Isabelle Schoenborn

Literary Essay
January 9th 2015
Meli is The Most Reliable Character in The Day of the Pelican
To accomplish something together, people have to be reliable.In The Day of
the Pelican by Katherine Paterson, Meli proves to be the most reliable of the Lleshi
children because she obeys her parents , she is helpful to her family, and because
she consoles the younger members of the family in times of need.
Firstly, why Meli proves to be the most reliable is because she obeys her
parents. She does what she has been told to do. One example would be that at the
beginning of the book, her uncle and aunt come over to talk to Melis parents in
private. Meli is told to bring the younger children into the other room so that the
adults can talk. On page 5, the book says ; Meli, take the little ones into the
Kitchen.Meli took Vloras hand Come on Isuf Adi That is when Meli is
trying to usher her siblings inside when the adults want to call.
The second reason why Meli seems to be reliable is because she is helpful
to her family .In that family, when they are fleeing Kosovo,if any of the children
begin whine , it would not help the family at all. It would be quite a nuisance
.Meli, seems to realize that .She doesnt complain when she has to make coffee, or
carry a heavy water bucket. Also, before they have to flee, she often helps out at
home with her mother(washing-up would be one example).
When it comes to considering the family as a whole, Meli would be the most
reliable.However, some people would say that Baba ,or Mehmet would be more
reliable. Well, Baba is not a child in the first place. Anyway ,Baba would be
considered more responsible than reliable. Mehmet , is not the most reliable
because in the beginning of the story, he wanders of to join the KLA .I dont call
that reliable. One minute he is there, the next he is somewhere else and I cant
remember him helping out a lot more than Meli.(When I say this I mean that there
are more examples, of Meli being reliable than of Mehmet).Some people would
say the mother would be responsible but, again the mother is not a child. Vlora is
too small and so are Isuf and Aldi.
The last reason why Meli would be considered reliable is because she
consoles her younger siblings . An example would be on page 100-101. Isuf

asks :Is something wrong Meli No Isuf she said ,breathing deeply to make
herself calm These things always take time that is one example of Meli
consoling Isuf, when they are in the airport going off to America .It shows that she
also helps out with her family. Whenever the younger ones ask her about
something that Meli knows but that they should not know , she tells them
something that is true but not the total thing. Another reason why she is helpful is
because she always takes the hands of the younger siblings. Whenever they go
through a crowd of people , they have to stick together so that they don't leave any
one behind .Meli always takes the hand of Isuf or Adil . A good example would be
on page 70.The book said Meli got up gratefully, taking Vlora by the hand This
is when they are going through a thick crowd .This shows that Meli is reliable, by
taking the hand of her sibling, Vlora.

In the book, she proves to be the most reliable. She obeys her parents, she is
helpful to her family in times of need and because she consoles her younger
siblings. The reliable people would be the people we would trust to do more things
with them, or give them information you would not give to an unreliable person.
Literary Essay Scoring Rubric
First Draft Letter Grade:

1 (4 is the highest score)

Isabelle, please make revisions to your essay. You need to

start by first revising your claim. You also need to work
on how your essay looks on the page. There are some
spacing issues.
It would be a good idea to come see me during Office
Hours or during lunch. I need to help you with the
organization and cleaning up the punctuation and
grammar.
Final Draft Letter Grade:
Things I
Graded

Grade 6

N Start Ye
ot
ing
s
Ye
To
t

Lead

I wrote an introduction to
interest readers and help them
understand and care about a
topic or text.

X
X

I thought backwards between

the piece and the introduction
to make sure that the
introduction fit with the whole.
Not only did I clearly state my
claim, I also told my readers
how my text would unfold.
Transitio
ns

Ending

Organiza
tion

I used transitions to help

readers understand how the
different parts of my piece fit
together to explain and
support my argument.

I used transitions to help

connect claim(s), reasons, and
evidence.

In my conclusion, I restated
the important points and
offered a final insight or
implication for readers to
consider. The ending
strengthened the overall
argument.

I organized my argument into

sections: I arranged reasons
and evidence purposefully,
leading readers from one claim
or reason to another.
The order of the sections and

the internal structure of each

section made sense.
Elaborati
on

I included and arranged a

variety of evidence such as
facts, quotations, examples,
and definitions.
I worked to explain how the
reasons and evidence I gave
supported my claim(s) and
strengthened my argument. To
do this I may have referred to
earlier parts of my text,
summarized background
information, raised questions,
or highlighted possible
implications.

Craft

I chose my words carefully to

support my argument and to
have an effect on my reader.

I worked to include concrete

details to convey my ideas,
build my argument, and keep
my reader engaged.
I made my piece sound
serious.
Spelling

I used resources to be sure the

words in my writing were
spelled correctly, including
returning to sources to check
spelling.

Conventi Grammar and mechanics are

ons
correct in the following areas:
use of quotation marks in

X
X

direct quotations from the text

use of paragraphs
use of commas
use of end punctuation
use of capitalization