Expository Literary Essay: Preserving Honor


DIRECTIONS: Write a well-organized composition on the topic below.

In many works of literature, the concept of preserving one’s honor (good name or reputation) is important. Such works typically center on an event that threatens the main character’s honor in a fundamental way. The character’s efforts to defend his or her honor, and the results of these efforts, may influence the structure and theme of the work.

From the novels, short stories, full-length plays, films, and poems you have read, select a work in which a character’s honor is challenged. Explain how the character’s honor is challenged, how this character strives to defend it, and how the theme of honor is important to the overall work. Give the title and the author of the work.

As you write your composition, remember to:

  • Give the title and the author of the work.
  • Focus on a character who faces a conflict whose honor is challenged.
  • Give specific examples, reasons, and details from the work to explain how the character’s honor is challenged and how he or she defends it.
  • Explain the importance of honor to the overall work.
  • Give any necessary plot information but avoid giving a plot summary.
  • Write in complete sentences.
  • Write coherent and well-developed paragraphs.
  • Use correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.
Expository Literary Essay Plan
Expository Literary Essay Plan
Holistic Expository Essay Rubric
Holistic Expository Essay Rubric
Critical Response Rubric
Critical Response Rubric