Persuasive Essays
- 2. Top Ten Write out numbers under ten. Always. Don’t threaten or throw temper tantrums Handwriting and prejudice Offer limited solutions; don’t go off topic 6. Keep I out of it- except for personal experience
- 3. Top Ten con’t Tone and Style Transitions 3. Restate topic clearly 1. THESIS STATEMENT
- 4. Formula One Writing Paragraph one : Restate topic, provide background info. Final sentence, closed thesis. Opinion + reason 1, reason 2, and reason 3. Paragraph two : Transition. State reason number one, support with facts and examples. Paragraph three : Transition. State reason number two, support with facts and examples.
- 5. Formula One Writing Con’t Paragraph four : I’ll give you one guess. Paragraph five : Closing. Sum up your argument WITHOUT BEING REPETITIVE. Reiterate your most important points and leave them with a take-home thought.
- 6. Our Paint by Number Approach First, you need to show me you can do this. Yes really. No buts. After some practice, you can incorporate more of your own stylistic preferences.
- 7. Grading Persuasive essays are graded on a 1-6 scale. 4 is the lowest score on the HSPA you can receive to pass. Numeric values will vary. 6-A 5-B 4-C 3-D 2-F 1-F
- 8. New Jersey Registered Holistic Scoring Rubric Used for the "Writing to Speculate" (Picture Prompt) and Persuasive Writing Items Inadequate Command Limited Command Partial Command Adequate Command Strong Command Superior Command Score: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Content and Organization May lack opening and/ or closing May lack opening and/ or closing May lack opening and/ or closing Generally has opening and/or closing Opening and closing Opening and closing Minimal response to topic; uncertain focus Attempts to focus May drift or shift focus Usually has single focus Single focus Single focus Sense of unity and coherence Key ideas developed Single, distinct focus Unified and coherent Well- developed No planning evident; disorganized Attempts organization Few, if any, transitions between ideas Some lapses or flaws in organization May lack some transitions between ideas Ideas loosely connected Transitions evident Logical progression of ideas Moderately fluent Attempts compositional risks Logical progression of ideas Fluent, cohesive Compositional risks successful Details random, inappropriate, or barely apparent Details lack elaboration, i. e., highlight paper Repetitious details Several unelaborated details Uneven development of details Details appropriate and varied Details effective, vivid, explicit, and/ or pertinent Usage No apparent control Severe/ numerous errors Numerous errors Errors/ patterns of errors may be evident Some errors that do not interfere with meaning Few errors Very few, if any, errors Sentence Construction Assortment of incomplete and/ or incorrect sentences Excessive monotony/ same structure Numerous errors Little variety in syntax Some errors Some variety Generally correct Variety in syntax appropriate and effective Few errors Precision and/or sophistication Very few, if any, errors Mechanics Errors so severe they detract from meaning Numerous serious errors Patterns of errors evident No consistent pattern of errors Some errors that do not interfere with meaning Few errors Very few, if any, errors
- 9. Non-Scorable Responses NR No Response Student wrote too little to allow a reliable judgment of his/her writing. OT Off Topic/Off Task Student did not write on the assigned topic/ task, or the student attempted to copy the prompt. NE Not English Student wrote in a language other than English. WF Wrong Format Student refused to write on the topic, or the writing task folder was blank. Content/ Organization Usage Sentence Construction Mechanics Communicates intended message to intended audience Relates to topic Opening and closing Focused Logical progression of ideas Transitions Appropriate details and information Tense formation Subject- verb agreement Pronouns usage/ agreement Word choice/ meaning Proper Modifiers Variety of type, structure, and length Correct construction Spelling Capitalization Punctuation