Writing Assignment 2 of 2-FINAL

Sarah Ponce

Dr. Ellis

EN 310

April 20, 2010

12^th Grade Writing Assignment

Text: “The End of Something” by Ernest Hemingway

Rationale:

As a reader I want my students to:

• Notice the emotion of the narrator and feel the characters
• Question what will happen next
• Infer opinions about the characters
• Connect the situations in the story to their own lives
• Feel the story strike a chord within
• Challenge students to assess what is “wrong” and “right”

While reading as writers, I want my students to:

• Notice and examine the use of irony in the story
• Observe the authors use of sentences, and the structure of the text
• Notice word choice
• Think about what they didn’t like about the writing and think about what they would mimic in their own writing-and then mimic it.
• Consider how they would improve the story, or make it their own.
• Look at sentence openers and notice something about them to use in their writing later.

Assignment:

Read the short story “The End of Something”. In response, please spend 10 minutes writing either:

A letter to Nick, as if you are Marjorie. What do you think she would say to him?

Or you may write a response that changes the end of the story. What should happen differently that the author did not include in their story?

Everyone has a time in their life when they were let down by a friend or someone close to them. Or, perhaps a time when you let down someone close you. Please choose one of the following prompts and respond how you chose. You are free to incorporate any of the techniques we have learned so far this semester. If you choose, you may write this composition as a song or poem, a letter, an essay, or a short story. If you would like to compose your writing in an alternative form, please come talk to me and we will work it out.

Please choose 1 of the prompts below:

1)      Please write about a time in your life when you were let down by someone you trusted and loved. How did you feel? What did you do? What words, if any, were said?

2)      Write about a time in your life when you were let down by someone you trusted and loved. What do you wish you would have done? What do you wish you would have said? What would you say to them now?

3)      Write about a time you let someone else down. How did it make you feel? What would you have done or said differently?

This is a rough draft which you will spend time revising. This draft should be a time to “dump” your thoughts and feelings onto paper. You will be able to organize, re-write and refine your work. Your writing is your masterpiece. Craft it how you choose. If you choose to use knowledge from our previous unit on poetry, you may choose to shape your revision into poetry. If you would like to keep it in letter form, that is also acceptable. The revision process of your piece should include, but is not limited to doing the following:

• Notice and examine the use of irony in the story
• Observe the authors use of sentences, and the structure of the text
• Notice word choice
• Think about what they didn’t like about the writing and think about what they would mimic in their own writing-and then mimic it.
• Consider how they would improve the story, or make it their own.
• Look at sentence openers and notice something about them to use in their writing later.

This first revision will be turned in for a completion grade. If you choose, you may write questions, comments or notes to me regarding your piece and I will answer them and return my feedback with your drafts. These drafts will be returned to you with my feedback to your specific questions. I will also include my own notes to you regarding your writing if I have questions or comments.

After this draft is returned to you, you will have time to revise and refine it further. Pay close attention to the goals listed above as you refine your piece. Your next draft will be passed among a small group of students for peer feedback. It is your choice whether or not you make changes to your writing in the end, but use the peer review time to your advantage and receive feedback on how you can improve. Writers can always improve their craft. You will be assessed on your active (or inactive) participation in the peer editing time. Your peers are a great source of feedback and suggestions. Respectfully communicate your thoughts and respectfully receive them from your classmates. We are all working together to better each other as writers.

After this final round of refinement, your drafts should be ready for completion and be turned in. The following rubric will be used to assess your work and application of the previously established guidelines. When you turn in your assignment, please include all stages of revisions, notes and peer feedback with your final draft. I will use everything to determine your earned grade.

Rubric:

Finished product meets criteria for established guidelines:   4 (needs work)  3(average)  2(satisfactory)  1(well done)

Finished product consists of well developed, structured lines or sentences: 4(needs work)  3(average)  2(satisfactory)  1(well done)

 Finished product is reflective of stated assignment topic:  4(needs work)  3(average)  2(satisfactory)  1(well done)

Student actively participated in the peer feedback assignment, offering quality feedback to fellow students and practiced editing, proofreading and observational skills: 4(needs work)  3(average)   2(satisfactory)  1(well done)

Student successfully shows all stages of revision and reflection of their work.  4(needs work)  3 (average)  2(satisfactory)  1(well done)

Student uses mentor text in some way and emphasizes that part of their writing visibly 4( needs work)   3 (average)   2(satisfactory)  1 (well done)

Context:

This assignment incorporates 1.2 (personal growth) 4.1 (focusing on language usage) and 4.2 (how variety in language shapes and reflects experiences) and is part of a larger unit which encourages students to identify how their lives are shaped by decisions and how they are responsible for their decisions and their lives. I want my students to recognize that they are in control of their responses to things that happen in life, even though they cannot always control what happens, they can control their response. I want my students to read this short story and feel connected to it in their own lives, when they experienced a time when someone close to them let them down, or perhaps be able to apply the concept to a time that they may have let down someone else. I was students to make this connection between the text and their lives on a personal level but also on a level as writers, to see how language and word choice can influence the tone and feel of a piece of writing. How does the author include inflections in his writing to more powerfully convey his story? How can writing be used to express yourself and what means of delivery are there within the craft of writing to enhance your simple words into daggers of power and meaning? This writing assignment is in the mid-end of the semester after students have achieved a level of comfort in the classroom and with peers and also with me, to be able to write about a personal time and have others reading their writing.  This assignment comes after learning techniques throughout the semester to grow writing skills which will allow the students to select a form they feel best fits the delivery of their message in this personal writing assignment. I want students to be able to match the style of their story and their favored writing style to parallel their feelings. Will they have a short and succinct story to tell in short lined poetry? Will they write it as a letter and be intimately personal? Will they construct it as an essay and write out facts? I want my students to choose which method they want to use, and after having covered a few this semester, this assignment allows such selection to be appropriate. This writing assignment is intended to be genuine and the class will be respectful of each other’s work.