus on the O’Henry’s
word choice (vocabulary) and his use
of irony.
· What effect does his choice of words
have on the story?
· Does he use large vocabulary in all
his stories? If not, why was it used in this one?
· There are many examples of irony in
this story. Do they make the story more
enjoyable?
Steps we will take:
Read the Adapted Reader version of “Ransom of Red Chief.”
Understand the basic setting, characters, and plot.
Be sure you can answer the questions throughout the
story.
Read the real version of the story in the green
literature book or your online Holt.
Explore vocabulary
Make a list of ALL the words that jump out at you.
What is your guess at the word BEFORE you look at the
definition?
Explore irony
List examples as you go.
Explain how the ending is ironic.
Based on how O’Henry writes in this story, predict how
the students of H.B. would react to him as a celebrity speaker.
Extra Steps you could take:
Research O’Henry a little.
Read some of his other story stories.
Final Product
Submit the piece as many times as you want on the Holt
Online Essay Program.
Print a version of your letter and hand in.
Times New Roman size 12
Single-spaced
Use correct letter
format (I will
teach).
