Supervised Writing
Purpose
 Intended as a springboard to elicit your ideas
 From these ideas, you develop a topic and then
the Written Assignment
 Ultimate Goal: That you produce good essays with
appropriate topics
Logistics
 50 minutes allowed
 Open book (annotations allowed, but
no secondary materials)
 Must be in continuous prose (not a web, an
outline, bullets, etc.)
 No specified length
 Is handed in to teacher
 An unedited copy is kept on file
Prompts
4 prompts
Goals are to:
 encourage independent critical writing
 stimulate thinking about an assignment
topic
In December….
 You will choose 1 of your 3 supervised writings
 You will develop it into the Written Assignment
 There must be an apparent connection between the
supervised writing and the final essay, but you are
encouraged to provide your own title and to develop
the chosen prompt in an independent direction.
Example
 Prompt Which minor character plays the
most significant role?
 Work A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
 Essay title Mrs. Linde as role model in A
Doll’s House
Example
 Prompt Do you think there are some
characters in the work whose chief role
is to convey cultural values? (purposely
broad!)
 Work Chronicle of a Death Foretold by
Gabriel García Márquez
 Essay title The Vicario brothers as
champions of honor
Example
 Prompt Identify a symbol, motif or
strand of imagery (or more than one if
you prefer). What role does it play in the
work?
 Work Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
 Essay title The contrasting roles of ice
and snow in Dr. Zhivago