2.0
Writing
Applications
2.2
Write
responses to literature:
a.
Develop interpretations exhibiting careful reading, understanding, and insight.
b.
Organize interpretations around several clear ideas, premises, or images from
the
literary
work.
c. Justify interpretations through sustained use of examples
and textual evidence.
Poetry Students write in-class essays analyzing new
material, that is a poem the student has never seen before. Students will closely read poetic text,
develop understandings and write interpretations that include the technical
features of poetry when relevant.
Rubric:
10 Students earning the highest score will exhibit a
full understanding of the role the ‘sound of trees’ plays in the life of the
poet. Frost begins his poem by wondering
why humans tolerate trees so close to where they live because they can make so
much noise in the wind. Another poet
might have focused on the pleasant nature of the sound, but Frost finds only
irony in it. The sound reminds Frost of
movement, but the trees never leave.
They sway, but never stray. The
top scorers will recognize the usual method Frost employs here. He moves from an event in nature, the swaying
of trees in the wind and the sound they make, to a negative comparison between
trees and man. Trees make the sound of
motion, but never leave. Men, hearing
that sound, yearn to leave. At the end
of the poem, Frost makes his choice: “I
shall set forth somewhere/I shall make the reckless choice/Some day when they
are in voice . . ./I shall have less to say/But I shall be gone.” The idea is contained in a kind of reverse
metaphor: Trees make the sound of movement, but never leave. Men have much less to say, but move easily
and often. Some students may mention the
variable line length, from 6 to 8 syllables per line. The poem also possesses a
intricate rhyme. These papers will be
very well written, with only one or two minor errors.
8 Students
earning this score point will correctly establish the relationship between the
poet and the sound trees make in the wind, but they may not see the irony in
the poem. They will follow the scheme of
event to metaphor to idea that is so common in Frost’s poetry, but in a less
detailed an convincing way. They may or may not make technical
observations concerning meter and rhyme.
These papers will be moderately well-written. Any errors will be easily correctible.
6 Students
earning this poem may resort to re-telling the story. They will describe the sound of the trees and
mention how it gives the poet a kind of wanderlust, but will not necessarily
see how the poem works to achieve that effect.
These papers will be competently written, but may not cite much evidence
from the poem or recognize its structure.
4 These
essay writers will be somewhat confused by the text. They may offer little in the way of
insight. They may, for instance, wonder
why the poet is so concerned about the sound trees make in the wind. Their writing may be illogical in part and
will display multiple serious errors in the conventions of standard written
English.
2 The
student will be consistently confused by literary text and will demonstrate
little control over its elements. They
may write only briefly, but what they do write will be deeply flawed and bear
little connection to the text they are analyzing.
Note: Students may give themselves odd numbered scores
that reflect descriptors from two or more score points. A student may say, for instance, “some of
score-point 6 aligns with my paper; but so does some parts of score-point
8. I think I deserve a 7.”
Rationale for score
[be sure to
write a detailed explanation of your score below]: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________