Karen's+Essay+Assignment

// TKAM Essay Assessment // As we read and discuss the myriad of characters and themes in the story of an entire Southern town on trial for what they condone in //To Kill A Mockingbird//, plan ahead by thinking about the final essay assignment.

In this assignment, you will answer one of the following three prompts in a five-page, double-spaced, typed paper with MLA citations. Two copies of this paper are due March 3, 2010.
 * 1) Some prominent themes in //To Kill A Mockingbird include bravery, education, human morality, the law, the mockingbird, perspective, racism, and social inequality. Select three characters from the book and explain why you believe them to have differing perspectives on one of the themes mentioned above. Consider why these characters have the perspectives that they do. Explain your answer and provide evidence. //
 * 2) Do you agree with Jem, who say there are the four kinds of folks in the world, or with a more ambiguous Atticus, who thinks that there is a bit of good and bad in every person? Explain your answer and provide evidence.
 * 3) The Men, Women, and Children of Maycomb have clearly defined roles and expectations to live up to. Identify a character in TKAM that fails to live up to his/her expected role, and explain how that character's perspective is different than others who do fulfill the expected role. A question to consider is did the character's perspective influence his/her failure to live up to expectations, or did his/her failure to live up to expectations frame his/her perspective? Explain your answer and provide evidence.

Assessment Rubric Grading Scale

9 = A 7 = B 5 = C 3 = D 1 = F Rubric 6: INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH – // engaging, makes an effort to generate interest in topic and also previewing main points and evidence, offers a clear, assertive, dynamic thesis // 6: CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH – // reviews main points and evidence, but sounds fresh, not repeating the phrases and sentences used earlier; offers some final thoughts that bring the essay to a satisfying ending; should answer the reader who asks, “so what?” // 12: ORGANIZATION// – //// make sure the reader never has trouble following your ideas! // 18: USE OF LITERATURE AND ANALYSIS, EVIDENCE AND ARGUMENT – // heart & soul of the essay! // 6: WRITING QUALITY// – //// if it hasn’t been communicated clearly, it hasn’t been communicated // 3: FORMAT AND STYLE GUIDELINES - // makes it easy to focus on ideas rather than on mistakes // // What does a 9 point essay look like? // A 9 point essay responds to the prompt clearly, completely, and systematically. It has a direct, informative voice and understands its audience. This paper approaches the text analytically, supporting a coherent thesis with evidence from the text; it also explains how the evidence illustrates and reinforces its thesis. The essay employs subtlety in its use of the text, avoiding summary and utilizing its own words, not Harper Lee’s or other critics. What does this mean? //80% of content in supporting paragraphs and 100% of content in introductory and concluding paragraphs are in your own words.// The writing style is fluent and flexible, free of mechanical and grammatical errors. // What does a 7 point essay look like? // A 7 point essay responds to the assignment clearly and directly but with less development. It demonstrates a good understanding of the text and supports its thesis with appropriate textual evidence. While its approach is analytical, the analysis is less precise. Its use of the text is competent but not subtle. As a result, the writing style is less fluid, but it is still forceful and clear with few grammatical and mechanical errors. // What does a 5 essay look like? // A 5 point essay addresses the assigned topic intelligently, yet it does not answer the addressed topic fully and specifically. It is characterized by a good, but general, grasp of the text. It uses the text to frame an apt response to the prompt. It may employ textual evidence sparingly or it might offer evidence that is not linked back to the thesis. The essay is clear and organized, yet it reads mechanically. The paper may also be marred by grammatical and mechanical errors. // What does a 3 point essay look like? // A 3 point essay fails in some important way to fulfill the demands of the topic it addresses. It may not address part of the assignment, fail to provide minimal textual support for its thesis, or base its analysis on a misreading of some part of the text. This essay may present one or more incisive insights among others of less value. The writing may be similarly uneven in development with lapses in organization, clarity, grammar, and mechanics. // What does a 1 point essay look like? // A 1 point essay combines two or more serious failures: it may not address the actual assignment, it may indicate a serious misreading of the text, it may not offer textual evidence or may use it in a way that suggests a failure to understand the text, and/or it may be unclear, badly written, or unacceptably brief. The style of this paper is usuallymarked by egregious errors. Occasionally a paper in this range is devoid of content.
 * 45 points possible (Score / 5 = Essay Point Value) **

Writing Guide __Introduction__:
 *  **A** ttention-getter. It should be interesting, drawing the reader in to the paper content. It should also connect thematically to the thesis. The opening line tells your readers why you are writing this essay. The following lines either raise questions you will answer in the paper, or highlight what evidence you will use to support your thesis. You will use this evidence to reveal to your readers how you plan to organize your arguments in support of your thesis.


 *  **T** hesis! This is your hypothesis, which you will persuade your audience to be true.

__Body Paragraphs__: Employ TPIQE (Refer to class notes)
 *  **T**opic Sentence: this should have the topic of perspective taking and the limiting idea of whatever example you are providing in the paragraph.


 *  **P**oint-What is the point of your paragraph.


 *  **I**ntroduce example and quotes:

o Put the quote or example you are about to provide into context. You may not just put a quote down. You need to say something such as: //When Scout stands on the Radley’s porch, she says,“--insert quote.”// (32).
 *  **Q**uote or example. You can quote from dialogue or narration. Or you can paraphrase. Either way, you must put the page number. The following is an example: (10).


 *  **E**xplain or **A**nalyze the quote or example. After you have provided the example or quote, you must spend a few sentences explaining how the example or quote supports the topic sentence, which probably says that the character you are talking about has experience perspective taking. Then you need to explain what the character has learned. Provide examples that support that the character is better off. Or that good came from perspective taking.

__Conclusion__:
 *  Restate your thesis. RESTATE, not rewrite. Bring the reader’s attention back around to the introduction, but differently.
 *  Move into a brief general discussion of the theme of perspective taking and its importance to our lives in general. How might the world be different if certain real people were to experience what some of these characters have experienced. Use specific examples from real life.
 *  Clincher—Round off—your last impression to the reader should relate back to the attention-getter.