ENG4U – CPT Assignment

20%
The CPT provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate their
understanding of the interplay of social and cultural values, as well as
address perspectives on the themes and interpretations of texts. For this
final essay, you will construct a comparative essay using:
1) The House on Mango Street
2) A novel of your own choice

Parts of the CPT

 CPT Lesson (8%)
 Persuasive Literary Essay – MLA Format (12%...see breakdown)

IMPORTANT DATES
 Friday, May 26th: CPT text choice due (1%)
o Template to be posted to our Edsby page. Fill this out and
upload to the Edsby submission bucket.
 Wednesday, May 31st: Essay Outline (1%)
o Template to be posted to our Edsby page. Fill this out and
upload to the Edsby submission bucket.
 Monday, June 5th: Comparative Essay Due (10%)
 Tuesday, June 6th: CPT Lesson Due (8%)
 TEXT OF CHOICE

You must first choose a text (a play or a novel) to use for

your CPT that can be used in a comparative analysis along
with our course text, The House on Mango Street.

In order to use your text, you must fill out the Text
Proposal sheet to seek approval from your teacher. Texts
must be appropriate to the level of our course.

DUE: May 26th

PERSUASIVE LITERARY ESSAY

 You will submit:

o A 4-5 page MLA formatted essay, double-spaced
o A Works Cited page to cite your research

 The essay must include:

o Title section: title, name, date, course code, teacher’s
name.
o Must be neat and professional looking
o Font: 12 point, Times New Roman
o Margins: 1”
o Page Numbers
o MLA formatted in-text citations

DUE: June 5th

CPT Lesson
 Your lesson (to me) is to:
o Be 5-7 minutes in length
o Be about SOMETHING that is in your
comparative essay, BUT NOT a run-down
of what you have written for me
o Creatively express your topic

GUIDELINES
 Each CPT lesson will be 5-7 minutes in length.
 In your presentation, you will discuss your text briefly, explaining how your
presentation topic relates to the text.
 You must integrate some form of technology and visuals into your lesson.
 Your seminar presentation should be about SOMETHING that you have done
unique research on. It is NOT about what happens in your texts.
o For example, if a character in your text lives in
New York City, you could research and present on how
and why New York City frequently becomes the
backdrop of literary texts – what is the subtext behind
it, etc.
o If a character in your text is in the military, you
could research military from the appropriate time
period, and give us a deeper understanding of the
character associations, social climate, etc.

PAST EXAMPLES:
o A student read a text that is set in Japan; she presented on Japanese culture and
traditions, and related to examples in the text.
o A student read a text that included themes of racism; he presented on the
history of segregation in the United States, and how this illuminates the
characters and themes in his given text.
o A student read a text that has a tiger in it; he presented on the different types of
tigers that have been represented in different texts, unpacked their meanings,
and applied it to his own understanding of the particular tiger in his text.

DUE: June 6th

Consider your interests:
As a CPT, it is important that your topic has
relevance and meaning FOR YOU and still be within
the expectations of the English curriculum. Invest the
time into finding a topic that is interesting to you.
Begin thinking about your interests before beginning
your research. Don’t be afraid to discuss your
progress and thoughts with your teacher. Enjoy the
process of directing your own learning and have fun!

IMPORTANT NOTES:
All components of the CPT must be completed on their assigned due date – NO
extensions will be granted (unless there is a last minute emergency situation).

There are three situations where an CPT automatically receives a mark of zero:
1) A project is submitted that has been plagiarized
2) A project is submitted without a Works Cited page
3) A project is submitted for which I have not seen any process work, or have
not approved the text (Text Choice), or have not approved the thesis
(Essay Outline).
Comparison Ideas for CPT Text
1) Heritage/Cultural Influences 7) Fate/Destiny

2) Familial Dysfunction 8) Love (in all of its complexities)

3) Lies/Deceit/Indiscretions 9) Memories/The Past

4) Dreams and Goals 10) Isolation

5) Social Status 11) Mortality

6) Materialism 12) Compassion/Forgiveness