Reflective Essay, Night

You will be writing a reflective essay on some of the chapters we will study during our Night/Holocaust unit in place of a quiz. You should not work collaboratively on this assignment. Papers, written by friends, which appear similar in concept or wording, will be asked to be re-written. For this reason, you will sign up for your topics. As I said before, this will be very difficult for those of you who believe you may skip reading assignments (or blatantly NOT pay attention during class—which, by the way, is very disrespectful and rude) and still receive a decent grade. No gifts will be given with these assignments.; you will receive the grade you earn.

Below, you will find an outline of how points will be distributed for this assignment.

General Requirements:

* Grammar and spelling always count.

* Choose an important/meaningful quotation from the chapter to reflect on. The quote should be no more than 3 sentences long and does not count toward your word count. You should write the quote on the top line of your paper and include the page and paragraph found. (5 points)

* Explain the quotation and its relationship/significance to: a) the rest of the chapter; b) the novel, in general; and c) Elie’s character. (5 points/each = 15 points)

* Describe your personal emotional response to the quotation. Why did you choose this quotation? What word or words demand an emotional response from its reader? (I’m looking for specifics here. Statements like “This quote is sad. This book makes me sad. It’s a sad story.” will receive 0 points. Explain, in detail, all your thoughts. Maturity also matters – disrespectful, irrelevant, or sarcastic comments will also receive 0 points.) (15 points)

* Include any literary devices which connect to the quotation. (i.e., simile, metaphor, symbolism, foreshadowing, irony, etc. P.S. If there are “no literary devices used” you should pick a different quote.) (15 points)

* ISTEP rubric (50 points)

* Neatness will count – if I can’t read it, I will not grade it.

* MLA heading

* double-spaced

* word count at the end of the paper

* typed = 5 points bonus


Total value: 100 points

Daily Agenda 9/17

Today's Agenda ~

* Meet in classroom; discuss expectations for behavior during visit from guest speaker
* Go to library
* Announcements: autobiographies will not be accepted past Wednesday, 9/19; remember presentations start tomorrow; be prepared; look at rubrics for presentations
* ISTEP reminders

* RUBRIC FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY PRESENTATIONS

Daily Agenda 9/25

Today, we accomplished...

• Taking the ISTEP Math II booklet
• final copies of autobiographies due WEDNESDAY -- Will not be accepted after FRIDAY
• vocab lessons 11 & 12 due Tuesday
• Mrs. Feller available before / after school Tuesday for essay conferencing

Daily Agenda 9/14

Today, we accomplished...

• Discussed I-STEP parallel rubric -- keep this copy for future reference -- all formal writings will be graded with this rubric
• Discussed the autobiography project
• Discussed format for formal writings
• last ten minutes devoted to "work/study" time

I-STEP Parallel Writing Rubric

Ideas and Content
6 -- completely focused & thorough ideas
5 -- primarily focused & relevant ideas
4 -- mostly focused & several relevant ideas
3 -- somewhat focused & minimally relevant ideas
2 -- less than minimal focus & few relevant ideas
1 -- little to no focus & scarce relevant ideas

Organization of Ideas
6 -- logical
5 -- mostly logical
4 -- somewhat logical
3 -- attempts at logical
2 -- rarely logical
1 -- not logical

Word Usage & Writing Style
6 -- exceptional
5 -- more than adequate
4 -- adequate
3 --minimal
2 -- less than minimal
1 -- entirely lacking

Voice: Language & Tone
6 -- effectively adjusts to task & reader
5 -- somewhat effectively adjusts to task & reader
4 -- attempts to adjust to task & reader
3 -- slightly attempts to adjust to task & reader
2 -- some inappropriate use for task & reader
1 -- inappropriate use for task & reader

Follows Instructions
6 -- completely
5 -- mostly
4 -- adequately
3 -- somewhat
2 -- minimally
1 -- scarcely

Capitalization and Punctuation
4 -- no glaring errors
3 -- mostly accurate
2 --missing or incorrect
1 -- errors obstruct meaning

Spelling
4 -- all/nearly all correct
3 -- mostly correct
2 -- some misspellings
1 -- many misspellings

Grammar/Word Usage
4 -- correct
3 -- mostly correct
2 -- some incorrect
1 -- frequently incorrect

Paragraphing
4 -- proper
3 -- adequate
2 -- some/little attempt
1 -- no paragraphing

Sentence Structure
4 -- no run-ons / fragments
3 -- a run-on and/or fragment
2 -- some run-ons/fragments
1 -- many run-ons/fragments

50 points possible Total earned points _____

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