American Born Chinese – by Gene Luen Yang, 2006
ELA 10 – for Ms. Mac
After reading chapters 3 & 4 from ABC (pp. 1-84), choose a situation that you can describe as if
you’re an outsider observing the situation. Follow the steps below. Examine the drawings carefully
and the dialogue as well and then write an Eye Witness Report.
How to Write an Eyewitness Report
1. An eyewitness report is a first-person account of an event you personally witnessed. The goal is
to provide details about the event in a clear, concise manner, giving as many details as you
recall as accurately as possible.
2. Think about the ‘incident’ you ‘witnessed’. Ask yourself exactly what you saw and the order of
the events. Consider all details involved in the incident. Reconstruct the events and the order in
which they occurred as clearly as you can before you write anything down.
3. Write your eyewitness report in the first person. Describe only what you actually witnessed.
There is no room in an eyewitness report for personal opinion or dramatic effect. If you want to
add something that you didn't actually see, use a phrase like, "He appeared to have a gun."
Using the word "appear" lets anyone reading the report know that although you didn't actually
see the gun, it looked as if there may have been one.
4. Use language as precisely as you can. If you're describing clothes, don't just say someone was
wearing an orange jacket. If you know a more specific word, use it. Try to remember any
identifying marks, odd behaviors, or out-of-place events surrounding the situation you're
reporting on.
5. Aim for 1 page, single spaced, 4-5 paragraphs, of writing.
6. Ideas for organization:
a. A paragraph about where and when the event happened
b. A paragraph about who was there (or not there), what they looked like, their
expression, their mannerisms, their demeanor, etc.
c. A paragraph about the setting and all the (inanimate) things you saw
d. A paragraph about what was said
7. Please hand the rubric in with your Eye – Witness Report
American Born Chinese, by Gene Yang
EYE WITNESS EVALUATION RUBRIC
/25
Name:
9
Development of Vividly describes
Ideas & Details the event in great
detail; detail is so
rich that the reader
can easily imagine
the event; writer
has appealed to all
senses ; the writer
really “shows”
rather than “tells”
the detail
5
Word Choice
Varied, precise
vocabulary; strong
adjectives and
verbs; word choice
enhances ideas
7
Organization / Writing is wellCreativity
organized in a
logical order;
product is rich in
uniqueness/novelty;
striking creativity in
product
Grammar/
Mechanics
4
The piece is
virtually free of
errors
7
Describes an
event in detail,
but some
important details
have been left
out; fairly vivid
sensory images
5
Partially
describes a
specific event in
general terms;
sensory images
are not vivid –
reader still has to
work hard to
understand the
senses
3
Conveys some
information about
an event but does
not describe – or
“show” the event;
not enough detail
about the event to
allow the reader
to imagine it
4
Varied use of
vocabulary; word
choice can be a bit
vague at times
3
Workable, but
not fully effective
vocabulary
2
Contains
simplistic or weak
vocabulary
5
Writing is fairly
well-organized,
although may be a
bit hard to follow
at times; product
has moments of
uniqueness and
creativity
3
The piece has few
errors, which do
not interfere with
understanding
3
The piece is not
well-organized;
ideas do not flow
in a logical
manner; product
is simple
1
The piece is very
unorganized,
which causes
confusion for the
reader; product is
incomplete
2
The piece has
some errors,
which make the
piece difficult to
understand
1
The piece has
many errors,
which greatly
interfere with
understanding
From the curriculum:
CC A10.4.e
 I can compose and create a … written informational (including an observation/eye witness
report) text… attending to various elements of discourse (purpose, speaker, audience, form).