Point, Evidence, Explain, +

Choiceboard Question: What is the theme of the story? Give evidence that supports your assertion. Why do you think this? Thesis Statement: The story Totto-Chan by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi uses the theme of acceptance to demonstrate its difficulty, ability to make personal change, and as a necessary quality for love.

Topics (Points) of evidence: Difficulty, Personal Change, Quality of Love.

Point
The author demonstrates that the ability to accept a person can be difficult to do if their behavior does not fit your expectations.

Evidence
Totto-Chans teacher was unable to accept her behavior, I feel it is quite unnecessary to ask swallows what they are doing in the middle of class(pg. 3).

Explain
The teacher was unable to see any value in Totto-Chans behavior because it was too different from her expectations of how a student should behave. Totto-Chans teacher was unwilling to recognize her creativity and find a more positive way to channel her energy.

Transition/Link
Not only did she find her behavior in class difficult, but she found Totto-Chans way of doing her work unacceptable.

Evidence
The teacher continued to tell Totto-Chans mother about how she colored a flag. She had drawn a yellow fringe that went right off the edge of the paper (pg. 3).

Explain
The fact that during an art lesson, the teacher still could not accept Totto-Chans creative behavior, demonstrates how difficult it can be for an adult to accept a young students ability to think outside of the box.

Conclusion
In these examples from the story, it is evident that the author is using the theme of acceptance and shows how difficult it can be to accept others differences and value them.

Full Paragraph using PEE+

The author demonstrates that the ability to accept a person can be difficult to do if their behavior does not fit your expectations. Totto-Chans teacher was unable to accept her behavior, I feel it is quite unnecessary to ask swallows what they are doing in the middle of class(pg. 3). The teacher was unable to see any value in TottoChans behavior because it was too different from her expectations of how a student should behave. Totto-Chans teacher was unwilling to recognize her creativity and find a more positive way to channel her energy. Not only did she find her behavior in class difficult, but she found Totto-Chans way of doing her work unacceptable. The teacher continued to tell Totto-Chans mother about how she colored a flag. She had drawn a yellow fringe that went right off the edge of the paper (pg. 3). The fact that during an art lesson, the teacher still could not accept Totto-Chans creative behavior, demonstrates how difficult it can be for an adult to accept a young students ability to think outside of the box. In these examples from the story, it is evident that the author is using the theme of acceptance and shows how difficult it can be to accept others differences and value them.