CURRICULUM MAP: 10052.map

Sophomore Writing Workshop (ACP/SCP/GEN) 121, 122, 123
Writing a Response to Literature -- Short Story

TIME FRAME: 6-9 days
GRADE: 10
CONTACT:

         MAP LEVEL: 4

23.1 LANGUAGE ARTS - READING AND RESPONDING --- 23.1.1.9.2 --- 23.1.1.9.6 --- 23.1.2.9.2 --- 23.1.2.9.4 --- 23.1.3.9.3 --- 23.1.4.9.2
23.2 LANGUAGE ARTS - EXPLORE AND RESPOND TO LITER --- 23.2.1.9.1 --- 23.2.1.9.4 --- 23.2.2.9.2 --- 23.2.3.9.3 --- 23.2.4.9.4 --- 23.2.4.9.5
23.3 LANGUAGE ARTS - COMMUNICATING WITH OTHERS --- 23.3.1.9.3 --- 23.3.2.9.1 --- 23.3.2.9.2 --- 23.3.2.9.3
23.4 LANGUAGE ARTS - ENGLISH LANG CONVENTIONS --- 23.4.1.9.2 --- 23.4.2.9.1 --- 23.4.2.9.2 --- 23.4.3.9.1 --- 23.4.3.9.2 --- 23.4.3.9.3




What makes response to literature writing effective?




What is Response to Literature?

As you are reading a short story or a novel or even a poem, do you ever pause briefly and focus on your own thoughts about the author’s words? In these moments you are responding to literature. Some literary works may evoke strong emotional responses from you, whereas others may stimulate your imagination or challenge you with new information and ideas. Writing about your responses to a piece of literature will help you to explore and develop your ideas in more detail.

How Response to Literature Fits Into Your Life

You respond to literature in various ways in your everyday life, though you may not be conscious of it. For instance, you might lend someone a book and encourage that person to read it. Or you and a friend (or a sibling or a parent) may have a discussion about a story both of you have read in a newspaper or magazine. During the time it takes you to read a novel, thoughts and feelings sometimes occur to you as you go about your daily activities. Perhaps you wonder what it would be like to know a certain character, or you fantasize about living in a book’s setting. All of these are strong, valid responses to literature.

(Prentice Hall. Writer' s Solution. Platinum Sourcebook, Annotated Teacher's Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1997, 196-197)


Paper Expectations
* MLA format
* Beginning, middle, end, and title
* Clearly articulated thesis
* Incorporated textual support (including direct quotation)
* Present tense
* Integration of literary language
* Effective format, including transitions
* Acceptable level of fluency
* Grammatical correctness





When writing in the response to literature mode students will:

-- Develop and demonstrate critical reading skills,
-- Develop and utilize prewriting skills and strategies,
-- Develop and incorporate drafting skills,
-- Develop and implement editing skills and strategies,
-- state clearly the thesis statement,
-- Utilize effective transitions,
-- Develop argumentation to effectively support the thesis, to include both direct and indirect textual support,
-- Document textual support using MLA format,
-- Recognize and implement effective organization of materials,
-- Write in the present tense,
-- Improve diction,
-- Produce a final draft that meets standards of acceptability in fluency and grammatical correctness.




All students will:
-- Be instructed on the steps of the writing process,
-- Be shown models of quality writing in the response to literature mode,
-- Be provided a short story of literary merit for analysis,
-- Conference with his/her teacher to discuss the quality of his/her writing, and to determine the steps necessary for improvement,
-- Receive written feedback on the quality of their writing.




Assessment of student writing in the descriptive mode includes student-teacher conferencing to determine successful completion of editing, as well as meeting standards for acceptable quality of the final draft. Each teacher will provide written feedback of the drafts and of the final paper.





Prentice Hall. Writer' s Solution. Platinum Sourcebook. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall, 1997.

Sample response to literature essays may include:

-- "Shirley Jackson's Objective Point of View in 'The Lottery'" adapted from the essay printed in Literature -- An Introduction to Reading and Writing, sixth edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2001.
-- "The Symbolism of the Ibis" by Jamie Lee Swift
-- "Donny's Fate" by Jamie Lee Swift
-- "An Analysis of the Symbolism in Steinbeck's 'The Chrysanthemums'" by Samantha L. Brown

All sample essays can be found on the eschool website in the SWW folder at .