Assignment # 2
1. Reinterpretations of history are always going on. For instance, in recent
years, some scholars have proposed that Sigmund Freud's discovery of the power
of the subconscious was not (as commonly believed) a great psychological
innovation; it was rather, they argue, Freud's own defense against believing the
tales of childhood sexual abuse his patients were revealing. Again, some
historians have asked us to change our opinion of England's Prime Minister
Chamberlain, long believed to have mistakenly appeased Hitler at Munich and thus
making World War II inevitable. These revisionists argue that Chamberlain fooled
Hitler and gained time for England to arm itself for the inevitable war.
2. Choose a historical controversy, and review the arguments for both
traditional and revisionist interpretations. Do not overlook the possibilities
os using local issues (the founding of your college or town, for example) or
family issues (why did your great-grandfather come to America?)
3. Then write a paper on the ways of interpreting the past that your research
has turned up.
English 101 Final Draft Grading Form for Assignment Two
Carefully read through this form to see how you will be graded on this
writing assignment. Additionally, in the event that you did not reach your
desired score after submission of your final draft, you should revise your essay
based on recommendations made on this grading form. If you revise your essay,
you will have one week from the time that I hand back the graded final draft.
The following is expected should you choose to revise your essay: original
draft with my marginal comments and editing suggestions, the final draft grading
form for the original draft, and the revised draft, all of which are enclosed
within a manila folder.
Subject
1. You have chosen a historical controversy and have reviewed the arguments
for both traditional and revisionist interpretations. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
2. From both a traditional and revisionist perspective, you have written a
paper on the ways of interpreting the past that your research has turned up. 0 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
3. You remained neutral on the issue with taking a position. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 1819 20
Length, Document Design, and Stages of Writing Assignment
4. Essay meets the 3-4 page length requirement (Buckhoff 5). 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
5. Essay follows MLA documentation and format, including a works cited page
which correlates with in-text citations (Hacker 371-377). 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
6. Direct quotes, summaries, and paraphrases from at least three external
sources are smoothly integrated into the essay (Hacker 334-340). 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10
7. Enclosed within a manila folder, essay includes the in-class writing,
invention, planning and drafting, middle draft peer review, and final draft
parts of the writing assignment (Buckhoff 2-3). 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Organization
8. The introductory paragraph uses a startling fact, a vivid example, a
description, a paradoxical statement, a quotation, a question, an analogy, or a
joke/anecdote as hooks which lead to a thesis ( Hacker 9, 13-16). 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10
9. The most important part of the essay, the thesis suggests a clear
direction to the essay (Hacker 9, 13-16). 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
10. Rephrasing the writing assignment (Buckhoff 4), the thesis is generalized
(not factual), limited (not broad), and sharply focused ( not vague.) 0 1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10
11. The second paragraph begins with a topic sentence that refers back to the
thesis, detailing some aspect of it. The rest of the sentences in the paragraph
support the topic sentence (Hacker 23-34). 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
12. The remaining body paragraphs contain topic sentences which in turn,
directly or indirectly refer back to the thesis (Hacker 23-34) . 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10
13. The concluding paragraph, an echo of the thesis, summarizes the main
points of the essay. (Hacker 16-17). 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
14. Avoiding any new ideas, the conclusion is memorable in that there is a
detail, an example, or an image from the introduction or a quote, anecdote, or a
humorous or witty comment which brings closure to the topic (Hacker 16-17). 0 1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Sentence Style, Word Choice, and Grammatical Correctness
15. Sentence Style 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The writer does not have problems with parallelism (S1), needed words (S2),
modifiers (S3), shifts (S4), mixed constructions (S5), emphasis (S6), and
variety (S7).
16. Word Choice: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The writer does not use commonly confused words incorrectly (W1), does not
use wordy sentences (W2), uses primarily active verbs and avoids forms of the
'be' verb or verbs in the passive voice (W3), has appropriate language suitable
to academic writing, and does not use jargon, pretentious language, euphemisms,
doublespeak, slang, regional expressions, and nonstandard English (W4).
17. Exact language: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The writer uses words with appropriate connotations, uses specific concrete
nouns, does not misuse words, uses standard idioms, does not rely heavily on
cliches, and uses figures of speech with care (W5).
18. Grammatical correctness: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The writer has good control of subject-verb agreement (G1).
The writer has no other problems with verbs (G2).
The writer does not have problems with pronouns (G3).
The writer does not have problems using adjectives and adverbs (G4).
The writer does not have problems with sentence fragments, run-on
sentences, or comma splices (G5, G6).
19. Punctuation: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Writer uses commas when they are needed (P1) and does not use them when
they are not needed (P2.)
Writer uses the semi-colon (P3), colon (P4), and the apostrophe (P5)
correctly.
20. Mechanics:0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The writer has good spelling and does not use typos (M1).
The writer capitalizes proper nouns and does not capitalize common nouns
(M3).
The writer does not use inappropriate abbreviations (M4).
______ points out of 240 =______