THEME PARAGRAPH FOR “AFTER YOU, MY DEAR ALPHONSE”
Pick a few abstract nouns that come up
repeatedly in the story.
The list to the left is not a complete list of all
words you could use. If you have other words that
makes sense for the story, use those words.
love happiness individuality
community hate
family justice fate friendship
sacrifice strength
courage survival beauty violence
trust oppression
childhood freedom war growing up
identity
human nature good evil adversity
cooperation
belonging
relationships loneliness
Pick ONE from your list above that’s
most interesting to you and turn your
noun into a guiding question.
What does the story say about
______________________?
Answer your question with a statement.
(Try a few different answers.)
Refine this statement into a ​working
theme.
● Uses vivid word choice
● Not a command, cliche, or
moral.
● Reflects the entire story.
● Shows deep understanding.
● Avoids words like “you,”
“should,” and “don’t.”
(*This will be the topic sentence of your
paragraph.)
Directions:
Using the theme you created on the opposite page, write a paragraph using your
theme statement, three misconceptions, and text evidence. The outline is below:
OUTLINE
Topic Sentence: ​The theme of the story “After
You, My Dear Alphonse” is
Misconception 1 Text Evidence:
This relates to the theme because:
In addition,
Misconception 2 Text Evidence:
When the mother says this, she is
Also,
Misconception 3 Text Evidence:
The mother says this because:
Furthermore,
Concluding Sentence:
Write your paragraph here:
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TEXT ANALYSIS RUBRIC
NAME __________________________
HOUR _____
4 - Advanced
3 - Proficient
2 - Basic
1 - Below Basic
Analyze
The analysis is
insightful and reveals a
deep understanding of
the nuances of the
text.
The analysis shows a basic
understanding of the main
points of the text, though
details are obvious/clichéd.
The analysis shows some
insight into the literary
work, though not
consistently.
The analysis shows very
limited/superficial/
incomplete/inaccurate
understanding of the text.
Organization
Topic/closing
sentences and
sophisticated
transitions
clearly/accurately
identify the topic of
each body paragraph,
how it proves the
theme, and the
relationship between
each idea. (Order
appears logical; each
idea builds from the
last.)
Topic/closing sentences
and transitions accurately
identify the topic of each
body paragraph, how it
proves the theme, and the
relationship between each
idea, but the wording
needs a little tweaking.
Topic/closing sentences
identify the intended topic
of each paragraph,
although they do not show
how the sub-topic proves
the theme. Transitions are
functional yet superficial;
they show the order of
ideas but not their true
connection.
Topic/closing sentences are
present but do not
accurately reflect the ideas
contained within the
paragraph. Transitions are
present but do not show the
true relationship between
ideas.
Support/
Evidence
Strong quotes help
support each part of the
argument contained
within each paragraph,
are embedded well,
explained fully, and
contain proper MLA
formatting for internal
citations and
punctuation.
Appropriate quotes are
used for each part of each
argument, but a few might
occasionally need a little
more explanation, or might
not follow all formatting
rules every time.
Although they might not
always be embedded
fluently, sufficient quotes
are provided to prove most
points. However, adding a
few more quotes could
enhance some minor parts
of arguments.
Quotes are present in most
body paragraphs, but parts
of arguments are
consistently left
unsupported, and/or some
quotes do not clearly prove
the argument. Most
formatting rules are ignored,
and quotes seem randomly
thrown in without adequate
intro/explanation.
Conventions
Basic grammar rules as
well as any we have
learned are consistently
followed.
A few minor grammatical
errors are present but do
not distract from the
content.
Grammatical errors distract
from the content though the
intended meaning is still
clear.
Many grammatical errors
hinder the reader’s ability to
understand the content.