Writing 121
- Cora
Agatucci
English Composition [Expository Essay
Writing]
Fall 2000 WR 121 Assignments (2) Fall
2000
Criteria-Referenced Evaluation forms
used in Grading Writing Assignments
& Course Competencies Reports (on student learning
Outcomes)
Out of Class
Essays 
Essay #1
Evaluation & Course Competencies (Outcomes) #1, 4, 5, & 3
Essay #3
Evaluation & Course Competencies (Outcomes) #1, 4, 5,
3 & 10
Formal Academic
Summary Summary
Evaluation & Course Competency (Outcome) #6
In-Class Essays
In-Class Essay #2
Evaluation & Course Competencies
(Outcomes) #2, 1, 4, & 3 In-Class Essay
#4
Evaluation & Course Competencies
(Outcomes) #2, 1, 4, & 3
Writer's Profiles
WP#4, WP#5,
Optional Revisions (if applicable), & Workshops Course Competencies (Outcomes)
#7, 8 & 9
Fall 2000 WR
121 Assignment directions Assignments
(1)
Online Handouts on
Summaries, Comparing, Classifying, & Ad Analysis WR
121 Assignments (3)
Fall 2000 WR 121 Assignment Deadlines Course
Plan
Fall 2000 WR
121 Course Grading Policies & Course Competencies (Outcomes) WR
121 Syllabus
WR 121 Course
Competencies & Benchmarks - Fall 2000:
http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr121/competencies.htm
Essay
#1 Evaluation
Out-of-Class Essay on Free Choice Topic
Note:
Grading/Scoring of Essay #1 (worth a total of 100 points possible) has
been split:
(a) Essay Writing Skills Criteria #1-6 (worth 80 points
possible)
(b) Style & Command of Standard Written English Criterion
#7 & related Coherence issues (worth 20 points possible).
_____1. TOPIC
focus neither too broad/too narrow for satisfactory development
within the scope of suggested essay length
_____2. CONTENT,
TONE, AUDIENCE: college-level critical and/or creative
thinking demonstrated; tone effective for audience and essay
purpose; clear sense of author engagement in the writing;
addresses a “general” audience clearly &
effectively.
_____3.
THESIS,
PURPOSE, UNITY: thesis & purpose
clearly established &/or implied; thesis statement
effectively placed; essay is unified (sticks to the
stated/implied thesis & purpose); timely thesis transitions
integrated to connect body points to thesis purpose. (See also Criterion #4,
Criterion #5
below) Overall, thesis/purpose well developed & supported,
coherently presented, and effectively achieved by the essay.
_____4.
ORGANIZATION, COHERENCE: sound, logical organizational
plan overall; good internal body paragraph organization;
reasoning is convincing and logical, with no unacknowledged / unreconciled contradictions; good continuity and
coherence is maintained in the essay--through explicit and accurate
transitions, clear expression, grammatical consistency (in
person, tense, pronoun reference, etc.).
_____5. BODY
PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT: each body
paragraph presents a clear main idea (topic sentence) which
unifies the rest of the paragraph; paragraph breaks are logical
and “readable”; good balance of meaningful
generalization and specific supporting development: specific
development is effective to clarify, support, elaborate,
illustrate, dramatize/make vivid the author’s general
points; good idea progression - unnecessary restatement and
circling are avoided. Overall, good material
is selected to achieve the essay purpose/thesis well (See also Criterion
#3 above); body points
important to support of thesis/purpose are appropriately
emphasized and well developed.
_____6. ESSAY
FORM: title, introduction and conclusion are effective
and appropriate to essay thesis/purpose; correct format for
manuscript preparation is followed in
the final draft.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_____7. STYLE
& COMMAND OF STANDARD WRITTEN ENGLISH: sentence
style and word choice are clear & effective; major sentence
errors (esp. fragments, fused sentences, comma splices) are
avoided; good command of other conventions of grammar, usage,
punctuation, and mechanics.
Essay #1 demonstrates that these WR 121 Course Competencies
(or student learning Outcomes) have been met or
exceeded:
College Essay Writing Skills:
____ Outcome 1:
Write
essays that . . .
___use a thesis to establish control over content;
___supply relevant and adequate supporting details;
___employ the organizational strategies of effective beginnings, transitions,
and endings;
___conform to standard edited English.
____ Outcome 4: Employ the following source(s) as the basis for essay content:
___observation;
___personal experience; and/or
___active, responsive reading; and the responsible use of sources
(without plagiarizing).
____ Outcome 5:
Demonstrate,
in an essay, a sustained style employing rhetorically effective tone, persona,
diction, idiom, and syntax (sentence structure).
.
. . & Progress toward meeting
this Competency:
____ Outcome 3: Demonstrate the ability to use a
variety of expository essay patterns, such as definition, classification,
analysis, problem-solution, and comparison-contrast.
[Cora's
Analysis:] Essay
#1 uses the following expository essay pattern(s)
&/or method(s) of development:
____________________________________________________
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Essay #3
Evaluation
Out
of Class Essay on Free-Choice Topic
These requirements are met (see
Essay #1 Directions handout)
_____Manuscript Preparation:
Final draft (to
be graded) is typed/word-processed,
double-spaced, & prepared in
standard manuscript format
_____Genre:
This is an Essay
_____Plagiarism
is avoided
through proper citation of any outside source(s).
Evaluation
Checklist:
___
= excellent; ___= very good; ___
= satisfactory; ___= weak/needs work
_____1. TOPIC
FOCUS, CHOICE:focus neither too broad/too narrow for
satisfactory development within the scope of suggested essay length;
writer is clearly engaged by the topic s/he has chosen
_____2.
CONTENT, TONE, AUDIENCE: college-level critical and creative thinking
demonstrated; tone effective for audience and essay purpose; author is writing
to communicate with a general audience of college-level readers.
_____3.
THESIS, PURPOSE, UNITY: thesis & purpose clearly
established &/or implied; thesis statement effectively placed; essay is
unified (sticks to the stated/implied thesis & purpose); timely thesis
transitions integrated to connect body points to thesis purpose. (See #4, 5
below) Overall, thesis/purpose well developed & supported, coherently
presented, and effectively achieved by the essay.
_____4.
ORGANIZATION, COHERENCE: sound, logical organizational
plan overall; good internal body paragraph organization; reasoning is convincing
and logical, with no unacknowledged/unreconciled contradictions; good continuity
and coherence is maintained in the essay--through explicit, accurate
transitions, clear expression, grammatical consistency (in person, tense,
pronoun reference, etc.).
_____5. BODY
PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE & DEVELOPMENT:
each body paragraph presents a clear main idea (topic sentence) which unifies
the rest of the paragraph; paragraph breaks are logical and “readable”;
good balance of meaningful generalization and specific supporting development:
specific development is effective to clarify, support, elaborate, illustrate,
dramatize/make vivid the author’s general
points; good idea progression - unnecessary restatement and circling are
avoided. (See also #3 above.) Overall, good material is selected to achieve the
essay purpose/thesis well; body points important to support of thesis/purpose
are appropriately emphasized and well developed.
_____6. ESSAY
FORM: title,
introduction and conclusion are effective and appropriate to essay
thesis/purpose.
_____7. STYLE &
COMMAND OF STANDARD WRITTEN ENGLISH: sentence
style and word choice are clear & effective; major sentence errors (esp.
fragments, fused sentences, comma splices) are avoided; good command of other
conventions of grammar, usage, punctuation, and mechanics.
Essay #3 demonstrates that these
WR 121 Course Competencies have been met or exceeded:
College
Essay Writing Skills:
____ Outcome 1:
Write
essays that . . .
___use a thesis to establish control over content;
___supply relevant and adequate supporting details;
___employ the organizational strategies of effective beginnings, transitions,
and endings; and
___conform to standard edited English.
____ Outcome 4: Employ the following source(s) as the basis for essay content:
___observation;
___personal
experience; and/or
___active, responsive reading; and the responsible use of sources
(without plagiarizing).
____ Outcome 5:
Demonstrate,
in an essay, a sustained style employing rhetorically effective tone, persona,
diction, idiom, and syntax (sentence structure).
Progress toward meeting:
____ Outcome 3: Demonstrate the ability to use a
variety of expository essay patterns, such as definition, classification,
analysis, problem-solution, and comparison-contrast.
Essay #3 uses
the following expository essay pattern(s) & method(s) of development:
Communication Contexts:
____ Outcome
10: Demonstrate an awareness of a variety of writing
purposes and audiences. (From WR 121 Syllabus: “Most WR 121 activities and
assignments . . . will exercise students' ability to identify and analyze
different purposes and audiences in varied examples of academic writing
presented in assigned textbook readings, as well as in students' own
writing.”)
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Summary Evaluation
Formal
Academic Summary
These
requirements are met (see
handout)
_____Manuscript
Preparation:
Final draft
(to be graded)
is typed/word-processed, double-spaced, prepared
in standard manuscript format (heading, etc.)
_____Topic
Choice: Rose & Kiniry; OR Sommers; OR Mairs; OR (all three of these:)
Table, Figure & Phillips
-------------------------------------------------------------------
_____1.
Length & Format: Summary
does not exceed length limit of one typed double-spaced or wordprocessed page, using
readable, standard-sized font & point size, and
standard 1” margins. Summary is formatted as one single paragraph.
___**1/2
grade penalty for exceeding the length limit**
_____2. First
Sentences (a) formally introduce the name(s) of the author(s) and the
title(s) of the text(s)summarized; (b) integrate relevant or significant
information about the communication context; and (c) establish the topic
and focus of the text(s).
_____3. Summary Body (a) presents the main points clearly, concisely, & logically; (b)
represents the major point(s) of the text accurately, fairly, and objectively; (c)
uses occasional “author tags”; and (d) demonstrates that included
material (main points) has been selected carefully.
Student summarizer
avoids these problems:
_____4a.
Does NOT give her/his opinions about the ideas summarized or the quality of the
writing; summary is objective
_____4b.
Does NOT repeat or restate points unnecessarily; summary is concise while maintaining clarity and coherence, with
appropriate transitions;
_____4c.
Does NOT use extensive quotations: paraphrase dominates and shows the
student summarizer’s reading comprehension; any quotations used are justified
(limited to key ideas, special terms, or significant phrasing);
_____4d.
Does NOT include minor points and details:
only major points are included; any specific details or examples are mentioned only
if given primary emphasis and proportional space by the author(s) and/or if
essential to illustrating main idea(s)
_____5.
Command of Standard Written English (i.e.
grammar, usage, punctuation, & mechanics),
Style, Clarity, and Coherence.
Formal Academic Summary demonstrates that
this WR 121 Course Competency
(or student learning Outcome) has been met or
exceeded:
Critical
Reading, Summarizing, & Rhetorical Analysis Skills:
____ Outcome 6:
Use
critical reading and writing to analyze and synthesize ideas in an academic
writing sample, identifying rhetorical patterns, major assertions, and
supporting details.
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Writer’s Profiles #4 & #5,
Revisions (if applicable) & Writer's Workshops
(for Essay #1 & Formal Academic Summary)
demonstrate that these WR 121 Course Competencies
are being Met or Exceeded:
[Teamwork,
Self-Assessment, Revision & Editing Skills:]
____Outcome
7: Complete appropriate written critical peer reviews
of student essay drafts, including suggestions for revision and editing.…as
demonstrated by Preliminary Drafts, Author’s Directions & Writers
Workshops Preparation & Participation
____Outcome
8: Complete at least one (formal or informal) written
review of the student’s own writing strengths and weaknesses, including
effective self-prescriptions for improvement.…as
demonstrated by WP #4 and/or WP #5 Writing Skills Analysis and Advice, and (if
applicable) Revisions of Essay #1 and/or Formal Academic Summary
[Writing
Process:]
____Outcome
9:
Demonstrate,
monitor, and articulate the complete idiosyncratic process that the individual
writer uses to complete an essay, including such steps as invention, thesis
formation, organization, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading.…as demonstrated by WP #4 and/or WP #5 Writing Skills Analysis and
Advice.
In-Class
Essay #2
Written
under Exam Conditions on Choice of Assigned Topics
Scoring & Grading
These In-Class Essay #2 Requirements are Met:
____Must be written in
blank bluebook(s) or it
will not be accepted for grading.
____Must avoid plagiarism by giving credit where credit is due if you
use reading or research source(s) beyond you own personal observations and
experience.
PASSING SCORES & GRADES:
Strong Pass =
4 (Grades of A or B);
Marginal Pass = 3 (Grade of C);
FAILING SCORES & GRADES:
Marginal Fail
= 2 (Grade of D);
Definite Fail = 1 (Grade
of F)
“Passing” essay
must
demonstrate minimum
competency in
all 5 of these areas:
_____1.
ASSIGNED TOPIC & TOPIC FOCUS:
Clearly
addresses (all parts of) assigned topic question and explores relevant issues;
topic/thesis is well focused (i.e. limited enough) to allow for satisfactory
treatment in an essay of 750-1000 words within timed writing period.
____Essay must be written in
response to one of these assigned topics,
or essay automatically fails for being off topic:
TOPIC 1: Based
on particular examples from your experiences and/or observation, write an
essay defining of one of the following concepts:
beauty, courage, hypocrisy,
intelligence, or stereotype.
TOPIC 2: It is
often challenging to establish and/or maintain good relationships with other
people in our professional, social, and personal lives. Write an essay focused on one such challenging relationship
that you have had (e.g., parent-child, employer-employee, employee-employee,
sibling-sibling, teacher-student, doctor-patient, members of a team or group,
friend, or romantic relationship). Identify
one or two of the main challenges you faced in establishing or maintaining
this relationship, explain how you tried to address the challenge(s), and what
the result(s) of your efforts were
TOPIC 3:
Analyze the causes or the effects of a significant achievement
in your life.
TOPIC
4: Write an essay
to support this statement: Ignorance
is different from innocence.
____2.
CONTENT, THESIS/PURPOSE: Shows depth, complexity of
thought (not simplistic) in exploring issues relevant to assigned topic;
establishes and maintains a clear "focus" unified by a thesis
statement, with clear controlling sentences (e.g. thesis/purpose statements,
topic sentences, thesis transitions); engaged writing to communicate with the
intended audience.
___Essay must be written to
make a central point--i.e. focused, unified by,
organized and developed to support a clear, specific thesis, which
responds explicitly to chosen topic.
____3. ORGANIZATION, COHERENCE, ESSAY FORM:
Effectively organized by a clear organizational pattern appropriate to the
assigned topic; essay structure (e.g., introduction, conclusion,
coherent/logical transitions & paragraph breaks) clearly establishes and
carries out organizational pattern; transitions & clear expression maintain
strong coherence throughout the essay.
____4. PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT:
Body paragraphs are well-developed, with strong supporting detail, and
sufficient discussion of detail to establish its relevance to essay
focus/thesis; general points (e.g. topic sentences) are directly supported by
specific evidence and discussion of that evidence.
____5. STYLE
& COMMAND OF STANDARD WRITTEN ENGLISH:
Clear, coherent, effective style
demonstrates control of diction/word choice & sentence structure; creates
tone appropriate to topic and purpose; and achieves pleasing syntactic variety
& appropriate Command of standard written English is
demonstrated by few flaws in grammar, usage, punctuation, and mechanics; no
serious patterns of errors (such as problems with subject-verb agreement
or persistent misuse of commas) and no more than three (3) high distortion
errors --i.e. errors that hurt clarity—such as fragments; comma splices and
run-on/fused sentences; unclear pronoun references, word choices, or mixed
sentence structures.
In-Class Essay #2 demonstrates
that these WR 121 Course Competencies are being met or exceeded:
College
Essay Writing Skills:
____Outcome
2: Achieve Outcome 1 under time constraints (during the WR 121
final essay exam), while conforming to expectations . . .
____of an assigned topic and
____of edited English appropriate for timed writing.
____Outcome 1:
Write essays that . . .
___use a thesis to establish control over content;
___supply relevant and adequate supporting details;
___employ the organizational strategies of effective beginnings, transitions,
and endings; and
___conform to standard edited English.
____Outcome 4: Employ
the following source(s) as the basis for essay content:
___observation;
___personal experience; and/or
___active, responsive reading; and the responsible use of sources
(without plagiarizing).
Progress toward
meeting:
____ Outcome 3: Demonstrate the ability to use a
variety of expository essay patterns, such as definition, classification,
analysis, problem-solution, and comparison-contrast.
(To
Be Completed by Student Author:)
In-Class
Essay #2 uses
the following expository essay pattern(s) & method(s) of development:
Out-of-Class
Essay #1
used the following expository essay pattern(s) & method(s) of development:
In-Class Essay
#4
Written
under Exam Conditions on Choice of Assigned Topics
In-Class
Essay #4 Evaluation
These In-Class Essay #4 Requirements are Met:
____Must be written in
blank bluebook(s) or it
will not be accepted for grading.
____Must avoid plagiarism by giving credit where credit is due if you
use reading or research source(s) beyond you own personal observations and
experience.
____Print ad submitted with essay if Topic #4 is chosen.
PASSING
SCORES & GRADES:
Strong Pass =
4 (Grades of A or B);
Marginal Pass = 3 (Grade of C);
FAILING SCORES & GRADES:
Marginal Fail
= 2 (Grade of D);
Definite Fail = 1 (Grade
of F)
**SCORE____________IF
THIS WERE THE FINAL**
“Passing” essay must demonstrate minimum
competency in
all 5
of the following areas:
_____1.
ASSIGNED TOPIC & TOPIC FOCUS:
Clearly
addresses (all parts of) assigned topic question and explores relevant issues;
topic/thesis is well focused (i.e. limited enough) to allow for satisfactory
treatment in an essay of 750-1000 words within timed writing period.
____Essay
must be written in response to one of these assigned topics,
or essay automatically fails for being off topic:
TOPIC
1: Write an essay in which you classify friends and/or
acquaintances in terms of their attitudes toward college.
Be sure use your classification to make a point.
TOPIC 2: Compare and/or contrast a computer mode of experience
(such as playing a game, chatting, shopping, writing, or doing research) with
a non-computer mode of doing the same activity.
Be sure to use your comparative analysis to make a point.
TOPIC 3: Olive Senior divides her short story “The Two
Grandmothers” (AT&W pp. 557-564) into seven sections.
Focus on three or four consecutive sections of the story. Analyze why you think that Senior sections and orders these
parts of her story as she does, and explain how such sectioning and ordering
contributes meaning to the whole.
TOPIC 4: Locate a print
advertisement and write an essay analyzing the message(s) created by its
visual and verbal content and design. Be
sure to use your ad analysis to make a point.
TOPIC 5 Based on your
experience, observations, and/or reading, analyze what you believe is a
serious current problem posed within one of these areas: (a) Cultural
Differences, (b) Public Education, OR (c) Working Parents.
Identify and explain the problem.
Then propose one or two feasible solutions.
TOPIC 6 Write an essay in which
you evaluate one of these types of items: (a) a public service, (b) a
local business, (c) a product, or (d) a college course.
____2.
CONTENT, THESIS/PURPOSE: Shows depth, complexity of
thought (not simplistic) in exploring issues relevant to assigned topic;
establishes and maintains a clear "focus" unified by a thesis
statement, with clear controlling sentences (e.g. thesis/purpose statements,
topic sentences, thesis transitions); thesis responds explicitly to chosen
topic; engaged writing to communicate with the intended audience.
____3. ORGANIZATION, COHERENCE, ESSAY FORM:
Effectively organized by a clear organizational pattern appropriate to the
assigned topic; essay structure (e.g., introduction, conclusion,
coherent/logical transitions & paragraph breaks) clearly establishes and
carries out organizational pattern; transitions & clear expression maintain
strong coherence throughout the essay.
____4. PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT:
Body paragraphs are well-developed, with strong supporting detail, and
sufficient discussion of detail to establish its relevance to essay
focus/thesis; general points (e.g. topic sentences) are directly supported by
specific evidence and discussion of that evidence.
____5. STYLE
& COMMAND OF STANDARD WRITTEN ENGLISH:
Clear, coherent, effective style
demonstrates control of diction/word choice & sentence structure; creates
tone appropriate to topic and purpose; and achieves pleasing syntactic variety
& appropriate Command of standard written English is
demonstrated by few flaws in grammar, usage, punctuation, and mechanics; no
serious patterns of errors (such as problems with subject-verb agreement
or persistent misuse of commas) and no more than three (3) high distortion
errors --i.e. errors that hurt clarity—such as fragments; comma splices and
run-on/fused sentences; unclear pronoun references, word choices, or mixed
sentence structures.
In-Class Essay #4 demonstrates
that these WR 121 Course Competencies are being met or exceeded:
College
Essay Writing Skills:
____Outcome
2: Achieve Outcome 1 under time constraints (during the WR 121
final essay exam), while conforming to expectations . . .
____of an assigned topic and
____of edited English appropriate for timed writing.
From Outcome 1:
Write essays that . . .
___use a thesis to establish control over content;
___supply relevant and adequate supporting details;
___employ the organizational strategies of effective beginnings, transitions,
and endings; . . . .
____Outcome 4: Employ
the following source(s) as the basis for essay content:
___observation;
___personal experience; and/or
___active, responsive reading; and the responsible use of sources
(without plagiarizing).
(To
Be Completed by Student Author:)
____Outcome 3: Demonstrate the ability to use a
variety of expository essay patterns, such as definition, classification,
analysis, problem-solution, and comparison-contrast.
In-Class
Essay #4 uses
the following expository essay pattern(s) & method(s) of development:
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