CCRS English 9C Appendices
Appendix A:
Literary Terms
- Theme
- Flashback
- Foreshadowing
- Elements of Plot (exposition, conflict, climax, resolution)
- Plot Constructs
- Mood
- Tone
- Irony
- Juxtaposition
- Allusion
- Setting
- Indirect Characterization
- Direct Characterization
- Static vs. Dynamic Characters
- Protagonist
- Antagonist
- Foil
- Narrator
- Point-of-View
Figurative Language
- Metaphor
- Simile
- Personification
- Symbolism
- Imagery
- Alliteration (consonance and assonance)
- Hyperbole
- Idioms
- Clichés
Appendix B: Annotation Guide
Symbols for Annotating Literary Text
When you read something that makes you say, “Yeah, I know that!” or“I predicted that!”
An important or interesting sample of indirect characterization
You have a question, need clarification, or are unsure about this part.
Something new, surprising, exciting, or fun that grabs your attention
A rich example of figurative language
A powerful literary technique (allusion, foreshadowing, etc.)
A main idea or an important detail for the text
Not sure about this word . . . need to look up or ask clarifying question
Appendix C: Close Reading Protocol
Appendix D: Literary Analysis Guide
How to Write an Effective Literary Analysis
1. Write in the present tense.
EXAMPLE: In Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," the townspeople visit Emily Grierson's house because it smells bad.
NOT: In Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," the townspeople visited Emily Grierson's house because it smelled bad.
2. Normally, keep yourself out of your analysis; in other words, use the third person (no I or you). Some instructors may require or allow the first or second person in an informal analysis if the usage is consistent, however, so check with your instructor.
FIRST PERSON: I believe that the narrator in "Sonny's Blues" is a dynamic character because I read many details about the changes in his attitude toward and relationship with Sonny.
THIRD PERSON: The narrator in "Sonny's Blues" is a dynamic character who changes his attitude toward and relationship with Sonny as the story progresses.
SECOND PERSON: At the end of "Everyday Use," Mama realizes that Maggie is like her but has not received the attention you should give your daughter to help her attain self-esteem.
THIRD PERSON: At the end of "Everyday Use," Mama realizes that Maggie is like her but has not received enough attention to build self-esteem.
3. Avoid summarizing the plot (i.e., retelling the story literally). Instead analyze(form a thesis about and explain) the story in literary terms.
PLOT SUMMARY: In Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart," the mad narrator explains in detail how he kills the old man, who screams as he dies. After being alerted by a neighbor, the police arrive, and the madman gives them a tour through the house, finally halting in the old man's bedroom, where he has buried the man beneath the floor planks under the bed. As he is talking, the narrator hears what he thinks is the old man's heart beating loudly, and he is driven to confess the murder.
ANALYSIS: Though the narrator claims he is not mad, the reader realizes that the narrator in "The Telltale Heart" is unreliable and lies about his sanity. For example, the mad narrator says he can hear "all things in the heaven and in the earth." Sane people cannot. He also lies to the police when he tells them that the shriek they hear occurs in his dream. Though sane people do lie, most do not meticulously plan murders, lie to the police, and then confess without prompting. Finally, the madman is so plagued with guilt that he hears his own conscience in the form of the old man's heart beating loudly. Dead hearts do not beat, nor do sane people confuse their consciences with the sounds of external objects.4. Include a clear thesis statement which addresses something meaningful about the literature, often about the theme.
5. Use literary terms to discuss your points (i.e., character, theme, setting, rhyme, point of view, alliteration, symbols, imagery, figurative language, protagonist, and so forth).
NONLITERARY TERMS: To show that women are important, Adrienne Rich writes about Aunt Jennifer and the tigers that she creates in her needlework.
LITERARY TERMS: The poem "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers" contains vivid images and symbols which reveal a feminist perspective.
6. Do not confuse characters' (in fiction or drama) or speakers' (in poetry) viewpoints with authors' viewpoints.
AUTHOR: As a black woman, Eudora Welty faces racism in "A Worn Path." (Eudora Welty, the author, was not black.)
CHARACTER: As a black woman, Old Phoenix faces racism in "A Worn Path." (Old Phoenix, a character, is black.)
POET: In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," Robert Frost is tempted to drift into his subconscious dream world, yet he knows he has other obligations to fulfill when he states, "But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep." (The pronoun "I" refers to the speaker of the poem, not to Robert Frost, the poet.)
SPEAKER: In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," the speaker is tempted to drift into his subconscious dream world, yet he knows he has other obligations to fulfill when he states, "But I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep." (Here the "I" correctly refers to the speaker of the poem.)
7. Support your points with many pieces of text-based evidence in the form of quotations and paraphrases, but write the majority of your paper in your own words with your own ideas.
8. When writing a research paper that includes literary criticism, make sure that you form your own opinion rather than merely restate those of the critics. You may, however, use the critics' views to support yours.
9. Cite prose, poetry, drama, critics, and any other sources used according to specialized MLA standards. (See the current edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.)
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Appendix E:
A Guide to Creating Text Dependent Questions for Close Analytic Reading
Text Dependent Questions: What Are They?
The Common Core State Standards for reading strongly focus on students gathering evidence, knowledge, and insightfrom what they read. Indeed, eighty to ninety percent of the Reading Standards in each grade require textdependent analysis; accordingly, aligned curriculum materials should have a similar percentage of text dependentquestions.
As the name suggests, a text dependent question specifically asks a question that can only be answered by referringexplicitly back to the text being read. It does not rely on any particular background information extraneous to thetext nor depend on students having other experiences or knowledge; instead it privileges the text itself and whatstudents can extract from what is before them.
For example, in a close analytic reading of Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address,” the following would not be text dependentquestions:
Why did the North fight the civil war?
Have you ever been to a funeral or gravesite?
Lincoln says that the nation is dedicated to the proposition that “all men are created equal.” Why is equality
an important value to promote?
The overarching problem with these questions is that they require no familiarity at all with Lincoln’s speech in orderto answer them. Responding to these sorts of questions instead requires students to go outside the text. Suchquestions can be tempting to ask because they are likely to get students talking, but they take students away fromconsidering the actual point Lincoln is making. They seek to elicit a personal or general response that relies onindividual experience and opinion, and answering them will not move students closer to understanding the text ofthe “Gettysburg Address.”
Good text dependent questions will often linger over specific phrases and sentences to ensure carefulcomprehension of the text—they help students see something worthwhile that they would not have seen on a morecursory reading. Typical text dependent questions ask students to perform one or more of the following tasks:
Analyze paragraphs on a sentence by sentence basis and sentences on a word by word basis to determine therole played by individual paragraphs, sentences, phrases, or words
Investigate how meaning can be altered by changing key words and why an author may have chosen oneword over another
Probe each argument in persuasive text, each idea in informational text, each key detail in literary text, andobserve how these build to a whole
Examine how shifts in the direction of an argument or explanation are achieved and the impact of thoseshifts
Question why authors choose to begin and end when they do
Note and assess patterns of writing and what they achieve
Consider what the text leaves uncertain or unstated
Creating Text-Dependent Questions for Close Analytic Reading of Texts
An effective set of text dependent questions delves systematically into a text to guide students in extracting the key meanings or ideas found there. They typically begin by exploring specific words, details, and arguments and then moves on to examine the impact of those specifics on the text as a whole. Along the way they target academic vocabulary and specific sentence structures as critical focus points for gaining comprehension. While there is no set process for generating a complete and coherent body of text dependent questions for a text, the following process is a good guide that can serve to generate a core series of questions for close reading of any given text.
Step One: Identify the Core Understandings and Key Ideas of the Text
As in any good reverse engineering or “backwards design” process, teachers should start by identifying the key insights they want students to understand from the text—keeping one eye on the major points being made is crucial for fashioning an overarching set of successful questions and critical for creating an appropriate culminating assignment.
Step Two: Start Small to Build Confidence
The opening questions should be ones that help orientate students to the text and be sufficiently specific enough for them to answer so that they gain confidence to tackle more difficult questions later on.
Step Three: Target Vocabulary and Text Structure
Locate key text structures and the most powerful academic words in the text that are connected to the key ideas and understandings, and craft questions that illuminate these connections.
Step Four: Tackle Tough Sections Head-on
Find the sections of the text that will present the greatest difficulty and craft questions that support students in mastering these sections (these could be sections with difficult syntax, particularly dense information, and tricky transitions or places that offer a variety of possible inferences).
Step Five: Create Coherent Sequences of Text Dependent Questions
The sequence of questions should not be random but should build toward more coherent understanding and analysis to ensure that students learn to stay focused on the text to bring them to a gradual understanding of its meaning.
Step Six: Identify the Standards That Are Being Addressed
Take stock of what standards are being addressed in the series of questions and decide if any other standards are suited to being a focus for this text (forming additional questions that exercise those standards).
Step Seven: Create the Culminating Assessment
Develop a culminating activity around the key ideas or understandings identified earlier that reflects (a) mastery of one or more of the standards, (b) involves writing, and (c) is structured to be completed by students independently.
SOURCE:
Student Achievement Partners,
Appendix F:
In-Text Documentation Rubric
Provides parenthetical, in-text documentation (APA style) for evidence1 2 3 4
1=no in-text documentation is provided; 2=in-text documentation is reductive, sources; 3=in-text documentation is provided for most necessary sources and mostly reflects APA style; 4=in-text documentation is provided for all necessary sources and always reflects APA style
Uses transitional phrases and writer’s narrative to connect sourced material1 2 3 4
1= transitional phrases/narrative not cohesive, often quotes are provided back-to-back; 2=transitional phrases/narrative provides limited cohesion and some quotes are provided back-to-back; 3=transitional phrases/narrative offers cohesion between sourced quotes; 4=transitional phrases/narrative offers skillful cohesion between sourced quotes
Details, details, details1 2 3 4
1= in-text quotes show lack of understanding of APA punctuation requirements; 2=in-text quotes show limited adherence to APA punctuation requirements; 3= in-text quotes are mostly set off with a comma, followed by sources information in parentheses, and followed with a period after the final parenthesis; 4=in-text quotes are always set off with a comma, followed by sources information in parentheses, and followed with a period after the final parenthesis
Appendix G:
Appendix H: Characterization Quadrant Chart
Character: ______
inference: / how you know: / inference: / how you know:
telling actions / other character’s reactions
inference: / how you know: / inference: / how you know:
Appendix I: Literary Analysis of Plot Structure: Essay Rubric
Essay: (36 points)
Quality Introduction Is Offered Containing Short Summary and Ending with Focused Thesis 1 2 3 4 5
1=is non-existent or unclear; 2=is bland and vague; 3=is average and clear ; 4=is specific and interesting; 5=is specific, attention-grabbing, and creative
Provide Plot Construct Analysis(not a summary) 1 2 3 4 5
1=plot constructs are not addressed; 2=limited discussion provided that identifies plot constructs; 3=plot constructs are identified and analyzed; 4=plot constructs are identified and analyzed, and writer articulates how they create effect; 5=plot constructs are thoroughly identified and analyzed, and writer masterfully articulates how they create effect
Concluding Statement Follows from Essay 1 2 3
1=conclusion is limited and disjoined from essay; 2=conclusion is adequate and flows from essay 3=conclusion is good and flows cleanly from essay
Use of Transitional Words to Create Cohesion and Clarify 1 2 3 4 5
1=1 used; 2=2 used; 3= 3 used; 4=4 used; 5=5 used
Language employed is academic, powerful, and literatures-specific1 2 3 4 5
1=language is vague and pedestrian; 2=language lacks specificity and is not consistently academic; 3=language is specific and academic; 4=language is quite specific, powerful, and very academic, but at times loses control of the content and/or focus; 5=language is quite specific, powerful, and academic without losing control of the content
Language employed is varied1 2 3 4 5
1=language is overly-repetitive; 2=language chosen contains considerable repetition in adverbs, verbs, and adjectives; 3=language is not repetitive for most adverbs, verbs, and adjectives; 4=language is varied and offers a spectrum of word choice, but at times lacks a mastery of connotation; 5=language is quite varied and never lacks mastery of connotation
Formality of Voice and Objective Tone in Present Tense 1 2
1 =mostly informal and subjective or deviates from present tense; 2=mostly formal and objective and maintains present tense
Conventional Control 1 2 3 4
1=grammar/spelling/punctuation contain errors to distraction; 2= grammar/spelling/punctuation contain several errors; 3= grammar/spelling/punctuation contain no errors; 4= grammar/spelling/punctuation contain no errors and reach to incorporate advanced usage (parallel structure, semi-colons, colons, dashes) when useful
3rd Person Point-of-View is Maintained 1 2
1 =lapses into first or second person during the essay; 2=maintains third person perspective
MLA Format and Elements: (9 points)
Provides Parenthetical, In-text Documentation (MLA style line or page) for Textual Evidence1 2 3 4
1=no in-text documentation is provided; 2=in-text documentation is provided for few, but not enough, sources; 3=in-text documentation is provided for most necessary sources and mostly reflects MLA style; 4=in-text documentation is provided for all necessary sources and always reflects MLA style
Title Page1 2 3
1=not provided; 2=provided, but doesn’t completely adhere to APA style; 3=provided and total adheres to APA style
Running Header1 2
1=not evident on all pages; 2=evident on all pages
Comments/Notes: Score: ______/45 points
Appendix J: Literary Analysis of Characterization: Essay Rubric
Essay: (36 points)
Quality Introduction Is Offered Containing Short Summary and Ending with Focused Thesis 1 2 3 4 5
1=is non-existent or unclear; 2=is bland and vague; 3=is average and clear ; 4=is specific and interesting; 5=is specific, attention-grabbing, and creative
Provide Characterization Analysis (not a summary) 1 2 3 4 5
1=characterization is not addressed; 2=limited discussion provided that identifies characterization; 3=characterization is identified and analyzed; 4=characterization is identified and analyzed through all four elements; 5=characterization is thoroughly identified and analyzed, and the writer masterfully explores the writer’s use of all four quadrants.
Concluding Statement Follows from Essay 1 2 3
1=conclusion is limited and disjoined from essay; 2=conclusion is adequate and flows from essay 3=conclusion is good and flows cleanly from essay
Use of Transitional Words to Create Cohesion and Clarify 1 2 3 4 5