CSU Task Force 12: Expository Reading and Writing



The California State University

Task Force on Expository Reading and Writing

EXPOSITORY READING AND WRITING COURSE

THE VALUE OF LIFE

Teacher Version 1.1

This assignment sequence asks students to read a number of texts, written in very different contexts and genres, which provide various points of view on the ways we value human life. The goal of this assignment sequence is to inquire into different ways writers have interrogated and represented human life value. While each of the texts included have been used successfully with high school students, the sequence could easily be expanded to include many other texts. The key objective for students is to make connections among the various texts and notice the rhetorical conventions used by specific genres to explore similar questions, and then utilize similar rhetorical devices while writing an essay about their own perceptions of how life should be valued. During this sequence, you will read each of the following texts:

• William Shakespeare, Hamlet's "To be" soliloquy from Hamlet

• Lance Armstrong, excerpt from Chapter 1 of It's Not About the Bike

• Amanda Ripley, "What is a life worth?" from Time magazine

• An online resource, "The Human Life Value Calculator," from the Life Institute

|READING RHETORICALLY |

|PREREADING |

|READING |

|POSTREADING |

|Prereading |

|Getting Ready to Read |

|Surveying the Text |

|Making Predictions and Asking Questions |

|Introducing Key Vocabulary |

|English-Language Arts (ELA) |Getting Ready to Read |

|Standard: Writing Applications | |

|2.3 Write brief reflective |Prior to beginning the readings, ask students to spend 5-10 minutes writing about the following |

|compositions: |topic: |

|a. Explore the significance of | |

|personal experiences, events, |What does being alive mean to you? How do you assign value to life? What makes life challenging? |

|conditions, or concerns by using |What makes it worth living? Try to describe a few examples that help show your thinking about how|

|rhetorical strategies (e.g., |people should value life. |

|narration, description, | |

|exposition, persuasion). |When students have finished writing, ask them to share their thoughts with the class. You may |

| |want to ask them to share in small groups prior to having a whole class discussion. Whatever |

| |method you choose, gather the key ideas generated by the students on an overhead or chart paper; |

| |these ideas will serve as touchstones for the key questions and issues presented by the readings.|

| | |

| |Because the three texts in this module each define “life” in their own ways, it will be helpful |

| |for students to first examine the concept of life before reading the texts. There are many |

| |variations of Concept Maps that you may find useful. One possible model is included below. You |

| |may recreate this Concept Map on chart paper or an overhead transparency and then ask students to|

| |copy it into their notes. It may be helpful to show a partially completed Concept Map to |

| |students the first time you do this activity; students may then generate additional words, |

| |contexts, examples, and non-examples through a teacher-led discussion. |

| | |

| |Sample |

| |Concept: Life |

| |Example sentence: It is difficult to place a precise value on human life. |

| | |

| |Synonyms: Contexts: |

| |Vitality Medical |

| |Living Legal/penal |

| |Energy Economic |

| |Viability Religious |

| |Human being Personal/private |

| |Existence Professional/public |

| |Presence Autobiography |

| | |

| |Examples: Non-examples: |

| |Lifestyle Death |

| |Life’s work Inactivity |

| |Life partner Inanimate objects |

| |The good life Afterlife |

| |The meaning of life Nothingness |

| |Eternal life Non-existence |

| |Life sentence Sterility |

| |Life story Absence |

| | |

| |Concept Map |

| |Directions: This activity will help you build your understanding of the many meanings suggested |

| |by the concept of “life.” Use the model below to explore the ways we define “life” in various |

| |contexts. |

| | |

| |Concept: Life |

| |Example sentence: |

| | |

| |Synonyms: Contexts: |

| | |

| | |

| |Examples: Non-examples: |

| | |

| | |

|ELA Standard: Reading |Surveying the Text: Text 1 – Hamlet's Soliloquy |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|The first text in the sequence is the famous "To be, or not to be" speech from Shakespeare's play|

|the rhetorical devices of |Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. While it is not necessary to read the entire play to teach this |

|different types of public |sequence, you might find that the sequence ties in well with other curriculum used with Hamlet. |

|documents (e.g., policy |When surveying the speech, you will probably want to revisit the term "soliloquy" (a convention |

|statements, speeches, debates, |used by playwrights to allow an audience to hear the thoughts of a character) with students. The |

|platforms) and the way in which |following questions will help students practice quickly assessing text structures and making |

|authors use those features and |connections to their prior knowledge of reading similar texts. Student responses may again be |

|devices. |recorded on chart paper or an overhead transparency. |

| |What prior experiences have you had reading plays? |

| |Students' experiences should include having read some plays, including those by Shakespeare. |

| |What do you notice about the page format and annotations? |

| |What do you notice about the text structure? |

| |Student responses will vary, but many will note the organization as a playscript, that the text |

| |is written in lines of poetry, and that it is compact. |

|ELA Standards: Reading |Making Predictions and Asking Questions |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|Research into the practices of proficient readers notes that when approaching a new text, good |

|the rhetorical devices of |readers try to draw on prior experiences to help make predictions about the text. The questions |

|different types of public |below ask students to do this. |

|documents (e.g., policy | |

|statements, speeches, debates, |Shakespeare’s play was published in 1604 under the title The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince|

|platforms) and the way in which |of Denmarke. What is a tragedy? What themes and outcomes do you expect to find in a tragedy? |

|authors use those features and |What do you know about the language in plays written by Shakespeare? What have you done in the |

|devices. |past to help yourself read Shakespeare effectively? |

|2.3 Verify and clarify facts |Students are likely to note that Shakespeare's language is often difficult, filled with |

|presented in other types of |unfamiliar words and phrases. Allow them to share any frustrations they may have had with reading|

|expository texts by using a |Shakespeare, as well as any suggestions they have for successfully comprehending Shakespeare's |

|variety of consumer, workplace, |texts. |

|and public documents. |The soliloquy here begins with a famous quotation: "To be, or not to be--that is the question." |

| |What do you think "the question" is that Hamlet is asking? How do you think he might answer it? |

| |Answers will vary. There's no reason to suggest a "right" or "wrong" answer at this point, as the|

| |goal is to have some anticipatory ideas prior to reading. Once some suggestions are made, they |

| |can be used for comparison during reading. |

|ELA Standards: |Introducing Key Vocabulary |

|Word Analysis and Systematic | |

|Vocabulary |Students will probably have identified Shakespeare's diction as a problem area during the |

|Development |previous activity. Because much of the problem with reading Shakespeare's texts lies in the |

|1.0 Students apply their |relative rarity of some terms (many of which are archaic), the priority in vocabulary study here |

|knowledge of word origins to |is on utility rather than memorization (it is unlikely, for instance, that students will need to |

|determine the meaning of new |know the word "fardels" in their contemporary lives, but they will need to know its meaning as |

|words encountered in reading |they navigate Hamlet's soliloquy). With the intent of helping students read the text most |

|materials and use those words |efficiently, archaic words and phrases have been marked with an asterisk and defined in the |

|accurately. |margin of the actual text. |

|1.1 Trace the etymology of | |

|significant terms used in |Students may benefit, however, from learning or reviewing key terms conceptually related to |

|political science and history. |Hamlet’s soliloquy. Understanding these terms may assist students in identifying important |

|1.2 Apply knowledge of Greek, |themes in the text and may be useful to students as they respond to discussion questions and |

|Latin, and Anglo-Saxon roots and |writing prompts. |

|affixes to draw inferences | |

|concerning the meaning of |Students may use a number of strategies to learn/review the definitions to the following |

|scientific and mathematical |terms, including Vocabulary Knowledge Ratings, Concept Maps, and dictionary activities (see |

|terminology. |Appendix C for ideas): |

| | |

|College Expectations: These |fortune (from Greek mythology) |

|activities are also designed to |opposition |

|develop the kinds of vocabulary |oppression |

|skills assessed by college |mortality |

|placement exams such as the CSU |dread |

|English Placement Test and the UC|resolution |

|Analytical Writing Placement |antithesis |

|Exam. Students should be able to |pessimism |

|Recognize word meanings in |optimism |

|context. | |

|Respond to tone and connotation. |Polar Opposites |

| |Directions: An important rhetorical device Shakespeare uses in Hamlet’s soliloquy is antithesis, |

| |or a balance of opposites. Hamlet explores a series of oppositional relationships in his speech,|

| |beginning with the question of “to be, or not to be.” For this vocabulary activity, students |

| |will explore some of these antithetical relationships by brainstorming antonyms for the terms |

| |listed below. |

| |  |

| |Term Antonym |

| |1. Oppression |

| |2. Action |

| |3. Endurance |

| |4. Mystery |

| |5. Life |

| | |

| |Word Families |

| |Directions: Ask students to list as many words as possible that are related to the following five|

| |concepts from Hamlet’s soliloquy: action, thought, suffering, mortality, and fear. Students may |

| |include synonyms directly from the text along with any other words they believe are related to |

| |the concept. It is important to note that word families are not simply lists of synonyms; they |

| |may include any sets of words that frequently appear together. For example, “brackish” and |

| |“water” are part of the same word family. |

| | |

| |The purpose of this activity is for to students to understand how word families, or collocations,|

| |shape the meaning of a text. This activity will also help students generate a thematic word bank|

| |that they can use during class discussions and in their writing assignments. |

| | |

| |Example |

| |Resolution: end (line 5), consummation (line 8), will (line 25), decision, outcome, and result |

| |Action: |

| |Thought: |

| |Suffering: |

| |Mortality: |

| |Fear: |

|Reading |

|First Reading |

|Looking Closely at Language |

|Rereading the Text |

|Analyzing Stylistic Choices |

|Considering the Structure of the Text |

|ELA Standards: Reading |First Reading |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|Ask students to read the soliloquy from Hamlet reprinted below. Remind them that because it is |

|the rhetorical devices of |quite short, its meaning must be deciphered relatively quickly. It may be useful to provide the |

|different types of public |background information below, especially for those students who have not studied the play. |

|documents (e.g., policy | |

|statements, speeches, debates, |Background |

|platforms) and the way in which |At this point in the play, Hamlet feels that he is in a crisis. His father died a few months |

|authors use those features and |earlier under mysterious circumstance. Hamlet discovers that his father was secretly murdered—by |

|devices. |Hamlet's uncle, Claudius. Making things even worse, Claudius then married Hamlet's mother. Hamlet|

|2.2 Analyze the way in which |doesn't know what to do about this knowledge. He wonders if he can trust anyone, or if perhaps |

|clarity of meaning is affected by|he's going crazy. |

|the patterns of organization, |As students first read the text, ask them to focus on what they see as the "big picture" that |

|hierarchical structures, |Hamlet describes. Based on this first reading, ask students if they would say that Hamlet is an |

|repetition of main ideas, syntax,|optimist or a pessimist, and prod them to provide specific reasons for their position. |

|and word choice in the text. | |

|ELA Standard: |Strategic Rereading and Evaluating the Text |

|Word Analysis, Fluency, and | |

|Systematic Vocabulary Development|In the activities below, students are asked to use highlighters or colored pencils strategically,|

|1.0 Students apply their |examining specific ways that Shakespeare describes the value of life. Notice that this is |

|knowledge of word origins to |different than using a highlighter to mark what is "important"--a task students often find |

|determine the meaning of new |difficult because "importance" is always contingent on specific purposes for reading. Some |

|words encountered in reading |students may feel concerned that they aren't doing this activity correctly; reassure them that |

|materials and use those words |what they choose to highlight will provide points for discussion, and will not be judged as right|

|accurately. |or wrong. The idea is to ask students to actively engage with the text's ideas; discussion with |

| |others will help determine the meaningfulness of their selections. |

|ELA Standard: Writing Strategies| |

|1.7 Use systematic strategies to |Strategic Marking of the Text: |

|organize and record information |Because the focus of this series of texts is on the way people value life, students now need to |

|(e.g. anecdotal scripting, |take a second look at the soliloquy. This time, ask them to read the text with a yellow |

|annotated bibliographies). |highlighter or colored pencil (or devise some other way of marking the text in a unique, and |

| |easily-recognizable way). Using the highlighter, students mark the places in the text where |

|ELA Standard: Reading |Hamlet describes what it means to be alive. |

|Comprehension | |

|2.2 Analyze the way in which |Example: In lines 2-3, he describes life as "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," so you|

|clarity of meaning is affected by|could highlight that phrase as an example of what Hamlet thinks it means "to be." |

|the patterns of organization, | |

|hierarchical structures, |Characterizing the Text: |

|repetition of main ideas, syntax,|Next, ask students to take a look at the parts of the soliloquy that they highlighted, and |

|and word choice in the text. |compare them with a classmate's markings. Find a few examples that both marked, and mark the |

| |examples with a "+" or "-" to indicate whether the examples show a positive (+) outlook on life |

|Prerequisite 7th Grade ELA |or a negative (-) one. In the example above—"the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune"—they |

|Standard: Writing Applications |would mark a "-" because it compares being alive to being under attack. After marking several of |

|2.5 Write summaries of reading |these, ask students to reflect on the question asked earlier: From the evidence in the soliloquy,|

|materials: |does Hamlet seem optimistic or a pessimistic? |

|a. Include the main ideas and | |

|most significant details. |Paraphrasing the Text: |

|b. Use the student's own words, |Continuing to work with partners, ask students to choose 3 of their highlighted samples and |

|except for quotations. |paraphrase them. To continue with the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" example, a |

|c. Reflect underlying meaning, |paraphrase might sound something like this: "Hamlet compares being alive to having fate shoot |

|not just the superficial details.|arrows at you." As they paraphrase, students should pay attention to the style used by |

| |Shakespeare to convey his ideas. Ask them to consider the difference between having Hamlet say |

|ELA Standard: Writing |that life is like "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" and having him just say "life is |

|Applications |unpleasant." Discuss with students the effects of Shakespeare's stylistic choices as a writer. |

|2.2 Write responses to | |

|literature: |Students may draw on their vocabulary work with word families to make these stylistic |

|a. Demonstrate a comprehensive |comparisons. Students should consider how the words and images that relate to “slings,” |

|understanding of the significant |“arrows,” “suffer,” “arms,” and “outrageous” differ from the collocations associated with the |

|ideas in works or passages. |word “unpleasant.” |

|ELA Standards: Reading |Thinking Critically |

|Comprehension | |

|2.4 Make warranted and reasonable|The following questions move students through the traditional rhetorical appeals. Using this |

|assertions about the author’s |framework, help students progress from a literal to an analytical understanding of the reading |

|arguments by using elements of |material. |

|the text to defend and clarify |Text Structure and Ethos, Logos, Pathos |

|interpretations. |We identified the genre earlier as a drama, but more specifically this is a soliloquy. As noted |

|2.5 Analyze an author’s implicit |above, a soliloquy is a dramatic convention that allows a character, alone on a stage, to speak |

|and explicit philosophical |aloud his or her thoughts. From your reading of the soliloquy, answer the following questions: |

|assumptions and beliefs about a | |

|subject. |Does the soliloquy form seem to favor the expression of emotion (pathos) or logic (logos)? |

|2.6 Critique the power, validity,|Explain why you think so. |

|and truthfulness of arguments set|The primary emphasis is on using emotion-charged language. Hamlet uses metaphors regularly to |

|forth in public documents; their |help the reader picture the emotions--primarily negative ones--he associates with life. |

|appeal to both friendly and |Does Hamlet's soliloquy use emotion, or pathos, to create a specific effect on the reader? If so,|

|hostile audiences; and the extent|describe how emotion is used. |

|to which the arguments anticipate|Hamlet's use of emotion is rampant. His descriptions of how miserable life is are intended to |

|and address reader concerns and |help the audience feel sympathetic to his plight. |

|counterclaims (e.g., appeal to |Does Hamlet's soliloquy use logic, or logos, to create a specific effect on the reader? If so, |

|reason, to authority, to pathos |describe how the logic is used. |

|and emotion). |While the primary focus of the soliloquy is on describing the emotional turmoil that is life, the|

| |soliloquy uses logic to conclude that if everyone is miserable, they must be scared of dying or |

|College Expectations: These |they would commit suicide to get rid of the pain of living. |

|questions are also designed to |When Hamlet speaks his soliloquy, he is in crisis. How do his circumstances position Hamlet to |

|develop the kinds of skills |speak with authority (ethos) about the value of life? Does Hamlet seem to be speaking about his |

|assessed by college placement |own life in particular or about the quality of life in general? |

|exams such as the English |Because of his personal experiences with the pain of living--he's surrounded by his uncle, who |

|Placement Test and the UC |killed his father and then married his mother--Hamlet seems to have a right to feel as he does. |

|Analytical Writing Placement |As careful readers, we are of course aware that it's not really Hamlet speaking, but a character |

|Exam. Students should be able to |created by William Shakespeare. Does Shakespeare seem like someone whose opinions and attitudes |

|Identify important ideas. |are worth considering? Why? |

|Understand direct statements. |Shakespeare's reputation as a master dramatist whose plays capture human experience gives him |

|Draw inferences and conclusions. |authority to speak about this issue. However, we should also note that Shakespeare has |

|Detect underlying assumptions. |constructed this situation in order to create drama onstage. In other words, the fictional aspect|

|Recognize word meanings in |of the story should encourage us to interrogate Hamlet's arguments carefully, and not necessarily|

|context. |simply accept them at face value. |

|Respond to tone and connotation. | |

|ELA Standards: Reading |Considering the Structure of the Text |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|The activity described below requires students to begin charting the texts in the sequence (the |

|the rhetorical devices of |chart is appended to the end of this document). The graphic organizer allows them to keep track |

|different types of public |of the key information garnered from each text, as well as students' own responses to those |

|documents (e.g., policy |texts. The chart has proven extremely helpful in the writing assignment at the end of the |

|statements, speeches, debates, |sequence. |

|platforms) and the way in which | |

|authors use those features and |Charting the text |

|devices. |Provide students with a copy (or ask them to make a version) of the chart constructed for this |

|2.2 Analyze the way in which |assignment. It is designed to help students keep track of the texts and their arguments, and the |

|clarity of meaning is affected by|relationships among the different readings. The chart will prove useful when students approach |

|the patterns of organization, |the writing assignment at the end of this sequence of readings. The directions below are taken |

|hierarchical structures, |from the student version of the assignment sequence, and may be completed as a whole-class |

|repetition of main ideas, syntax,|activity if needed. |

|and word choice in the text. | |

| |Directions |

| |As you look down the side of the chart, you see that it asks you for information about the |

| |different texts you'll be reading in this assignment: |

| | |

| |Title |

| |Author |

| |Genre |

| | |

| |The title and author are self-explanatory. "Genre" means "type," so it's asking you to describe |

| |the type of writing. For this first text, you'd put "Drama" or "Play" as the genre. |

| | |

| |Across the top of the chart are the ideas you'll be tracking as you read the texts in this |

| |assignment sequence. These are in the form of questions: |

| | |

| |What is the text's big issue? |

| |This asks you to identify the "main idea" of the text. |

| |What claim does the text make? |

| |This asks you to identify the writer's perspective on the main idea. |

| |What are the text's examples/quotes? |

| |This is where you put examples given by the writer to help the reader understand his or her |

| |claim. The quotes and paraphrases you worked on earlier will fit in here well. Be sure to include|

| |page and/or line numbers to identify where you found the quote or idea. |

| |What do you think about the text's claim? |

| |In this box, you'll explain your response to the text's claim, including to what extent (if any) |

| |you agree with it. |

| |What are your examples? |

| |Give a few examples from your own experiences that help explain your response to the text's |

| |claim. |

| |How does this text connect to other texts? |

| |If you see a similarity to another text, make a note of it here. Connections can be made even |

| |among texts that have very different claims! |

| | |

| |Provide students a few moments to fill in the chart for Hamlet's soliloquy; allow them to work in|

| |pairs, if appropriate. The final box on making connections may be left blank until further |

| |readings have been completed. |

|ELA Standard: Reading |Surveying the Text: Text 2 - It's Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|The second text is an excerpt from It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life by Lance |

|the rhetorical devices of |Armstrong with Sally Jenkins (New York: Penguin Putnam, 2000). This engaging, accessible |

|different types of public |narrative is very attractive to students, many of whom go on to read the entire book on their own|

|documents (e.g., policy |afterward. Armstrong's perspective provides an interesting foil to Hamlet's perception of human |

|statements, speeches, debates, |life. Prior to reading, ask students to answer the following questions, either in writing or as |

|platforms) and the way in which |part of a class discussion. |

|authors use those features and |What do you know about Lance Armstrong? If you don't know anything about him, try doing a quick |

|devices. |Internet search and see what comes up. |

| |Armstrong is a world-renowned bicycle racer, famous for having won consecutive Tours de France |

| |from 1998-2004 (as of this writing). He was sidetracked by cancer early in his career, but made a|

| |stunning comeback. He is (as of this writing) dating rock singer Sheryl Crow, having divorced his|

| |wife shortly after the publication of the book from which this excerpt is taken. |

| |What is the significance of the fact that the book is written by Lance Armstrong with Sally |

| |Jenkins? |

| |This is a flag that the book, although seemingly "co-written" by Armstrong and Jenkins, was |

| |probably written primarily by Jenkins. Many celebrity-authored books have this type of shared |

| |authorial byline. It is significant in that it indicates that actual authorship is not as |

| |straightforward as in a more traditional autobiography, but a reader can safely assume that the |

| |viewpoints provided are those of the "famous" person. |

| |What kind of text—what genre—do you think this book is? |

| |Most students will be able to identify this text as an autobiography. They may also know or |

| |predict that this may cover all of Armstrong's life, or be limited to a specific time period. |

|ELA Standards: Reading |Making Predictions and Asking Questions |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|Use the questions below to help students make specific predictions about the content of |

|the rhetorical devices of |Armstrong's text. |

|different types of public | |

|documents (e.g., policy |What topics do you think Lance Armstrong might talk about that are related to the issue of how we|

|statements, speeches, debates, |value life? |

|platforms) and the way in which |Students who know about Armstrong's battle with cancer may be able to anticipate that he will be |

|authors use those features and |well-positioned to sympathize with Hamlet's view that life is full of suffering. |

|devices. |Do you think Lance Armstrong's claim about the value of life will agree with Hamlet's or not? |

|2.3 Verify and clarify facts |Again, students who know that Armstrong survived cancer and went on to great accomplishments in |

|presented in other types of |bicycle racing may anticipate that Armstrong has a less pessimistic tone to his piece. |

|expository texts by using a | |

|variety of consumer, workplace, | |

|and public documents. | |

|ELA Standards: |Introducing Key Vocabulary |

|Word Analysis and Systematic | |

|Vocabulary |Although the excerpt from Armstrong's autobiography is generally an easy, straightforward text to|

|Development |read, there are a few vocabulary words you might want to preview for your students prior to |

|1.0 Students apply their |assigning the reading. List these words on the board, provide students with sticky notes, and ask|

|knowledge of word origins to |them to use the notes to mark the placement of the words within the text. Have them notice the |

|determine the meaning of new |context of the word, and write a "best guess" synonym for the word on the sticky note. You may |

|words encountered in reading |want to read aloud the first few paragraphs (which contain several of the words on the list), |

|materials and use those words |practicing the task of defining through context. |

|accurately. | |

|1.1 Trace the etymology of |expire (die) |

|significant terms used in |poignant (touching, sentimental) |

|political science and history. |demise (ending, death) |

|1.2 Apply knowledge of Greek, |cadence (pace, rhythm) |

|Latin, and Anglo-Saxon roots and |marbled (striated, multicolored) |

|affixes to draw inferences |acrid (bitter, sour) |

|concerning the meaning of |puckered (indented, sucked-in) |

|scientific and mathematical |catheter (tube used in medical procedures) |

|terminology. |constitution (physical makeup or strength) |

| |articulate (describe coherently) |

|College Expectations: These | |

|activities are also designed to |After students have had some practice with the definitions, you may ask them to identify sets or |

|develop the kinds of vocabulary |pairs of words that are related to each other. Which words refer to death? Which words refer to|

|skills assessed by college |the body? You may then ask students to predict what additional word families they might |

|placement exams such as the CSU |encounter in this excerpt. |

|English Placement Test and the UC| |

|Analytical Writing Placement | |

|Exam. Students should be able to | |

|Recognize word meanings in | |

|context. | |

|Respond to tone and connotation. | |

|Reading |

|First Reading |

|Looking Closely at Language |

|Rereading the Text |

|Analyzing Stylistic Choices |

|Considering the Structure of the Text |

|ELA Standards: Reading |First Reading |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|Instruct students to read the text by Lance Armstrong below. As they read, they should pay |

|the rhetorical devices of |attention to the way that Armstrong talks about the value of life. As was done with Hamlet, ask |

|different types of public |students to try to |

|documents (e.g., policy |determine if Armstrong appears to be generally pessimistic or optimistic, based on their reading |

|statements, speeches, debates, |of the passage. |

|platforms) and the way in which | |

|authors use those features and |You may also ask students to consider whether Armstrong’s view of mortality reflects a positive |

|devices. |or negative view of life. Does the text, in other words, present an argument about the value of |

|2.2 Analyze the way in which |death? |

|clarity of meaning is affected by| |

|the patterns of organization, | |

|hierarchical structures, | |

|repetition of main ideas, syntax,| |

|and word choice in the text. | |

|ELA Standard: |Strategic Rereading and Evaluating the Text |

|Word Analysis, Fluency, and | |

|Systematic Vocabulary Development|Strategic Marking of the Text I: |

|1.0 Students apply their |First Highlighting: As they did with the Shakespeare text, students will mark Armstrong's text. |

|knowledge of word origins to |This time, instruct them to use an orange colored highlighter or colored pencil, or devise some |

|determine the meaning of new |other method of marking the text in a way different from the way the soliloquy was marked. Ask |

|words encountered in reading |them to highlight the sentences, phrases, and/or words that Armstrong uses to describe what he |

|materials and use those words |thinks it means to be alive. |

|accurately. | |

| |Characterizing the Text: |

|ELA Standard: Writing Strategies|Once they have highlighted Armstrong's text, again they should compare what was selected to |

|1.7 Use systematic strategies to |highlight with the choices a classmate made. Then, working together, they should mark some of the|

|organize and record information |commonly-highlighted parts with a "+" or "-" sign to indicate whether the quote shows a generally|

|(e.g. anecdotal scripting, |positive or negative outlook on life. Discussing the results with their partners, ask them to |

|annotated bibliographies). |answer the question about Armstrong's outlook on life: is he an optimist or a pessimist? |

| | |

|ELA Standard: Reading |Strategic Marking of the Text II: |

|Comprehension |Second Highlighting: Next, ask students to go through the text once more, this time with the |

|2.2 Analyze the way in which |yellow highlighter. They should imagine that they are reading Armstrong's text from Hamlet's |

|clarity of meaning is affected by|perspective. Ask them to highlight any passages that Hamlet would find particularly interesting |

|the patterns of organization, |or compelling. Some of these may be the same words they already highlighted, while others will be|

|hierarchical structures, |new. |

|repetition of main ideas, syntax,| |

|and word choice in the text. |Connecting the Texts—The Mock Interview: |

| |Armstrong and Hamlet, in their respective texts, provide quite different perspectives on the |

|Prerequisite 7th Grade ELA |meaning and value of life. Working with a partner, ask students to envision a scenario in which |

|Standard: Writing Applications |somehow Hamlet would have the opportunity to interview Armstrong and vice versa. One partner |

|2.5 Write summaries of reading |should write out a series of at least five questions that Hamlet would probably ask Armstrong, |

|materials: |while the other writes five questions for Armstrong to ask Hamlet. Interview questions might |

|a. Include the main ideas and |address such issues as Hamlet’s and Armstrong’s attitudes toward death, fear, vitality, human |

|most significant details. |relationships, and endurance. The following examples might help students get started: |

|b. Use the student's own words, | |

|except for quotations. |How do you feel you’ve been treated by other people? |

|c. Reflect underlying meaning, |Are you afraid of death? |

|not just the superficial details.|Are there any benefits to suffering? |

| |How do you approach challenges? |

|ELA Standard: Writing | |

|Applications |When the questions are finished, instruct students to take on the personas of these two, and |

|2.2 Write responses to |conduct the interviews. Be sure students give answers that are in keeping with the points of view|

|literature: |provided in the two texts. After conducting the mock interviews, discuss (in partnerships as well|

|a. Demonstrate a comprehensive |as in whole-class settings) the relative viewpoints of the characters. How well would they get |

|understanding of the significant |along with one another? How would each respond to the arguments made by the other? |

|ideas in works or passages. | |

|ELA Standards: Reading |Thinking Critically |

|Comprehension | |

|2.4 Make warranted and reasonable|The following questions move students through the traditional rhetorical appeals. Using this |

|assertions about the author’s |framework, help students progress from a literal to an analytical understanding of the reading |

|arguments by using elements of |material. |

|the text to defend and clarify |Text Structure and Ethos, Logos, Pathos |

|interpretations. |Armstrong's text is an autobiography. As with the soliloquy we examined before, the form of this |

|2.5 Analyze an author’s implicit |writing has an effect on how it is read and understood. The questions below will help students |

|and explicit philosophical |assess Armstrong's text. |

|assumptions and beliefs about a |An autobiography is a form of nonfiction--a text that tells the "truth." Do you think Armstrong |

|subject. |is being truthful in his account of his life? Explain your reasoning. |

|2.6 Critique the power, validity,|Answers will vary. Students will probably note that the "truth" is dependent upon perspective, |

|and truthfulness of arguments set|and that Armstrong probably believes that he is telling the truth. Many will note that others, |

|forth in public documents; their |whose voices are not represented in the text, might have a different view of the story. |

|appeal to both friendly and |Armstrong's autobiography is written by Armstrong "with" Sally Jenkins. What role do you think |

|hostile audiences; and the extent|Jenkins played in the writing of the text? How does her participation in the creation of the text|

|to which the arguments anticipate|influence your interpretation of Armstrong's story? In other words, how does the combination of |

|and address reader concerns and |Armstrong and Jenkins as authors affect the "ethos" of the text? |

|counterclaims (e.g., appeal to |Answers will vary. Students may know about the concept of a ghost writer, and may call into |

|reason, to authority, to pathos |question the origins of the text's style and structure. Jenkins' role may make the students |

|and emotion). |reconsider the validity of the ideas, since they do not know anything about Jenkins or her |

| |ability/authority to talk about the issues in Armstrong's text. |

|College Expectations: These |Do you think that Armstrong's story has an impact on the reader because of its use of logic |

|questions are also designed to |(logos) or emotion (pathos) or both? |

|develop the kinds of skills |Answers will vary. As with Hamlet, this text uses both logos and pathos. The descriptions |

|assessed by college placement |Armstrong provides engage the reader emotionally, and that emotional impact is used to justify a |

|exams such as the English |logical embracing of life. |

|Placement Test and the UC |Unlike Hamlet, Armstrong is not in the midst of his crisis when he writes his story; instead, he |

|Analytical Writing Placement |writes about his experiences in hindsight. Does that have an impact on Armstrong's ability to |

|Exam. Students should be able to |make his ideas and story compelling to the reader? Explain your reasoning. |

|Identify important ideas. |Answers vary. Students may point out that Armstrong may have described his incidents much |

|Understand direct statements. |differently when he was actually in the midst of his battle with cancer. The narration of the |

|Draw inferences and conclusions. |events after he had already succeeded in defeating cancer and regaining his health and strength |

|Detect underlying assumptions. |provide a particular lens through which to view those events. The narration does not engage the |

|Recognize word meanings in |question of "what will happen?" as is the case with Hamlet, but instead makes the reader want to |

|context. |know how Armstrong was able to rise above the difficulties he faced. |

|Respond to tone and connotation. | |

|ELA Standards: Reading |Considering the Structure of the Text |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|Charting the text: |

|the rhetorical devices of |Instruct students to make an entry in their charts for the Armstrong text, filling it out as they|

|different types of public |did with the soliloquy. When they reach the entry for "How does this text connect to other |

|documents (e.g., policy |texts?", ask students to briefly describe the ways that Armstrong responds to and/or challenges |

|statements, speeches, debates, |the assertions made by Shakespeare in his soliloquy for Hamlet. |

|platforms) and the way in which | |

|authors use those features and | |

|devices. | |

|2.2 Analyze the way in which | |

|clarity of meaning is affected by| |

|the patterns of organization, | |

|hierarchical structures, | |

|repetition of main ideas, syntax,| |

|and word choice in the text. | |

|ELA Standard: Reading |Surveying the Text: Text – “What is a life worth?” by Amanda Ripley |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|The article "What is a life worth?" comes from the February 12, 2002, issue of Time magazine. |

|the rhetorical devices of |With the students, take look at its form and length. Ask students to consider the following |

|different types of public |questions: |

|documents (e.g., policy |How much time do you think it will take to read the piece? |

|statements, speeches, debates, |Answers will vary. The point is to model the practice of anticipating the time commitment of the |

|platforms) and the way in which |reading task. |

|authors use those features and |Have you read anything from Time magazine? |

|devices. |Answers vary. Ask about the kinds of articles students have read. |

| |What do you know about that publication? |

| |Answers vary. |

| |What kinds of articles are commonly included in it? |

| |Students will probably be able to identify Time as a magazine focused on issues in the news. |

| |What types of people do you think comprise the magazine's primary readership? |

| |This may be a tougher question for students. If they don't know quite how to answer this, you |

| |might ask them to try identifying where they have seen it (in family homes, in offices, etc.) and|

| |extrapolate from there about the magazine's readership. |

|ELA Standards: Reading |Making Predictions and Asking Questions |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|This article has the following subtitle: "To compensate families of the victims of Sept. 11, the |

|the rhetorical devices of |government has invented a way to measure blood and loss in cash. A look at the wrenching |

|different types of public |calculus." Ask students the following questions to help ready them for the task of reading the |

|documents (e.g., policy |text. |

|statements, speeches, debates, | |

|platforms) and the way in which |What predictions can you make about the article's content from what the subtitle says? |

|authors use those features and |Answers vary. Students will be able to identify that the subject matter will center on victims of|

|devices. |the Al-Qaeda attacks, and should be able to guess that it will detail ways that the loss of life |

|2.3 Verify and clarify facts |is being calculated in monetary terms. |

|presented in other types of |What connections do you think you might see between this article and the previous two texts you |

|expository texts by using a |have read? |

|variety of consumer, workplace, |Answers vary. The obvious connection is that all texts are going to deal with how life is valued;|

|and public documents. |the difference will be in the translation of that value from philosophical terms to economic |

| |ones. |

| |The first two texts took first-person perspectives on the subject. Do you anticipate that this |

| |article will continue in that vein, or will it be different? Why do you think so? |

| |Answers will vary, depending on students' schema for the publication. Students who have |

| |experience with Time or other news magazines will likely be able to identify the style of such |

| |articles as being more objectively written than the prior texts. |

|ELA Standards: |Introducing Key Vocabulary |

|Word Analysis and Systematic | |

|Vocabulary |Below, find three groupings of vocabulary words taken from "What is a life worth?" The first |

|Development |group consists of words related to the legal and financial aspects of the article. The second |

|1.0 Students apply their |list is comprised of terms that convey information with particular emotional connotations. The |

|knowledge of word origins to |final set of words is made up of terms that are used to describe the workings of the governmental|

|determine the meaning of new |plan to compensate 9/11 family victims. Working alone or with a partner, students should look |

|words encountered in reading |over each list of words, and provide a brief definition for those they don't know well. Encourage|

|materials and use those words |them to pay particular attention to the ways that the words connect to one another (e.g., people |

|accurately. |litigate, or sue, because they want somebody to compensate them for a loss). |

| |Financial and legal terms |

|1.1 Trace the etymology of |compensate (make up for a loss) |

|significant terms used in |litigation (legal action; suing) |

|political science and history. |commodify (turn something into an object of monetary value) |

|1.2 Apply knowledge of Greek, |valuation (determination of a monetary value) |

|Latin, and Anglo-Saxon roots and |discretion (judgment) |

|affixes to draw inferences |liability (debt or disadvantage) |

|concerning the meaning of |beneficiary (recipient of a benefit, usually monetary) |

|scientific and mathematical |tort (a civil lawsuit to remedy a wrongful act) |

|terminology. |allocation (distribution, especially of money) |

| |disparity (unfairness, unevenness) |

|College Expectations: These | |

|activities are also designed to |Emotion-laden words |

|develop the kinds of vocabulary |squeamish (easily offended) |

|skills assessed by college |garish (offensively bright and showy) |

|placement exams such as the CSU |gall (impudence; insolence) |

|English Placement Test and the UC|traumatize (to inflict stress or pain upon someone) |

|Analytical Writing Placement |callous (uncaring, cold) |

|Exam. Students should be able to |inconsolable (incapable of being comforted) |

|Recognize word meanings in |indignant (full of anger over an injustice) |

|context. |balk (resist; refuse to proceed) |

|Respond to tone and connotation. |deteriorate (degenerate; gradually fall apart) |

| | |

| |Descriptive Terms |

| |rhetorical (related to the effective use of language) |

| |Rorschach test (an inkblot test that reveals a person's particular viewpoint) |

| |artillery (heavy ammunition used against an enemy) |

| |analogy (a comparison intended to illustrate common elements between seemingly different items) |

| |solidarity (unity based on a common interest) |

| |orchestrated (carefully arranged to achieve a particular effect) |

| |concocts (to put together from various materials) |

| |mechanism (technique for achieving a specific result) |

|Reading |

|First Reading |

|Looking Closely at Language |

|Rereading the Text |

|Analyzing Stylistic Choices |

|Considering the Structure of the Text |

|ELA Standards: Reading |First Reading |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|As students read over the following article for the first time, ask them to look for the main |

|the rhetorical devices of |issues, and the various stances people take in response to those issues. Be sure to remind |

|different types of public |students to look for connections to the idea of valuing life and to what was previously said |

|documents (e.g., policy |about valuing life by Shakespeare and Armstrong. |

|statements, speeches, debates, | |

|platforms) and the way in which |You might also ask students to consider the way “life” is defined in this text. For example, |

|authors use those features and |does “life” refer to a human body, a soul, human experience, existence, or quality of life? Does|

|devices. |this definition include a person’s personal life and professional/working life? |

|2.2 Analyze the way in which | |

|clarity of meaning is affected by| |

|the patterns of organization, | |

|hierarchical structures, | |

|repetition of main ideas, syntax,| |

|and word choice in the text. | |

|ELA Standard: |Strategic Rereading and Evaluating the Text |

|Word Analysis, Fluency, and | |

|Systematic Vocabulary Development|Highlighting with Two Colors: Ask students to choose two highlighter or colored pencil colors, |

|1.0 Students apply their |and revisit the text of the article by Ripley. The two colors will be used to mark two different |

|knowledge of word origins to |aspects of the article. With the first color, ask students to highlight the words, phrases, and |

|determine the meaning of new |sentences from the article that describe valuing life in legal and financial terms. With second |

|words encountered in reading |color, students highlight the words, phrases, and sentences that describe valuing life in human |

|materials and use those words |and emotional terms. |

|accurately. | |

| |Summarizing the Text: |

|ELA Standard: Writing Strategies|Using the sections they highlighted in the previous step, students write a summary of the |

|1.7 Use systematic strategies to |article's descriptions of how life is valued, and people's response to that valuing of life. The |

|organize and record information |summary should include only the most important ideas and is limited to only six sentences. If you|

|(e.g. anecdotal scripting, |like, you may allow students to work on this summary with a partner. |

|annotated bibliographies). |Connecting the Texts: |

| |Ask students to read the summaries they wrote in the previous step with a partner. One of them |

|ELA Standard: Reading |should read the summary from the perspective of Hamlet; the other should take on the persona of |

|Comprehension |Lance Armstrong. Discussions with their partner should address how Hamlet and Armstrong would |

|2.2 Analyze the way in which |probably react to the way that "What is a life worth?" describes the value of life. The answers |

|clarity of meaning is affected by|to the questions below will vary, depending upon what each summary has said about the article. |

|the patterns of organization, |Would Hamlet agree with any of the ideas presented in the article? If so, which ones? |

|hierarchical structures, |Would Armstrong agree with any of the ideas in the article? If so, which ones? |

|repetition of main ideas, syntax,|Would Armstrong and Hamlet be in agreement at all in the way they would likely interpret this |

|and word choice in the text. |article's ideas? If so, how? |

| | |

|Prerequisite 7th Grade ELA | |

|Standard: Writing Applications | |

|2.5 Write summaries of reading | |

|materials: | |

|a. Include the main ideas and | |

|most significant details. | |

|b. Use the student's own words, | |

|except for quotations. | |

|c. Reflect underlying meaning, | |

|not just the superficial details.| |

| | |

|ELA Standard: Writing | |

|Applications | |

|2.2 Write responses to | |

|literature: | |

|a. Demonstrate a comprehensive | |

|understanding of the significant | |

|ideas in works or passages. | |

|ELA Standards: Reading |Thinking Critically about the Text: Text Structure and Ethos, Pathos, Logos |

|Comprehension | |

|2.4 Make warranted and reasonable|The prior two texts, the soliloquy and the autobiographical excerpt, both provide very personal |

|assertions about the author’s |approaches to the idea of valuing life. The current text, though, is an article from a respected |

|arguments by using elements of |national news magazine. Answering the following questions will help students work through some of|

|the text to defend and clarify |the implications of the text's structure and features on the interpretation and understanding of |

|interpretations. |the text. |

|2.5 Analyze an author’s implicit | |

|and explicit philosophical |Most news articles such as "What is a life worth?" try to take an objective, unbiased approach. |

|assumptions and beliefs about a |Would you agree that this text is unbiased, or do you think it favors one perspective? Explain |

|subject. |your answer. |

|2.6 Critique the power, validity,|Answers will vary. Students may note that the article attempts to balance the perspectives of |

|and truthfulness of arguments set|suffering families against the difficulties faced by the government in trying to do the "right" |

|forth in public documents; their |thing. |

|appeal to both friendly and |What kinds of evidence does Amanda Ripley, the author of the article, use to get across the key |

|hostile audiences; and the extent|ideas and issues associated with the compensation of 9/11 victims and their families? Are any |

|to which the arguments anticipate|specific types of evidence more compelling to you as a reader? Less compelling? |

|and address reader concerns and |Answers vary. Students should remark on the different ways Ripley provides evidence, including |

|counterclaims (e.g., appeal to |such things as personal stories of family members, statistics from public and private agencies, |

|reason, to authority, to pathos |and narratives of events she has attended related to the issue of compensating victims' families.|

|and emotion). |Some students may find the personal stories particularly compelling due to their highly-charged |

| |emotional content, while others may be convinced by hard figures and data. |

|College Expectations: These |How well do you trust the accuracy of the information within the article? In other words, do you |

|questions are also designed to |think that Time magazine and/or Amanda Ripley are to be trusted? Why or why not? |

|develop the kinds of skills |Answers vary. Students may mention that a large publication like Time probably is careful about |

|assessed by college placement |checking facts and accuracy, but may also wonder if there are other aspects of the story that |

|exams such as the English |weren't completely covered. Students will sometimes talk about a media bias that is inherent in |

|Placement Test and the UC |publications from large, well-funded corporations. |

|Analytical Writing Placement |Does the article use logic and/or emotion to make an impact on the reader? If so, please describe|

|Exam. Students should be able to |how, and compare the use to the way logic and emotion are used by Shakespeare and/or Armstrong. |

|Identify important ideas. |Answers vary. The article highlights emotion when it quotes family members of victims, and |

|Understand direct statements. |describes painful situations faced by victims and their loved ones. It uses logic in the facts |

|Draw inferences and conclusions. |and figures cited, and when the article allows Feinberg to articulate the rationale behind the |

|Detect underlying assumptions. |government's plan for compensation. These two types of evidence, however, are not used here to |

|Recognize word meanings in |make a stronger, unified point; they tend instead to be at odds with one another. Students may |

|context. |see that this is because the article isn't attempting to persuade the reader to take a specific |

|Respond to tone and connotation. |stance, but to inform about the situation and its surrounding contexts. This differs from both |

| |Hamlet and Armstrong in that neither of their texts were attempting to be objective, but to |

| |provide a single, individual perspective. |

|ELA Standards: Reading |Considering the Structure of the Text |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|Charting the Text |

|the rhetorical devices of |Ask students to make a third entry on their charts for "What is a life worth?" They should be |

|different types of public |encouraged to use the highlighting, summarizing, connections, and critical thinking work done |

|documents (e.g., policy |previously as a way to help them fill out the chart. |

|statements, speeches, debates, | |

|platforms) and the way in which | |

|authors use those features and | |

|devices. | |

|2.2 Analyze the way in which | |

|clarity of meaning is affected by| |

|the patterns of organization, | |

|hierarchical structures, | |

|repetition of main ideas, syntax,| |

|and word choice in the text. | |

|ELA Standard: Reading |Surveying the Text: Text 4 – Human Life Value Calculator |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|The text below comes from an Internet resource called the "Life and Health Insurance Foundation |

|the rhetorical devices of |for Education" (life-). Viewing the actual website is certainly preferable to looking|

|different types of public |at the text as reproduced below; the website's Human Life Value Calculator is available for |

|documents (e.g., policy |examination at the following web address: http:// life_how_human.html |

|statements, speeches, debates, | |

|platforms) and the way in which |If your classroom has computer access, visit the website and give the students a brief tour of |

|authors use those features and |the site. Click around and show students the types of information available on the site, as well |

|devices. |as information about the organization that publishes the site. Ask: What appears to be the |

| |purpose of the site? How is the site organized? |

| |If you don't have Internet access available, ask students to simply scan the text below and take |

| |inventory of its attributes. Ask: What type of text does it appear to be? What are the features |

| |of the text (including the presence of such things as headings and graphs)? |

| |This text comes from an Internet site whose domain name ends in ".org" instead of the more common|

| |".com". Ask: Do you know what this ending to the site's address signifies? |

|ELA Standards: Reading |Making Predictions and Asking Questions |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|This text is quite different from the previous three texts. It is not personal or narrative, as |

|the rhetorical devices of |the first two texts were, nor is it an informative text designed for a general audience. Instead,|

|different types of public |as students probably noticed when surveying the text, it is an interactive site, asking the |

|documents (e.g., policy |reader to provide data to input and generating specific information based on the particular data |

|statements, speeches, debates, |provided by the user. The web-based pages reproduced below are called the "Human Life Value |

|platforms) and the way in which |Calculator." Ask students to answer the following questions, based on what they know so far, |

|authors use those features and |before they begin to read: |

|devices. |What do you think might be the purpose of a text like this? |

|2.3 Verify and clarify facts |Answers vary. Students will probably take the text at face value and state that its purpose is to|

|presented in other types of |calculate a life's value, although they may not be comfortable with the idea. |

|expository texts by using a |Who might use this text? |

|variety of consumer, workplace, |Answers vary. If students have had a chance to browse through the site, they may have a better |

|and public documents. |sense of the purposes of the site's creators. This is an opportunity to see the connection |

| |between purpose and audience. |

| |Since this claims to calculate human life value, do you anticipate that this will have the most |

| |connections to Hamlet's soliloquy, Armstrong's autobiography, or Ripley's Time article? Why? |

| |Students might anticipate that it will have close connections to Ripley's article, which also |

| |discusses human life value in monetary terms. But any connections they can anticipate between |

| |this text and the prior ones should be welcome. |

|ELA Standards: |Introducing Key Vocabulary |

|Word Analysis and Systematic | |

|Vocabulary |The vocabulary words listed below come from the website text. Many of these are similar to the |

|Development |list of legal and financial terms listed above as part of the article, "What is a life worth?" As|

|1.0 Students apply their |with the texts in general, encouraging students to make connections with vocabulary words is an |

|knowledge of word origins to |important way of scaffolding student learning about language use. Ask students to define these |

|determine the meaning of new |words, and then list previous vocabulary words, if any, that have similar or related meanings. |

|words encountered in reading | |

|materials and use those words |assess (determine, judge; valuation) |

|accurately. |incur (become liable for something; liability) |

|1.1 Trace the etymology of |expenditure (payments made for something; allocation) |

|significant terms used in |consumption (use of goods or services; commodify) |

|political science and history. |fringe benefits (non-wage contributions by an employer to an employee, such as health insurance; |

|1.2 Apply knowledge of Greek, |beneficiary) |

|Latin, and Anglo-Saxon roots and |contribution (something provided as payment, partial or full, for a particular purpose; |

|affixes to draw inferences |allocation) |

|concerning the meaning of | |

|scientific and mathematical | |

|terminology. | |

| | |

|College Expectations: These | |

|activities are also designed to | |

|develop the kinds of vocabulary | |

|skills assessed by college | |

|placement exams such as the CSU | |

|English Placement Test and the UC| |

|Analytical Writing Placement | |

|Exam. Students should be able to | |

|Recognize word meanings in | |

|context. | |

|Respond to tone and connotation. | |

|Reading |

|First Reading |

|Looking Closely at Language |

|Rereading the Text |

|Analyzing Stylistic Choices |

|Considering the Structure of the Text |

|ELA Standards: Reading |First Reading |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|Ask students to read through the text below, noting the way that a life's value is determined by |

|the rhetorical devices of |the human life value calculator. Instruct readers to pay particular attention to the data input, |

|different types of public |which reflects a 20-year old single mother working in a service industry. If your class has |

|documents (e.g., policy |access to the website itself, you can require students to input a variety of data to see how the |

|statements, speeches, debates, |results vary with differences in age, gender, occupation, and income. As students make sense of |

|platforms) and the way in which |the calculator and its workings, ask them to note any connections they see to the previous texts |

|authors use those features and |in the assignment sequence. |

|devices. | |

|2.2 Analyze the way in which | |

|clarity of meaning is affected by| |

|the patterns of organization, | |

|hierarchical structures, | |

|repetition of main ideas, syntax,| |

|and word choice in the text. | |

|ELA Standard: |Strategic Rereading and Evaluating the Text |

|Word Analysis, Fluency, and | |

|Systematic Vocabulary Development|Strategic Marking of the Text: |

|1.0 Students apply their |Highlighting with Two Colors: This is a variation on the kind of highlighting you did with the |

|knowledge of word origins to |Time magazine article. Once again, you'll ask students to use two colors to mark the text for two|

|determine the meaning of new |different aspects. This time, however, they will be using the highlighter colors to indicate |

|words encountered in reading |their own response to the ideas within the text. With one color, they should highlight the parts |

|materials and use those words |of the text with which they agree; the other should be used to highlight the parts of the text |

|accurately. |that they either disagree with or that raise questions for them. |

| | |

|ELA Standard: Writing Strategies|Responding to the Text: |

|1.7 Use systematic strategies to |Ask students to look over the highlighting done in the previous step. Assign them the task of |

|organize and record information |writing a brief response--no more than eight sentences--to the human life value calculator |

|(e.g. anecdotal scripting, |website. The response should describe what the website asserts about a human life's value, and |

|annotated bibliographies). |give their own reaction to those assertions. Remind students that their responses do not have to |

| |be in complete agreement or disagreement with the text; they should feel free to agree with some |

|ELA Standard: Reading |aspects, and disagree with others. |

|Comprehension | |

|2.2 Analyze the way in which | |

|clarity of meaning is affected by| |

|the patterns of organization, | |

|hierarchical structures, | |

|repetition of main ideas, syntax,| |

|and word choice in the text. | |

| | |

|Prerequisite 7th Grade ELA | |

|Standard: Writing Applications | |

|2.5 Write summaries of reading | |

|materials: | |

|a. Include the main ideas and | |

|most significant details. | |

|b. Use the student's own words, | |

|except for quotations. | |

|c. Reflect underlying meaning, | |

|not just the superficial details.| |

| | |

|ELA Standard: Writing | |

|Applications | |

|2.2 Write responses to | |

|literature: | |

|a. Demonstrate a comprehensive | |

|understanding of the significant | |

|ideas in works or passages. | |

|ELA Standards: Reading |Thinking Critically |

|Comprehension | |

|2.4 Make warranted and reasonable|Text Structure and Ethos, Pathos, Logos |

|assertions about the author’s |To help students think about both the similarities and differences between the Web site and each |

|arguments by using elements of |previous text, both in terms of structure and content, ask students to address the following |

|the text to defend and clarify |questions. |

|interpretations. |The website text you have been studying differs structurally (that is, in the way it is put |

|2.5 Analyze an author’s implicit |together) from the prior texts. Make a list of several of the differences between this text and |

|and explicit philosophical |the others. |

|assumptions and beliefs about a |Answers will vary. Some possible responses include: The website is interactive and responsive, |

|subject. |while the other texts are static; the website customizes its information to the reader, instead |

|2.6 Critique the power, validity,|of asking the reader to fit the text's ideas to his or her own situation; the website uses |

|and truthfulness of arguments set|graphic elements; the website includes the possibility of reader choices that impact the reading |

|forth in public documents; their |experience (ability to click links to get more information, for instance); the website has less |

|appeal to both friendly and |"voice" than the previous texts. |

|hostile audiences; and the extent|Unlike the other texts, the "Human Life Value Calculator" has no single identified author. Does |

|to which the arguments anticipate|the lack of a named author affect your level of belief in the text's ideas and purpose? How can |

|and address reader concerns and |you find out more about the text and whose interests it represents? |

|counterclaims (e.g., appeal to |Answers vary. Students may see the website as the front end of a corporate or business presence |

|reason, to authority, to pathos |designed to make the reader want to buy insurance, and so call into question the validity of the |

|and emotion). |information. They may, alternatively, see the information provided as seeming particularly |

| |objective and therefore more believable. Regardless, students should be able to suggest |

|College Expectations: These |strategies for finding out more about the group authors of the text by clicking on "About us" |

|questions are also designed to |links; if they do not know about this, it provides a teachable moment about how to assess |

|develop the kinds of skills |authority and validity in online settings. |

|assessed by college placement |Did this text produce in you an emotional response of any sort? If so, briefly describe it. |

|exams such as the English |Answers vary. Many students have reacted strongly to the statement that anyone without a spouse |

|Placement Test and the UC |or children will receive a life value of $0. Some have reported that the calculator disconcerts |

|Analytical Writing Placement |them with its stark and emotionless assessment of human life value. Still others have found the |

|Exam. Students should be able to |calculator humorous. |

|Identify important ideas. |Consider the charts that the calculator produces. How well do you understand the meaning of these|

|Understand direct statements. |charts? How do the three charts differ? Does the use of all of the numbers within the charts seem|

|Draw inferences and conclusions. |to make a logical argument about the value of life? |

|Detect underlying assumptions. |Answers will vary. The charts will baffle some, while others will be able to easily read and |

|Recognize word meanings in |interpret them. Each chart, in general, looks very much like the others; to understand the |

|context. |differences, students will need to read the captions and number tables carefully. They may also |

|Respond to tone and connotation. |need to discuss the terms "services," "fringe," and "consumption" within the specific contexts of|

| |the charts. Students may or may not be compelled by the charts' information, but should |

| |acknowledge that they do provide a fairly complex model for understanding how human life can be |

| |valued in monetary terms. |

|ELA Standards: Reading |Charting the Text |

|Comprehension | |

|2.1 Analyze both the features and|As with the previous texts, ask students to fill out a chart entry for the website. Remind them |

|the rhetorical devices of |that they may refer to the highlighting, responding, and questions answered above, as needed, to |

|different types of public |facilitate this task. |

|documents (e.g., policy | |

|statements, speeches, debates, | |

|platforms) and the way in which | |

|authors use those features and | |

|devices. | |

|2.2 Analyze the way in which | |

|clarity of meaning is affected by| |

|the patterns of organization, | |

|hierarchical structures, | |

|repetition of main ideas, syntax,| |

|and word choice in the text. | |

|CONNECTING READING TO WRITING |

|WRITING TO LEARN |

|USING THE WORDS OF OTHERS |

| |Writing to Learn |

| | |

| |Many of the activities already completed by students in this sequence constitute "writing to |

| |learn." It is important to point out to students that the types of activities they have completed|

| |thus far—including quick writes, paraphrases and summaries, and the charting of the texts—are all|

| |ways of using informal writing to help them learn more from their reading. By making such |

| |activities fit under the larger rubric of "writing," students will see that not all writing is |

| |formal and academic. |

|Prerequisite 9th-10th Grade ELA |Using the Words of Others |

|Standard: Reading Comprehension | |

|2.4 Synthesize the content from |The chart students have been using to track their reading of the texts in this sequence require |

|several sources or works by a |students to quote, paraphrase, and summarize; these three strategies are regularly utilized |

|single author dealing with a |within more formal writing. The chart should prove a useful asset for students when deciding how |

|single issue; paraphrase the |to structure and support their ideas in response to the writing assignment provided below. |

|ideas and connect them to other | |

|sources and related topics to | |

|demonstrate comprehension. | |

| |What citation format should I teach? |

|Prerequisite 9th-10th Grade ELA | |

|Standards: Writing Strategies |Citation formats are diverse, and each academic department and/or school district makes decisions|

|1.5 Synthesize information from |about forms for students to document their sources. It is worthwhile to make explicit to students|

|multiple sources and identify |that formats for citations vary from discipline to discipline, but that the overarching aim of |

|complexities and discrepancies in|all means of documentation is to differentiate between the writer's ideas and those of others |

|the information and the different|whose work is being used to inform the essay. |

|perspectives found in each medium| |

|(e.g., almanacs, microfiches, | |

|news sources, in-depth field | |

|studies, speeches, journals, | |

|technical documents). | |

|1.6 Integrate quotations and | |

|citations into a written text | |

|while maintaining the flow of | |

|ideas. | |

|1.7 Use appropriate conventions | |

|for documentations in the text, | |

|notes, and bibliographies by | |

|adhering to those in style | |

|manuals (e.g., Modern Language | |

|Association Handbook, The Chicago| |

|Manual of Style). | |

| | |

|ELA Standard: Writing Strategies | |

|1.7 Use systematic strategies to | |

|organize and record information | |

|(e.g., anecdotal scripting, | |

|annotated bibliographies). | |

| |

|WRITING RHETORICALLY |

|PREWRITING |

|WRITING |

|REVISING AND EDITING |

|EVALUATING AND RESPONDING |

| |

|Prewriting |

|Reading the Assignment |

|Getting Ready to Write |

|Formulating a Working Thesis |

|ELA Standard: Writing Strategies |Reading the Assignment |

|1.1 Demonstrate an understanding | |

|of the elements of discourse |The writing assignment for this assignment sequence is below. Because students sometimes overlook|

|(e.g., purpose, speaker, |important elements of an assignment and instead focus on particular details that may be less |

|audience, form) when completing |crucial, it is important to practice reading the prompt together. Students should practice |

|narrative, expository, |looking for information about the assignment topic, the purpose of the writing, the audience for |

|persuasive, informational, or |the essay, any procedural information (deadlines, etc.), and evaluation criteria; these elements |

|descriptive writing assignments. |can help them determine how to approach the task of writing the essay. |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| |Writing Assignment: So far in this assignment sequence, we have heard a number of different |

| |voices giving insights into the value of life. Hamlet's soliloquy offers an emotional, |

| |metaphor-laden glimpse into the thinking of a young man contemplating suicide. Lance Armstrong's |

| |autobiography uses storytelling from a first-person perspective to get across how the famed |

| |cyclist thinks about life. Amanda Ripley's article from Time magazine provides insight into the |

| |problems involved in translating the concept of valuing life from abstract terms into actual |

| |dollars and cents. The Human Life Value Calculator establishes specific criteria for assigning |

| |monetary value to a person's life. |

| | |

| |You may not fully agree or disagree with any of the texts' essential claims about the value of |

| |life. This makes your voice an important contribution to this discussion about how we should |

| |value human life. Where do your ideas fit into the terrain mapped by the other texts we've read? |

| |Is it right to assign dollar values to a person's life? Do suffering and illness impact how we |

| |should value life? Assume that the audience for your piece consists of intelligent citizens |

| |interested in this issue--the same types of people, for instance, who would read Time magazine. |

| | |

| | |

| |As you write your essay, think about the different ways the texts we have read make points about |

| |valuing life. Depending upon the points you are trying to make, you might want to use some |

| |metaphors for life, like Hamlet does, or tell some stories the way Armstrong does. You may choose|

| |to include some words from people you interview, like Ripley does in her article, or you might |

| |even choose to establish some criteria for how human life should be calculated in monetary terms.|

| |As you construct your essay, make conscious choices about the ways you can represent your ideas |

| |to your reader. |

| | |

| |Essay Prompt: How should our society assign value to human life? |

| | |

| |Be sure to refer to and cite the readings. You may also use examples from your personal |

| |experience or observations. |

| | |

| | |

| |Some students may need to analyze the writing assignment before they can begin pre-writing or |

| |planning activities. A “Do/What Chart” is one strategy students can use to clarify directions. |

| |To create a “Do/What Chart,” instruct students to draw a T-graph in their notes, labeling one |

| |side “Do” and the other side “What.” Students will then list verbs from the prompt in the “Do” |

| |column and the objects of those verbs in the “What” column. During this analysis, students will |

| |often find that some directions in writing prompts are implied, rather than explicitly stated. A|

| |“Do/What Chart” for the above writing assignment might look like the following: |

| | |

| |Do What |

| | |

| |Write essay detailing your perspective on the value of life |

| |Consider the texts, social and monetary values, and suffering |

| | |

| |Assume an intelligent audience |

| |Think about the different texts you’ve read |

| |Include metaphors, stories, interviews, and/or criteria |

| |Make choices about the presentation of your ideas |

|ELA Standard: Writing Strategies |Getting Ready to Write |

|1.0 Students write coherent and | |

|focused texts that convey a |Students should be encouraged to review the charts they completed as a way to begin formulating a|

|well-defined perspective and |response to the writing assignment. They should pay particular attention to the columns detailing|

|tightly reasoned argument. The |their responses to the texts' ideas, as well as the examples they came up with to support those |

|writing demonstrates students’ |responses. |

|awareness of the audience and | |

|purpose and progression through |Another way for students to see how they position themselves within the ideas in the texts is for|

|the stages of the writing |them to complete a few sentences like the following by filling in the blanks. |

|process. | |

| |"I agree most with the ideas in ________ because _______________." |

| |"I agree least with the ideas in ________ because _______________." |

| | |

| |These activities will situate the students' own voices within the contexts provided by the |

| |readings. This will help them with the next step of the process, determining a controlling idea |

| |for their essays. |

|ELA Standard: Writing Strategies |Formulating a Working Thesis |

|1.3 Structure ideas and arguments| |

|in a sustained, persuasive, and |The formulation of a controlling idea, often called the claim or thesis, will provide students |

|sophisticated way and support |with a direction for their essay. Students may find it helpful to think of the claim as the |

|them with precise and relevant |equivalent of the painted lines on a road: it keeps the essay on track the same way lane lines |

|examples. |keep a car from straying into danger. There are several attributes of good claims that help |

| |writers shape successful essays. A good claim is: |

| | |

| |clear. a reader should easily understand an essay's claim. |

| |compelling. The claim should be interesting to the reader and should make the reader want to read|

| |the entire paper. |

| |complex. A claim that is too simple will not engage the reader and won't contribute significantly|

| |to the "conversation" about the topic. |

| |contestable. Any claim that no one would disagree with is unlikely to be of interest to any |

| |reader. |

| | |

| |Students should try writing a few claims for their essays. Help students to think of their claim |

| |as a response to a specific question whose answer matters to the essay's audience. For instance, |

| |their claim might try to answer the question, "How should people value life in contemporary |

| |American society?" The claim may take the form of a sentence that combines both an assertion--a |

| |statement of opinion--and a rationale--a generalized reason in support of the assertion. A couple|

| |of examples of claims that take this form are given below. |

| | |

| |Schools should put more money into academics than athletics because the primary goal of a school |

| |is to educate students, not to train athletes. |

| |The Star Wars films remain popular because they show the classic tale of an individual's triumph |

| |over oppression. |

| | |

| |When students have put their claim into this assertion-rationale form, they will be ready to |

| |begin drafting your essay. |

| | |

| |Sometimes, however, determining the claim prior to drafting is anathema to a particular student's|

| |writing process. Such students may benefit from simply beginning to draft their papers, and then |

| |identify what emerges as the primary idea. |

|Writing |

|Composing a Draft |

|Organizing the Essay |

|Developing the Content |

|ELA Standard: Writing Strategies |Composing a Draft |

|1.3 Structure ideas and arguments| |

|in a sustained, persuasive, and |Every writer's process for crafting a paper's first draft is unique. Some prefer to write an |

|sophisticated way and support |entire paper at a single sitting, while others carefully plan the paper with outlines or maps |

|them with precise and relevant |prior to writing. Perhaps the most important aspect of composing the first draft of a paper is |

|examples. |that it affords students the opportunity to shape their own ideas in written form. |

|ELA Standard: Writing Strategies |Organizing the Essay |

|1.3 Structure ideas and arguments| |

|in a sustained, persuasive, and |There are as many ways of organizing an essay as there are writers. Even so, essays will always |

|sophisticated way and support |have a beginning, middle, and end. |

|them with precise and relevant |The beginning--which may be one or more paragraphs long--sets up the essay's central question and|

|examples. |claim. |

| |The middle of the essay provides ideas and evidence for the claim being made. The evidence |

| |provided by the writer may come in a number of forms, including quotations from the texts we've |

| |read and examples from the writer's own life and experience. The chart students completed may be |

| |helpful in this regard. |

| |The end is where the writer reaches conclusions about the question, and argues that the claim is |

| |the most reasonable way of answering the question. |

|ELA Standard: Writing Strategies |Developing the Content |

|1.1 Demonstrate an understanding | |

|of the elements of discourse |Students need to understand that body paragraphs explain and support their claim; as they develop|

|(e.g., purpose, speaker, |their support for the essay, they should work on making their writing more responsive to the |

|audience, form) when completing |needs of readers. |

|narrative, expository, |Body paragraphs give evidence in the form of examples, illustrations, statistics, etc. and |

|persuasive, informational, or |analyze the meaning of the evidence. |

|descriptive writing assignments. |Each body paragraph is usually directly related to the question that the claim is attempting to |

| |answer. |

| |No set number of paragraphs make up an essay. |

|Revising and Editing |

|Revising the Draft |

|Editing the Draft |

|Reflecting on the Writing |

|Prerequisite 9th and 10th Grade |Revising the Draft |

|ELA Standard: Writing Strategies | |

|1.9 Revise writing to improve the|Revising the essay literally means looking at it again. Revision is often difficult because as |

|logic and coherence of the |writers, we know what we're trying to say, and so our essays make sense to us. In order to revise|

|organization and controlling |effectively, we have to be able to look at our writing through a new perspective. Having |

|perspective, the precision of |classmates or others read over student work provides new viewpoints that can lead to effective |

|word choice, and the tone by |revision. Remind students that the job of people who read their work is not to "fix" the essay; |

|taking into consideration the |the readers' job is just to give feedback about how they read and made sense of the essay. The |

|audience, purpose, and formality |writer is in charge of responding to what readers say about the essay and must do the work |

|of the context. |necessary to make the paper more reader-friendly and effective. |

| | |

|ELA Standards: Writing Strategies|Every teacher knows some activities for individual and peer revision. Some of the suggestions |

|1.4 Enhance meaning by employing |below may be useful for helping your students revise their work. |

|rhetorical devices, including the|Ask students to put their draft aside for a few days, and then re-read it. This allows them to |

|extended use of parallelism, |develop some "critical distance" from the essay and usually makes it easier to see places where |

|repetition, and analogy; the |the piece may need some revision. |

|incorporation of visual aids |Ask a classmate to read the essay with a few highlighters or colored pencils. They can use red to|

|(e.g. graphs, tables, pictures); |signify places where the writer used powerful words, green for ideas that need to "grow" a little|

|and the issuance of a call for |more, and so on. |

|action. |Ask a couple of classmates to read the essay out loud together while the writer "overhears" their|

|1.5 Use language in natural, |conversation about the paper. As the readers stop and discuss various parts of the paper, the |

|fresh, and vivid ways to |writer pays careful attention to what they say. The readers' reactions give the writer very good |

|establish a specific tone. |insights into how to revise the paper. |

|1.9 Revise text to highlight | |

|individual voice, improve |Note that each of the above activities is structured to provide writers with the opportunity to |

|sentence variety and style, and |see their papers from a reader's perspective. |

|enhance subtlety of meaning and | |

|tone in ways that are consistent | |

|with the purpose, audience, and | |

|genre. | |

|Prerequisite 9th and 10th Grade |Editing the Draft |

|ELA Standards: Written & Oral | |

|English Lan-guage Conventions |Editing is often confused with revising, but editing has more to do with making the essay |

|1.1 Identify and correctly use |"clean"—that is, free of surface errors—while revising is about making the ideas come through as |

|clauses (e.g., main and |clearly as possible. Of course, editing may happen all through the processes of writing, but the |

|subordinate), and phrases (e.g., |editing stage comes when the essay is nearly in its finished form. Editing the paper is like |

|gerund, infinitive, and |giving a car a nice tune up and polishing before a car show; it lets the paper really shine. Some|

|participial), and mechanics of |ideas for editing an essay include the following. |

|punctuation (e.g., semicolons, |Ask students to read their papers out loud. This will help them identify places where a sentence |

|colons, ellipses, hyphens). |doesn't sound quite right or spots where they might need to adjust punctuation or word choice. |

|1.2 Understand sentence |Ask students to ask a classmate or parent to read the paper and make suggestions about sentence |

|construction (e.g., parallel |construction, punctuation, verb tenses, and spelling. |

|structure, subordination, proper |Ask students to run the paper through the computer's spelling and grammar check. Make sure that |

|placement of modifiers) and |they look carefully at the suggestions made by the computer and ask someone they trust--a |

|proper English usage (e.g., |teacher, or classmate, or parent--if they have doubts. Computers often suggest the wrong word for|

|consistency of verb tenses). |misspellings (if you misspell "definitely" by writing "definately," for example, the computer |

|1.3 Demonstrate an understanding |will probably suggest that the correct spelling is "defiantly"), so pay close attention. |

|of proper English usage and | |

|control of grammar, paragraph and| |

|sentence structure, diction, and | |

|syntax. | |

| | |

|ELA Standards: Written and Oral | |

|English Language Conventions | |

|1.1 Demonstrate control of | |

|grammar, diction, and paragraph | |

|and sentence structure and an | |

|understanding of English usage. | |

|1.2 Produce legible work that | |

|shows accurate spelling and | |

|correct punctuation and | |

|capitalization. | |

|1.3 Reflect appropriate | |

|manuscript requirements in | |

|writing. | |

| |Reflecting on the Writing |

| | |

| |After the essay is finished, ask students to reflect on the processes they went through to write |

| |the paper. Ask students to assess how helpful they found the highlighting, charting, and |

| |question-answering activities; how much of the writing was impacted by having kept notes in the |

| |charts; how helpful the prewriting and revising activities were; what was learned from reading |

| |and writing in this assignment sequence; what strategies they will you use again in the future |

| |when asked to read and write assignments like this one. This kind of writing not only asks |

| |students to be reflective, but provides the teacher with important information about student |

| |strengths, the need to re-teach, and ways to modify the assignment sequence the next time it is |

| |taught. |

| | |

| |Although different teachers collect and evaluate reflective writing in diverse ways, asking |

| |students to address some of the issues listed above as part of a written-in-class cover letter |

| |for the essay itself has been an effective method. |

|Evaluating and Responding |

|Grading Holistically |

|Responding to Student Writing |

|Using Portfolios |

| |Responding to Student Writing |

| | |

| |Responding to your students’ writing is the final stage of the writing process. While you have |

| |several ways to respond at your disposal, the rubric reprinted below specifically addresses the |

| |“Value of Life” assignment. Feel free to use it; it divides the evaluation into sections related |

| |to ideas, structures, and correctness. |

| | |

| |In addition to the feedback from the rubric, students find written comments on the essay itself, |

| |as well as an end comment, to provide important insights into the strengths and weaknesses of |

| |their writing. |

Essay Rubric

|Content Issues |1 2 3 4 5 6|

|Controlling Idea: The essay clearly defines the questions and issues being addressed. The chosen topic complies | | | | | | |

|with the assignment’s parameters. | | | | | | |

|Use of Summary: Writer uses appropriate amount of summary when discussing events from texts or own experiences. | | | | | | |

|Textual Interpretation: Essay provides the writer’s interpretations of the selected texts, correctly using | | | | | | |

|quotations and paraphrasing as appropriate. | | | | | | |

|Choice and Use of Evidence: Essay discusses texts read in class, as well as writer's own experiences and ideas. | | | | | | |

|Evidence used helps clarify and support writer’s points. | | | | | | |

|Attention to Audience: Writer’s voice is compelling, enthusiastic, and reasonable. Writer makes effort to engage | | | | | | |

|the reader’s interest. | | | | | | |

|Overall Impression: Essay accomplishes what it sets out to do, with clear examples that the audience finds | | | | | | |

|intriguing. Reading the essay is an enjoyable learning experience. | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | |

|Organization and Presentation |1 2 3 4 5 6|

|Coherence: The writer clearly explains the relationships among the essay’s ideas and the examples that are | | | | | | |

|provided as evidence. | | | | | | |

|Organization: The writer has carefully structured the essay, which has a clear beginning, middle, and conclusion.| | | | | | |

|Paragraph Structure: Paragraphs are focused and fully develop the ideas being presented. Paragraphs contain | | | | | | |

|appropriate combinations of idea, evidence, and discussion sentences. | | | | | | |

|Sentence Fluency: The writer constructs sentences that are strong, clear, and thoughtfully structured. | | | | | | |

|Word Choice: Words convey the writer’s meaning with high degree of accuracy. Writer’s diction is appropriate for | | | | | | |

|the task. | | | | | | |

|Format: Essay is titled, typed, collated, and stapled. Appropriate margins and typefaces give the document a | | | | | | |

|professional look. | | | | | | |

|Documentation: All supporting material—whether quotation, paraphrase, or summary—is appropriately attributed to | | | | | | |

|the original source. | | | | | | |

| | | | | | | |

|Surface Errors |1 2 3 4 5 6|

|Punctuation Errors: Problems with commas, apostrophes, semi-colons, etc., are mostly absent. | | | | | | |

|Word Errors: Spelling errors are minimal or absent. Word usage is appropriate, with no obvious errors. | | | | | | |

|Grammar Errors: Essay has few problems with run-ons, fragments, agreement, and verb tense. | | | | | | |

|Overall Effect of Surface Errors: Surface errors are few enough to provide little distraction to the reader. | | | | | | |

Essay Score:

Comments:

Charting Claims Across Multiple Texts

| | | |What are the text’s |What do you think about the| |How does this text connect |

|Text Information |What is the text’s big |What claim does the text |examples/ |text’s claim? |What are your examples? |to other texts? |

| |issue? |make? |quotes? | | | |

|Title: | | | | | | |

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