The assignment for this lesson is to write and present an explanatory essay that demonstrates what people can learn about themselves by exploring the perspectives of others. How can the viewpoints of people from another country, culture, religion, or race, for example, teach you about your own viewpoint?
The rubric reads:
Content — 8 points
Your assignment includes a claim that:
Is clearly related to the topic of the assignment
Requires evidence and explanation for readers to understand
Explanatory text: Make sure your claim doesn’t say something obvious. Instead, it should naturally lead readers to say, “Really? Tell me more.” Also make sure your claim reflects the spirit of the lesson, which is about the views of outsiders and other people classified as “other.”
The rubric reads:
Your assignment frequently supports your claim with evidence from sources.
Explanatory text: Your claim should be complex enough that it requires research to back up. A good rule of thumb is to include information from at least two sources in each body paragraph.
The rubric reads:
Organization — 9 points
Your assignment includes an introduction paragraph that:
Grabs the reader’s attention
Gives background information and previews the essay’s main ideas
Presents the claim
Explanatory text: The introduction has a number of important jobs. The first one is to get readers interested in your topic. Once you’ve gotten their attention, you should then make them want to keep reading. You can do this by hinting at the main ideas you’re going to cover in your essay.
The rubric reads:
Your assignment includes body paragraphs that present evidence and background information from sources.
Explanatory text: In an explanatory essay, your body paragraphs will provide two different kinds of information: support for your claim and background information that helps readers understand the importance of that support. Just make sure every detail you provide ultimately furthers the overall purpose of the essay. In other words, don’t get distracted!
The rubric reads:
Your assignment includes a conclusion paragraph that:
Reminds the reader of your claim and main ideas
Leaves the reader with something to think about
Explanatory text: Now that readers have been exposed to the information you provided in the body of the essay, the conclusion should show how it all ties together. The paragraph should leave readers with a sense of why your essay is important.
The rubric reads:
Research — 11 points
Your assignment’s sources have been evaluated for their credibility.
Explanatory text: The Internet is full of “click bait” and other sources that were written to get your attention but that don’t actually provide credible information. Choose sources that are published by a respected organization with both an online and offline presence, such as a major news source, a government agency, or a university.
The rubric reads:
Your assignment integrates sources correctly and:
Shows good judgment about when to quote and when to paraphrase
Explanatory text: If a source’s wording is especially important, it’s O.K. to provide a direct quote. Most of the time, however, you should paraphrase sources in your own words. Don’t rely on quotes to write the essay for you!
The rubric reads:
Your assignment lists your sources on a works-cited page that follows MLA guidelines.
Explanatory text: If you have a copy of the MLA Style Manual, use it to make sure all the information you provide in your works-cited entries is correct. If you don’t have the style guide, check out Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab for help.
The rubric reads:
Your assignment uses at least one example of digital media to enhance the presentation.
Explanatory text: Images, audio, and video can all be used to spice up your essay (and presentation). A good example might be a chart that shows how many people of a certain racial or religious group live in a certain area.
The rubric reads:
Presentation — 5 points
Your assignment uses digital media to enhance audience understanding.
Explanatory text: Be sure your digital media doesn’t distract from the content of your presentation. Also, if you’re using charts, graphs, or other visuals, be sure they’re large enough that your audience can see them.
The rubric reads:
Style — 7 points
Your assignment is written and presented in a clear, careful way that:
Uses an appropriate tone for a classroom essay
Is free of obvious mistakes in grammar, usage, spelling, and punctuation
Explanatory text: Some good ways of catching errors in your writing are to read your essay out loud, change the font or size, print it, or write it by hand. Any way you can make the text look different on the page will help little mistakes jump out.
The rubric reads:
Your assignment uses precise vocabulary and figurative language to improve meaning.
Explanatory text: Figurative language includes metaphors, similes, and analogies, all of which can help readers visualize something that’s difficult to explain: The universe is like a balloon covered in little dots. As the balloon expands, the dots — which are galaxies — get farther apart.