Course+Syllabus

** Course Syllabus ** ||
 * ** Advanced Placement ENGLISH Language and Composition **

Advanced Placement English Language and Composition is a college-level course in composition and critical reading which involves intensive study and use of rhetorical modes in writing. Extensive composition and discussion require students to demonstrate sensitivity to the language and the structure of a piece of writing as well as to refine their own power and precision in organizing and expressing thoughts. This course is designed to introduce students to the modes of discourse; the units examine various genres such as description, autobiography, letters, argumentation, and political discourse. Each unit examines writing as an organic process, puts a great emphasis on revision, and requires that students write in a variety of genres and rhetorical modes. Also, each unit contains challenging reading selections and requires independent reading.
 * COURSE OVERVIEW **

In addition, the informed use of research materials and the ability to synthesize varied sources are integral parts of the course. Students will evaluate the legitimacy and purpose of sources in a researched, argumentative paper. To support the increasing importance of graphics and visual images as texts, students will analyze how such images both relate to written texts and serve as alternative forms of text themselves.

Students develop timed writing skills, active reading and multiple-choice strategies, and familiarity with test composition. Instruction focuses on reader response, inquiry, and critical analysis by providing opportunities for students to synthesize fiction, non-fiction, images, and graphics and to share their interpretations through a variety of means, including seminar. Students who enroll in this course should have an understanding of Standard English grammar and composition skills. The intense concentration on language use in this course should enhance their ability to use grammatical conventions both appropriately and with sophistication and to develop stylistic maturity in their writing.

AP 1 Analyze and interpret samples of good writing, identifying and explaining the authors use rhetorical strategies and techniques. AP 2 Apply effective strategies and techniques in their own writing. AP3 Create and sustain arguments based on readings, research, and/or personal experience. AP4 Demonstrate understanding and mastery of standard written English as well as stylistic maturity in their own writings. AP 5 Write in a variety of genres and contexts, both formal and informal, employing appropriate conventions. AP 6 Produce expository and argumentative compositions that introduce a complex central idea and develop it with appropriate, specific evidence, cogent explanations, and clear transitions. AP7 Move effectively through the stages of the writing process, with careful attention to inquiry and research, drafting, revising, editing, and review.
 * Division Goals **

CR 1 The teacher has read the most recent //AP English Course Description//, available as a free download on the AP English Language and Composition Course Home Page. CR 2 The course teaches and requires students to write in several forms (e.g., narrative, expository, analytical, and argumentative essays) about a variety of subjects (e.g., public policies, popular culture, personal experiences). CR 3 The course requires students to write essays that proceed through several stages or drafts, with revision aided by teacher and peers. CR 4 The course requires students to write in informal contexts (e.g., imitation exercises, journal keeping, collaborative writing, and in-class responses) designed to help them become increasingly aware of themselves as writers and of the techniques employed by the writers they read. CR 5 The course requires expository, analytical, and argumentative writing assignments that are based on readings representing a wide variety of prose styles and genres. CR 6 The course requires nonfiction readings (e.g., essays, journalism, political writing, science writing, nature writing, autobiographies/biographies, diaries, history, criticism) that are selected to give students opportunities to identify and explain an author's use of rhetorical strategies and techniques. If fiction and poetry are also assigned, their main purpose should be to help students understand how various effects are achieved by writers' linguistic and rhetorical choices. CR 7 The course teaches students to analyze how graphics and visual images both relate to written texts and serve as alternative forms of text themselves. CR 8 The course teaches research skills, and in particular, the ability to evaluate, use, and cite primary and secondary sources. The course assigns projects such as the researched argument paper, which goes beyond the parameters of a traditional research paper by asking students to present an argument of their own that includes the analysis and synthesis of ideas from an array of sources. CR 9 The course teaches students how to cite sources using a recognized editorial style (e.g., Modern Language Association, __The Chicago Manual of Style__, etc.). CR 10 The AP teacher provides instruction and feedback on students' writing assignments, both before and after the students revise their work, that help the students develop these skills:
 * College Board Curricular Requirements **
 * A wide-ranging vocabulary used appropriately and effectively
 * A variety of sentence structures, including appropriate use of subordination and coordination
 * Logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence, such as repetition, transitions, and emphasis
 * A balance of generalization and specific, illustrative detail
 * An effective use of rhetoric, including controlling tone, establishing and maintaining voice, and achieving appropriate emphasis through diction and sentence structure

//Elements of Literature,6th Course: Literature of the United States with// //Literature of the Americas//. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. //The Language of Composition//
 * DIVISION REQUIRED STUDENT TEXTBOOKS**

// The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn //, Mark Twain // All the King's Men // , Robert Penn Warren  // An American Childhood // , Annie Dillard  // Between Ourselves // , Karen Payne, ed. // Blue Highways //, William Least Heat-Moon // The Crucible, // Arthur Miller // Fair and Tender Ladies, // Lee Smith // A Farewell to Arms //, Ernest Hemingway // The Grapes of Wrath //, John Steinbeck // The Great Gatsby // , F. Scott Fitzgerald  // Inherit the Wind // , Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee  // Into the Wild // , Jon Krakauer  // Into Thin Air // , Jon Krakauer  // Invisible Man // , Ralph Ellison // Letters Home //, Sylvia Plath // Letters from the Field //, Margaret Mead // Literary Essays of Ezra Pound //, Ezra Pound // A Moveable Feast //, Ernest Hemingway // On the Road // , Charles Kuralt  // Of Mice and Men // , John Steinbeck  // Pilgrim at Tinker Creek // , Annie Dillard  // The Scarlet Letter // , Nathaniel Hawthorne  // Selected Essays, Lectures and Poems // , Ralph Waldo Emerson  // Silent Spring // , Rachel Carson  // Spoon //// River //// Anthology // , Edgar Lee Masters  // The Sun Also Rises // , Ernest Hemingway  // Their Eyes Were Watching God // , Zora Neale Hurston  // Travels with Charley // , John Steinbeck // Walden //, Henry David Thoreau
 * SUPPLEMENTAL SELECTIONS (Selections vary annually.)**

Alsup, Janet, and Jonathan Bush. //“But Will it Work with Real Students”.//Urbana, Illinois: National Council of the Teachers of English, 2003. //The AP Vertical Teams Guide for English.// 2nd ed. College Entrance Examination Board, 2002. Axelrod, Rise B., and Charles R. Cooper. //Reading Critically, Writing Well.// 3rd ed. New York: St. Martin’s, 1993. Axelrod, Rise B., and Charles R. Cooper. //The St. Martin’s Guide to Writing.// New york: St. Martin’s Press, 1988. Barnet, Sylvan, Morton Berman, and William Burto, eds. //Literature for Composition.// Glenview: Scott, Foresman, 1988. Berke, Jacqueline, and Randal Woodland. //Twenty Questions for the Writer.// 6th ed. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1995. Brown, John, and Paul Daguid. //The Social life of Information.//Boston: HarvardBusinessSchool Press, 2000. Clauss, Patrick. //i-claim: visualizing argument//. CD-ROM. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005. Cohen, Samuel, ed. //50 Essays.// Boston: Bedford, 2004. Copeland, Matt. //Socratic Circles.// Portland: Stenhouse, 2005. Daniels, Harvey, and Steven Zemelman. //Subjects Matter.// Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2004. Dean, Nancy. //Voice Lessons—Classroom Activities to Teach Diction, Detail, Imagery, Syntax, and Tone.// Gainesville: Maupin House, 2000. Funk, Wilfred, and Norman Lewis. //30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary.// New York: Pocket Books, 1970. Gardner, Janet E. //Writing about Literature.// Boston: Bedford, 2004. Gibaldi, Joseph. //MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.// New York: Modern Language Association, 2003. //Grammar and Composition Handbook.//New York: McGraw Hill, 2000. Hoagland, Tony. //What Narcissism Means to Me.//St. Paul: Graywolf Press, 2003. Horner, Winifred. //Rhetoric in the Classical Tradition.//New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1988. Hugo, Richard. //31 Letters and 13 Dreams//. New York: Norton, 1977. Infante, Dominic, Andrew Rancer, and Deanna Womack. //Building Communication Theory.//Prospect Heights, Illinois: Waveland Press, 1990. Ingram, Albert, and Drew Tiene. //Exploring Current issues in Technology.// Boston: Mc Graw Hill, 2001. Jacobus, Lee A., ed. //A World of Ideas.// New York: St. Martin’s, 1983. Janaro, Richard Paul, and DarwinE. Gearhart. //Human Worth.// New York: Holt, 1973. Kennedy, X.J., Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron. //The Bedford Reader.// 7th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2000. Kinneavy, James L., and John E. Warriner. //Elements of Writing.// New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson, 1998. Kirszner, Laurie G., and Stephen R. Mandell. //The Holt Handbook.// 6th ed. Boston: Heinle-Thomson, 2002. ---. //Patterns for College Writing.// Boston: Bedford, 2007. Lott, Davis Newton, annot. //The Presidents Speak.// 3rd ed. New York: Holt, 1969. Lunsford, Andrea A., John J. Ruszkiewicz, and Keith Walters. //Everything’s an Argument.// 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford, 2004. McQuade, Donald, and Robert Atwan. //Popular Writing in America.// 5th ed. New York: Oxford UP, 1993. McQuade, Donald, and Christine McQuade. //Seeing & Writing 3.// Boston: Bedford, 2006. Milner, Joseph O’Beirne, and Lucy Floyd Morcock Milner. //Bridging English.// Upper Saddle, New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall, 2003. Oates, Joyce Carol, and Robert Atwan, eds. //The Best American Essays of the Century.// Boston: Houghton, 2000. The Owl. Online Writing Lab. Perdue University. Paul, Richard, and Linda Elder. //The International Critical Thinking Reading and Writing Test.// 2nd. ed. Dillon Beach, California: Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2006. Roberts, Rhys, and Ingram Bywater, trans. //The Rhetoric and the Poetics of Aristotle.// New York: Random House, 1954. Rottenberg, Annette T. //Elements of Argument.// 6th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2000. Shea, Renee H., and Lawrence Scanlon. //Teaching Nonfiction in A.P. English.// Boston: Bedford, 2005. Siegel, Marvin, ed. //The Last Word.// New York: William Morrow, 1997. Soven, Margot. //Teaching Writing In Middle and Secondary Schools: Theory Research, and Practice.// Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1999. Strong, William. //Writer’s Choice; Grammar and Composition.//New York: McGraw Hill, 1996. Strunk, William Jr., and E.B. White. //The Elements of Style//. 4th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000. Stubbs, Marcia, and Sylvan Barnet, eds. //The Little, Brown Reader.// Boston: Little, Brown: 1977.
 * ADDITIONAL RESOURCES**
 * The following list details additional resources for teachers and students.**


 * COURSE ORGANIZATION**
 * **__Autobiography__**
 * Description:** After being introduced to a variety of rhetorical strategies and modes, students will analyze how these modes and strategies are used in various autobiographical pieces. Students will know that writers tell the story not only of self in autobiography, but also of the world as they see it. Students will understand that writers of autobiogra-phy have particular reasons for emphasizing their subjectivism; furthermore, they will be able to evaluate texts for subjectivity and efficacy. A study of the writer’s voice will lead students into discovering and developing voice in their own work. Students will recog- nize the basic reasons for using the genre of autobiography as discussed in the Duke University TIP Manual, 3rd ed. This section will also focus on diction, and students will become well-versed in analyzing a writer’s diction as well as expanding their own vocabularies and word selection processes.


 * Major Texts**: // Elements of Literature; Language of Composition //

Frederick Douglass, “from //The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass//” Benjamin Franklin, “from //The Autobiography//” Zora Neale Hurston, //Their Eyes Were Watching God// Tim O’ Brian, “from //The Things They Carried”// Mark Twain, //The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn// John Krakauer//, Into the Wild// Truman Capote, //In Cold Blood// James //The Color of Water//
 * Representative Titles**:
 * Major Assessments**
 * Students will complete a journal project or narrative essay for which they compose entries on designated topics (moving from the self to its connections to the world which encases it) to analyze and use skills of autobiography. Each student is asked to use details, memories, percep-tions, and ideas that can be gathered and purposefully arranged, and to develop a clear voice in the piece.


 * Students will compose expository essays in which they analyze the rhetorical strategies employed in autobiographical essays, such as AP response essays (Jamaica Kincaid, 1999 exam; Eudora Welty, 2000 exam; Gary Soto, 1996 exam; Nancy Mairs, 1992).


 * Example of Specific Assignment **
 * After reading and discussing The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, student will create a group presentation on the use of certain themes, characterizations, etc. and their purpose in the novel (including but not limited to superstition, the picaresque hero, the river.)


 * Curricular Requirements ** : CR 1, CR 2, CR 3, CR 4, CR 5, CR 6, CR 10 ||


 * **__Letters__**
 * Description**: Students will explore the letter as one of the oldest and most prevalent forms of written communication. In this unit, students will examine the versatility of the genre, as outlined in the Duke University TIP Manual, 3rd ed., recognizing that letters can be reflective, expressive, or narrative, or a means of seeking redress—exposing wrongdoing or wrong thinking. Students will analyze the explicit content and purpose of letters, as well as the implicit messages conveyed by the style and wording of a letter and by what is left unsaid. In addition, a study of sentence structure, including sentence combining and variety, will be a focus of this unit. Students will examine how syntax helps create meaning and effect in a work, and will provide evidence of an effective grasp of these concepts in their own writing.

// Elements of Literature; Language of Composition //
 * Major Texts**:

Letters:
 * Representative Titles**:
 * F.Scott Fitzgerald to His Daughter
 * Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
 * Thomas Jefferson to His Daughter- both
 * Abraham Lincoln to Thurlow Weed
 * Benjamin Banneker to Lincoln
 * Abigail Adams to John Adams
 * Letter home from Vietnam
 * Letter from Robert E. Lee to his son
 * Letter from Lamb to Wordsworth


 * Major Assessments**
 * After analyzing a variety of letters written for different occasions, students will compose essays in which they analyze the rhetorical strategies used by the author in developing tone (AP response essays such as Lady Montagu, 1996; M.E. Lewes, 2001; Coca Cola Letters, 1998; Lord Chesterfield, 2004). Students must demonstrate an ability to write varied sentences in these essays.


 * Example of Specific Assignment **
 * Students will analyze letters for persuasive strategies, tone, and rhetorical devices to discover the writer’s ultimate purpose for the audience or reader.
 * Student will craft their own formal business letter in either a complaint or compliment format.
 * Curricular Requirements ** : CR 1, CR 2, CR 3, CR 4, CR 5, CR 6, CR 10 ||


 * **__Persuasion and Argumentation__**
 * Description:** Students will examine the persuasive arguments of a wide variety of writers. Students will write multi-paragraph persuasive essays using a combination of any of the following: opposing views, reliable evidence, facts, sound generalizations, trustworthy opinions, and logical arguments.Students will understand that writers use a variety of techniques and strategies to persuade their audiences. Students will analyze strategies commonly used in persuasive texts such as: definition, comparison, illustration, classification, analysis of a process, analogy, cause and effect reasoning, and description. Students will also distinguish between the three classical appeals: logos, pathos, and ethos. Students will recognize logical fallacies and how writers may resort to such “unfair practices” when their purpose is to persuade an audience. In addition, students will examine advertising and marketing strategies and propaganda techniques, including alternative forms of text such as visual images (both photographs and film), music, graphics, cartoons, etc. An exploration of how such techniques can be used by detractors of the advertisers/products against them (spoofs of commercials and print ads, for exam-ple) will enhance students’ understanding of the power of such strategies. (The use of these strategies in the political arena will be more specifically studied in the Political Discourse unit.)

// Elements of Literature; Language of Composition // William F. Buckley Jr., “Why Don’t We Complain?” Chitra Divakaruni, “Live Free and Starve” Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Ralph Waldo Emerson, //Selected Essays, Lectures, and Poems// Patrick Henry, “Speech to the Virginia Convention” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “I Have a Dream” Sinclair Lewis, //The Jungle// Arthur Miller, //The Crucible// Jonathan Swift, “A Modest Proposal” Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience”
 * Major Texts**:
 * Representative Titles**:


 * Major Assessments**
 * Students will compose an argumentative, documented paper in which they synthesize information from at least three print and/or non-print sources to substantiate their argu-ment. Students are encouraged to take their drafts to the Writing Center for feedback before submitting a final draft.


 * Example of Specific Assignment **
 * Students will read and analyze the persuasive appeals used in Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” and King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and compose a comparative analysis essay of these strategies.


 * Curricular Requirements ** : CR 1, CR 2, CR 3, CR 4, CR 5, CR 6, CR 7, CR 8, CR 9, CR 10 ||


 * **__Philosophy and Science__**
 * Description**: Students will examine philosophical and scientific writing in a variety of genres including, but not limited to, essays, poetry, and journals. An examination of scientific journal articles will include a discussion of non-text material’s effect on the article as a whole. In addition, students study the effectiveness of both generalization and specific detail in such texts, and develop an appropriate balance in their own writing.

// Elements of Literature; Language of Composition //
 * Major Texts**:

Charles Darwin, from //Origin of Species// Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self Reliance” T. H. Huxley, “Thinking Scientifically” Lawrence and Lee, //Inherit the Wind// Scientific journal articles Henry David Thoreau, from //Walden and Other Writings// Walt Whitman, “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” “Transsexual Frogs” “The Future of Happiness” “Lifeboat Ethics” “Singer Solution to World Poverty” “Prescription for disaster” Carl Sagan Einstein’s letter to Roosevelt
 * Representative Titles**:


 * Major Assessments**
 * After analyzing a variety of essays, students will compose an essay in which they analyze the rhetorical strategies used by authors, such as those found in AP prompts, including Okefenokee Swamp, 1999; Sputnik, 1985; Galapagos Islands, 1990; Audubon/Dillard, 2003).


 * Example of Specific Assignment **
 * After reading //Inherit the Wind//, Students will read sections of “Genesis” and //Origin of Species// analyzing the difference between scientific and philosophical points of view. Students will focus on the differences between fact, belief, and opinion. Students will examine how the viewpoint of the author, whether scientific or philosophical, pervades a work. Students will examine diction, structure, and syntax to develop an understanding of bias.


 * Curricular Requirements ** : CR 1, CR 2, CR 3, CR 4, CR 5, CR 6, CR 8, CR 9, CR 10 ||


 * **__Political Discourse__**
 * Description:** Students will develop their ability to analyze persuasion and arguments by reading, discussing, and writing about selected political works. Students will analyze documents, essays, speeches, and media for the relationship between language and politics. A study of organizational structures emerges naturally out of the selected writings.

// Elements of Literature; Language of Composition //
 * Major Texts**:

Robert Kennedy to South Africa William Clinton Inaugural speech John F. Kennedy Inaugural speech Queen Elizabeth I, “Speech at Tillbury” Earnest Hemmingway, //A Farewell to Arms// Patrick Henry, “Speech to the Virginia Convention” Chief Joseph, “I am Tired of Fighting (Surrender Speech)” Abraham Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address” Op-ed pieces found at [|www.creators.com] and [|www.headlinespot.com/opinion] Political cartoons found at [|www.comics.com/editoons] and [|http://cagle.msnbc.com] George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language” Speeches found at [|www.AmericanRhetoric.com]
 * Representative Titles**:


 * Major Assessments**
 * Students will compose expository essays in which they evaluate the argument used by the speaker/writer of a given text or visual image.


 * Example of Specific Assignment **
 * Students will read and evaluate a variety of political speeches for audience, purpose, and occasion. For example, students may evaluate President George W. Bush’s 9-11 speech for its allusions to other persuasive speeches and for its use of classical rhetorical structure. Students will be expected to display specified organizational elements in their own writing.


 * Curricular Requirements ** : CR 1, CR 2, CR 3, CR 4, CR 5, CR 6, CR 9, CR 10 ||

Students will develop an understanding of how place and setting function in a piece of writing.
 * **__Description and Setting in Fiction__**
 * Description**: Students will analyze the use of description as a rhetorical mode in fiction.

// Elements of Literature; Language of Composition //
 * Major Texts**:

William Cullen Bryant, “Thanatopsis” F. Scott Fitzgerald, //The Great Gatsby// Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” James Joyce, “Hell” H.L. Mencke, “The Libido for the Ugly” Edgar Allen Poe, “Fall of the House of Usher”; “The Pit and the Pendulum” “A Cask of Amontillado” “The Raven” J.D. Salinger, //The Catcher in the Rye// E. B. White, “Once More to the Lake” Nathaniel Hawthorne, //The Scarlet Letter// Emily Dickinson selected poems Walt Whitman selected poems “The Slave Mother” “My Guilt”
 * Representative Titles**:


 * Major Assessments**
 * Students will examine and evaluate literary elements used in a variety of works of fiction. Students will revise their work after considering feedback provided by peers via check-lists or rubrics.


 * Example of Specific Assignment **
 * Using “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” students will examine the diction to discover how descriptive elements help create the tone of an overall work.
 * Students will submit a year long portfolio of their work to include a minimum of eight finished pieces with all drafts as well a reflective piece on their body of work for the school year.


 * Curricular Requirements ** : CR 1, CR 2, CR 3, CR 4, CR 5, CR 6, CR 7, CR 10 ||

Grades are determined on a total point system. The standard Virginia Beach City Public Schools’ grading scale applies. Rubrics for major assignments are distributed when the assignment is given. Diagnosis is an ongoing activity. Effective evaluation provides feedback that helps students to understand what works in their papers; to learn from their mistakes; and to position themselves to stretch further toward becoming more effective in the future. In “Evaluation of Students,” Scriven identified six functions of grading five important ones are listed below:
 * STUDENT EVALUATION/GRADING GUIDELINES**
 * To describe unambiguously the worth, merit, or value of the work accomplished
 * To improve the capacity of students to identify good work, i.e., to improve their self-evaluation or discrimination skills with respect to work submitted
 * To stimulate and encourage good work by students
 * To communicate the teacher’s judgment of the students’ progress
 * To inform the teacher about what students have and have not learned

The following rubric is used for all major writing assignments.

AP LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION Essay Scoring Rubric…According to AP, VBCPS, College Board, and Ms. Stancil
 * **AP** ||  **VBCPS**  ||  **College Board**  ||  **Ms. Stancil**  ||
 * 9-8 ||  9 = 100  || These essays reflect an accurate and sensitive reading of the assigned material and include sufficient details to demonstrate an intelligent and perceptive response. The student has selected a clear focus for the essay response and has maintained coherence and consistency in presenting his chosen line of argument. The writing shows stylistic maturity and an effective command of sentence structure and diction. Sentences are clear and economical, and at the same time they reflect a mature use of subordination to convey complex ideas. The essay is well organized, opening with a direct and clear focus on the topic, moving through a logical sequence of ideas, including ample elaboration of generalizations, building toward a high point of understanding and insight, and closing with an effective synthesis. The writing need not be without flaws, but it reveals the writer’s ability to choose from and control a wide range of the elements of effective writing. || These essays make me feel like I’ve eaten a full course gourmet meal—delicious and extremely satisfying with a few surprising, delectable, and origin- nal mouth-watering flavors. I feel com- pelled to take a nap after reading these essays because they are so satisfying that I simply must bask in their greatness. ||
 * ^  ||  8 = 96  ||^   ||^   ||
 * 7-6 ||  7 = 92  || These essays reflect an accurate reading of the assigned materials, but they lack as much detail and elaboration as the 9-8 essay. The discussion of the passage is less thorough and less specific; there may be effectively stated and insightful generalizations but inadequate support and illustration. These essays may possess stylistic maturity and an effective command of syntax and diction, but their lack of elaboration and development detract from their persuasiveness. These essays may be written with an appropriate style but lack the power, persuasiveness, and control of the best essays. Or, there may be lapses in diction or syntax that detract from the effectiveness of the style. The writing in a 7-6 essay is sufficiently clear to convey the writer’s ideas effectively. || These essays are a satisfying meal as well, but not nearly as savory or as spicy as the 9-8 meals. While I dined on some meat and potatoes, the portions could be small, OR the sauces and “outside of the box” seasonings were not always present. ||
 * ^  ||  6 = 86  ||^   ||^   ||
 * 5 ||  5 = 76  || These essays reflect an accurate literal reading of the assigned material but lack a sufficient understanding of the implications and subtleties of the material to write about it with clarity, persuasion, and insight. The discussion of the techniques and themes of the material may be overly generalized and vague; there is too little specific reference to the text to make generalizations persuasive. These essays may be adequately written but lack sufficient understanding and support, or they may reflect inconsistent control over style and organization. || These essays served to ease my hunger, but there was little to savor. The servings may have been partic- ularly small, OR they were big enough, but the taste was singular, everyday, ordinary. ||
 * 4-3 ||  4 = 72  || These essays may either reflect a misreading of the material, an inadequate understanding of the material, flaws in sentence clarity and style, or flaws in organization and development. The writing may reflect confusion about the main points of a passage or overly generalized, vague content. These essays omit detailed analysis of the text or supply very little supporting details. The sentences may be confusing or ineffectively worded, or style, syntax, and diction may be immature or uncontrolled. The writing may not reveal all of these problems, but if the essay is dominated by any one of these problems, it is a 4-3 essay. || These essays attempt-ed to follow the recipe, but some of the key ingredients were missing. Be- cause of this, the resulting meal was ick, ugh, untasty, un- satisfying, and a tad nauseating. ||
 * ^  ||  3 = 66 to 68  ||^   ||^   ||
 * 2-1 ||  2 = 64  || These essays respond inadequately to the assigned reading either misreading or misunderstanding the material or the question. They may reflect poor control of style, syntax, and diction. They lack adequate elaboration and development. Generally, these writings are unacceptably brief or poorly written. || These essays really aren’t meals at all! I feel like I’ve been served a pizza box instead of the pizza. ||
 * ^  ||  1 = 63  ||^   ||^   ||
 * 0 ||  0 = 0  || These essays are either written so illegibly that they cannot be scored, or a response was never written and submitted. || These essays are like meals the waiter never brought. I was really looking forward to the dinner, but nothing came. ||

As a culminating activity for the year, each student will be required to compile a writing portfolio that showcases his or her best work. This portfolio grade will be weighted three times in the final nine weeks’ grading period.
 * Writing Portfolio**

In literature instruction, assessment goes beyond asking a question and getting a response. The course assignments attempt to assess the students' thinking processes, abilities to work effectively in peer groups, willingness to participate in class discussions, levels of preparedness, and depth of involvement in the subject matter. For example, the following list identifies criteria for assessing student seminar discussions. The students display
 * Assessment and Evaluation in Literature Instruction**
 * a willingness to express a response,
 * the ability to change their minds,
 * a willingness to listen to others, to consider alternative ideas, and to present their own thoughts,
 * the ability to discriminate between the thoughts and feelings they bring to the literary work and those that can be attributed to the text,
 * the ability to relate the work to other human experience, and
 * the ability to make meaning out of literature rather than depending on others to decide what works mean.

Response journals, writer’s notebooks, and reading logs are used as writing and thinking tools meant to be used for students to record their thoughts or responses to ideas as they read and discuss. Later, the students use their journals and notebooks for inspiration when writing more formal pieces. Reading logs are used to record the students' responses to literature and may be used by the students as the basis for discussion and writing. They are treated as a resource for the student. However, the teacher picks these up occasionally to check for general qualities, such as specific understandings of skills or to assess student growth.
 * Assessment and Evaluation of Response Journals and Reading Logs**

The student is required to do both formal and informal research throughout the course of the year. However, at least one time each year the students take a research project through all the research stages culminating in a formal research paper to be evaluated by the teacher. The process used by the student to develop the research paper is assessed and evaluated as well as the final product. Each student will create a writing portfolio in order to illustrate how his or her work has developed over time and will give students, parents, administrators, and other teachers a much richer source of what a student has accomplished and can do. Students seek feedback and input from peers, parents, and the teacher, in selecting the works to be graded. After selection, the students have the opportunity to revise, edit, and proofread their writing. They then reflect further on their work by providing an essay or letter, along with an annotated table of contents, explaining their choices for their portfolios. The teacher will schedule conferences with students to return and discuss the evaluated portfolios. Students compose a variety of essays and texts throughout the course, as described in the units of study. Both process and product receive balanced attention. The following items are considered for each unit. **Writing Instruction**
 * Assessment and Evaluation of Research**
 * Assessment and Evaluation of Portfolios**
 * Writing Process**
 * 1) Allow class time for writing.
 * 2) Whenever possible, allow students to select from several topics for writing.
 * 3) Distribute grading criteria for the assignment before the students begin to write.
 * 4) Discuss with students the elements of a good paper.
 * 5) Explain the parts of the criteria or rubric (composing, written expression, usage/mechanics) and how they are weighted.
 * 6) Include the writing process as part of the grade (brainstorming, first draft, and revision).
 * 7) Encourage students to revise and to read their papers aloud to themselves and others.
 * 8) Have the students write reflective pieces about their writing.
 * 9) When returning the written final product, explain the grade. Include a statement about what the grade means and how the student can improve the paper.
 * Graphic Organizers: In a writer’s workshop, students use graphic organizers (outlines, cluster maps, Venn diagrams, and word webs) as a means of prewriting, brainstorming, organizing, and revising their own writing.
 * Mini-Lessons: Mini-lessons are used to introduce, practice, review, and reinforce new or existing skills and concepts. Immediately following the mini-lesson, students apply their understanding of the skill or concept into their own writing.
 * Rubrics: Prior to assigning writing for assessment, the teacher reviews the rubric criteria for the piece and explains how each rubric criterion will be weighted. This allows students to know the teacher’s expectations before they begin to write. The rubric is used throughout the writing process to provide specific feedback to students.
 * Modeling: Most modeling is delivered through the mini-lesson and is used in order for students to see first-hand what is expected and how to reach those expectations.
 * Feedback: Feedback takes the form of a writer’s conference, peer review, trips to the writing center, and written comments on rough drafts. Growth is an important component of the writing process, and feedback helps engender that growth.
 * Reflection: Reflection is a critical element of a good portfolio and allows the student’s thought processes to be made visible. Reflection is ongoing throughout the writing process and through the portfolio selection process.

Typical reflection questions might include: A= 100- 93 A- = 90-92 B+ = 87-89 B= 83-86 B- = 80-82 C+=77-79 C= 73-76 C- =70-72 D+=67-69 D=64-66 E= 63 or less
 * Comment on or identify the processes involved in developing the piece.
 * Describe and point out examples of how specific skills or knowledge improved (or did not).
 * Identify strengths and weaknesses in samples of work.
 * Set goals corresponding to those strengths and weaknesses.
 * Identify strategies for reaching those goals.
 * Assess past and current self-efficacy for a task or skill.
 * Explain why particular pieces are being chosen to showcase in the portfolio.
 * If you were a teacher and grading this portfolio, what grade would it get and why?
 * Balanced assessment: all units will use aspects of the following in an effort to assess student progress.**
 * Vocabulary
 * Reading quizzes
 * Rough and final drafts of essays
 * Group and/or individual presentations
 * Homework
 * Classwork
 * Test and projects
 * Multiple choice development
 * Informal assessment
 * Grading Scale **