Interpretive essay assignment- Criteria Exceptional (10 pts) Grading Rubric for Interpretive Essay Exceeds Meets Criteria Needs Development (0 pts) (7-8 pts) (5-6 pts) Unacceptable (0-4 pts) Discussion of Exigence (10 pts) Clearly, accurately, and thoughtfully articulates the writers exigence and/or argument. (10 pts) Clearly and accurately articulates the writers exigence and/or argument. (9 pts) Articulates the writers exigence and/or argument. (7-8 pts) Attempts to articulate the writers exigence and/or argument but explanation lacks clarity and may not be accurate. (5-6 pts) Does not articulate the writers exigence and/or argument. (0-4 pts) Discussion of Context (10 pts) Offers a clear, thoughtful, detailed analysis of the context. Offers a clear analysis of the context. Minimal analysis of the context. Attempts to analyze the context but analysis lacks clarity. Does not analyze the context. Discussion of Audience (10 pts) Offers a clear, specific, thoughtful, and detailed analysis of writers audience. Analyzes the strategies the writer uses to appeal to or persuade that audience. Offers a clear analysis of the writers audience. Analyzes the strategies the writers uses to appeal to or persuade that audience. Minimal analysis of the writers audience. Some discussion of the strategies the writer uses to appeal to or persuade that audience. Names audience but does not explain how they know who the audience is; states that the audience is the general public without explanation. Does not analyze the audience. Discussion of Constraints (10 pts) Offers a clear, thoughtful, detailed analysis of writers constraints and the ways in which the writer overcomes or works within those constraints. Offers a clear analysis of the writers constraints and the ways in which the writer overcomes or works within those constraints. Minimal analysis of the writers constraints. Some attempt to discuss how the writer overcomes or works within those constraints. Attempts to analyze constraints but analysis lacks clarity. Minimal attempt to discuss how the writer overcomes or works within constraints. Does not analyze the constraints. Discussion of Ethos (10 pts) Offers a clear, thoughtful, detailed analysis of ethos. Includes specific examples from across the text. Offers a clear analysis of ethos. Includes specific examples from the text. Minimal analysis of ethos. Minimal discussion of examples from text. Attempts to discuss ethos but does not include examples from the text so analysis is unclear and brief. Does not discuss ethos. Discussion of Pathos (10 pts) Offers a clear, thoughtful, detailed analysis of pathos. Includes specific examples from across the text. Offers a clear analysis of pathos. Includes specific examples from the text. Minimal analysis of pathos. Minimal discussion of examples from text. Attempts to discuss pathos but does not include examples from the text so analysis is unclear and brief. Does not discuss pathos. Discussion of Logos (10 pts) Offers a clear, thoughtful, detailed analysis of logos. Includes specific examples from across the text. Offers a clear analysis of logos. Includes specific examples from the text. Minimal analysis of logos. Minimal discussion of examples from text. Attempts to discuss logos but does not include examples from the text so analysis is unclear and brief. Does not discuss logos. Discussion of Effectiveness of Text (10 pts) Offers a clear, thoughtful, detailed analysis of the effectiveness of the text and the ways in which the writer uses the rhetorical strategies discussed throughout essay to achieve their purpose (or not). Offers a clear analysis of the effectiveness of the text and the ways in which the writer uses the rhetorical strategies discussed throughout essay to achieve their purpose (or not). Minimal discussion of the effectiveness of the text and the ways in which the writer uses the rhetorical strategies discussed throughout essay to achieve their purpose (or not). Attempts to evaluate the effectiveness of the text but does not describe how the writer is using the rhetorical strategies to achieve their purpose. Does not discuss effectiveness of text. Style/Citations (10 pts) Most sentences are free of errors, though some typos or minor syntax errors may be present. Appropriately integrates and cites at least two quotes from the source text. Includes a works cited page that follows MLA style guidelines with few errors, if any. Word choices are appropriate to topic and level of course. Most sentences are free of errors, though some typos or minor syntax errors may be present and a few more serious errors may also be present. Appropriately integrates and cites at least two quotes from the source text. Includes a works cited page that follows MLA style guidelines with few errors. Word choices are mostly appropriate to topic and level of course. Most paragraphs have some typos or errors of syntax, though most do not detract from writer’s meaning. Attempts to integrate and cite at least two quotes from source text. Includes a works cited page that follows MLA style guidelines with minimal errors. Many word choices contribute to meaning or style, though some may be inappropriate to topic and/or level of course. Most paragraphs have multiple typos and errors of syntax and some of these may detract from the writer’s meaning. Does not integrate two quotes from source text. Works cited page is not formatted according to MLA style guidelines. May have many inappropriate or confusing word choices Most or all paragraphs have many typos and errors of syntax that detract from the writer’s meaning. Does not integrate any quotes from the source text and works cited page is missing. Word choices frequently inappropriate or confusing Paragraph Development (10 pts) Intro clearly identifies what essay is about. Body paragraphs have logical organization supported by well-crafted transitions. Paragraphs provide deep discussion of a clearly identified idea, citing specific examples and illustrations. Conclusion provides sense of closure without repeating what has been said elsewhere in essay. Body paragraphs have coherent organization and most have good transitions. Paragraphs provide focused discussion of a single idea, most citing specific examples and illustrations. Conclusion provides sense of closure without repeating what has been said elsewhere in essay. Most body paragraphs demonstrate attention to organization and focus on a single idea in some detail. Transitions are present though some may be awkward or abrupt. Conclusion follows logically from the rest of the essay with some repetition of what has been said elsewhere in essay. Most body paragraphs do not demonstrate attention to organization and/or fail to focus on a single idea insufficient detail. Ideas presented in various paragraphs may be disconnected from the ideas laid out in the introduction or other paragraphs. Transitions not present in most paragraphs. Conclusion is abrupt or merely repeats what has been said elsewhere in essay. Most or all body paragraphs do not demonstrate attention to organization and fail to focus on a single idea and/or are hard to follow. Transitions not present in most or all paragraphs. Conclusion is abrupt and may seem disconnected from other ideas discussed in essay Your essay should answer the following questions: 1. Why do you think the author wrote this essay? What is their exigence? 2. What is the context? 3. Who do you think their intended audience is? How do you know? What strategies does the writer use to appeal to that audience? 4. What are the constraints? How does the author overcome those constraints or not? 5. What do you think the author wanted readers to feel, think, or do while and after reading this essay? What strategies does the author use to elicit those responses? 6. How effective was the author in achieving their goal? Remember that there is a lot of overlap in these terms, so you may find when discussing ethos that you also are seeing examples of pathos. Thats fine and should be acknowledged! So dont think of this as an essay in which you simply answer each of the questions above in a paragraph. You may need multiple paragraphs to discuss a single concept. In addition to answering the questions above, your essay must include the following elements: 1. A summary of the text you are analyzing. Be sure to include the full title and the authors full name. 2. At least two quoted passages. Be sure to document using MLA style. 3. A works cited page at the end of your essay. Again, this should be in MLA style. 4. A title. Please make it more interesting than Interpretive Essay. That says nothing about your essay other than what the assignment is. Be creative! 5. A heading that includes your name, my name, the course, and the date. This is, once again, an MLA requirement and it is a good habit to get in to. ****************************************************************************** Peer response paper assignment- Due Sunday, November 3 Guidelines for Writing Your Peer Response Letter Everyone should have submitted a copy of their Interpretive Essay first draft to the Peer Response discussion board and to the Area for Submitting Your First Draft by Monday, October 28 at 11:59pm. Now your job is to read and respond to an assigned peers essay! On Tuesday, October 29, I will make peer response groups; if you do not submit an essay draft on time, you will not be able to participate in peer response, and you will earn a 0 for this grade. Begin by reading through your partners draft carefully. As you read, it will be useful for you to look at the grading rubric for this essay assignment, which is available on Moodle. These are the concepts and requirements I will be looking for as I grade, so you should read your partners draft specifically with these concepts and requirements in mind. Remember that your partners draft will not be perfect. Its a draft! So as you read, consider the kind of feedback you think the writer needs to hear in order to do some productive revisions. Be sure to note all of the good things that are happening in your partners draft (and explain why they are good moves or strategies), but be sure to also ask questions and mark passages that confuse you or that need further development. After you have read the draft, Id like you to write a response letter to your partner. In your letter, do the following: Restate the major ideas. In this section your goal is to summarize what you, as a reader, think is going on this essay; In particular, address the following questions: What is your classmates argument? In this essay, the argument should be their interpretation of the text. Is their interpretation clearly stated? Does your classmate develop a strong analysis of this essay? Does your classmate analyze what the writer is saying and the strategies the writer is using to make that argument? In particular, does your classmate address ethos, pathos, and logos? Does your classmate develop a summary of the text that highlights the essential plot points? Next, note the particularly strong passages. What is going well? Make sure to explain why those passages are so effective for you as the reader. Finally, discuss the confusing passages and make suggestions for revision. It is essential that you do your best to provide really specific explanations as to why you think these passages need to be reworked. Whats missing? Why are you confused? What could the writer expand on? I do not want to see any letters that say, simply, Your draft looks great! Yes, there are good things happening in all of these drafts; but theres also a lot of room for improvement! Its your job, as classmates, to help each other revise these essays so that you get the best possible grade on this essay assignment. So again, your letter should address the following questions: What strengths do you notice? What makes these passages so strong? What weaknesses do you notice? What makes these passages weak? What do you think your partner should focus on as they revise this essay? Writing 115, Fall 2019 Dr. Ingrid Nordstrom Your response should be at least one single-spaced page and written as a formal letter. For example, youll begin with Dear [partners name] and conclude with Sincerely [your name]. Its important to be constructive, critical, and most of all, kind. Once you have finished your response letter, you will need to submit it to two different places: 1. Post one copy to the Area for Submitting Your Response Letter folder on Moodle so I can read it. 2. Post it as an attachment to your partners posting in the Peer Response discussion board so they can read it. Your response letter is due no later than 11:59pm on Sunday, November 3. Questions to Help with Peer Response Below are a set of questions that will be helpful for you as you begin to read and respond to your partners essay. You do not need to submit this form to me or to your classmate (though you certainly could it might be a good resource for your partner as they begin to revise), but use it as a reference when writing your response letter. Remember that your goal is to offer helpful feedback, which means that you should be positive but you should also be critical. What is going well? Why? What needs revision? Why? Discussion of Key Terms: Does the writer analyze Exigence????yes?no Context????yes?no Audience????yes?no Constraints????yes?no What are the strengths in these passages? What is the writer doing well? What are the weaknesses in these passages? What could the writer do to revise? Does the writer analyze the key writing strategies including but not limited to Ethos?????yes?no Pathos? ???yes?no Logos?????yes?no What other writing strategies does the writer acknowledge and analyze? How does the writer analyze the effectiveness of the text? What are the strengths in these passages? What is the writer doing well? What are the weaknesses in these passages? What could the writer do to revise? Structure: How is the essay structured? Does the writer use transitions between ideas throughout the essay to make it easy to follow? How does the writer make use of transitions and/or what could the writer do to improve in this area? Do you get a sense of what this essay is about early in the essay? How does the writer do that and/or what could the writer do to indicate what this essay is about? Are each of the paragraphs developed thoroughly and thoughtfully? How does the writer do that and/or what could the writer do to improve paragraph development? Does the analysis flow from one idea to the next? How does the writer do that and/or what could the writer do to improve the flow? Style and Mechanics: Did you notice any errors (. incomplete sentences, fragments, misspelled words, wrong words, etc.)? Please explain. Are the quotes integrated into the essay or are they left hanging? Please explain what you see happening. Are the quotes accurately cited according to MLA conventions? Please explain. Is there a works cited page??
