בס"ד Name _________________ Miss Blumenberg ___ / ___ / ___ Grade 11 – ELA Structured Response Structured Response Sample Process Title: “Is He Living or Is He Dead?” Author: Mark Twain What happened? (plot summary) A visitor to a quiet seaside hotel meets with another guest, Smith. Smith recounts his history to the visitor, describing how he and his friends, impoverished young artists, faked the death of one of their comrades, François Millet, in order to spread his fame and hike up the value of the paintings of that artist. The plan succeeded, and the paintings of the “dead” artist François Millet achieved tremendous posthumous popularity and value. Note: When you summarize the plot, you can summarize from several different angles. Taking a different slant might guide you in the direction of another theme. What’s the point? (theme) Good Rarity and value Better A rare painting is more valuable. Human nature is such that when something is Best elusive and difficult to acquire, it becomes more desirable. There are several solid examples of textual evidence, but only the strongest ones will be used in the structured response. “The merit of many a great artist has never been acknowledged until after he was starved and dead.” “The merit of every great and unknown artist must and will be recognized, and his pictures climb to high prices after his death.” “I got eight hundred francs for that little thing. I wish I could get it back for eighty thousand.” “… When he dies his pictures can’t be had for all money.” “It would astonish you to know the figure we sell them at nowadays – that is, when we consent to let one go!” Page 1 of 4 בס"ד Name _________________ Miss Blumenberg ___ / ___ / ___ Grade 11 – ELA Structured Response Structured Response Sample Art that is rare is art that is valuable. This is certainly true in the story, “Is He Living or Is He Dead,” by Mark Twain, where one clearly sees that human nature is such that when something is elusive and difficult to acquire, it becomes more desirable. When a group of impoverished artists were struggling to make ends meet, they came to the conclusion that “The merit of every great and unknown artist must and will be recognized, and his pictures climb to high prices after his death.” This leads them to construct an elaborate scheme - one of them would fake his death in order to drive up the prices of his paintings – because once an artist is dead and his work is no longer steadily produced, his popularity soars. Ironically, when friends of François Millet - the artist who was slated to “die” – sold his paintings in anticipation of the upcoming event, they did so with glee, but as one of them later reflects about a specific painting, “I got eight hundred francs for that little thing. I wish I could get it back for eighty thousand.” At the time when he possessed dozens of his friend’s creations, they meant very little to him, but once François had stopped painting entirely, the friend yearned for the piece he had once been so eager to sell. Perhaps the strongest evidence is seen when Smith, one of the friends of François who were in on the plan and facilitated its execution, remarks in reference to the remaining Millet masterpieces, “It would astonish you to know the figure we sell them at nowadays – that is, when we consent to let one go!” Not only did the now-rare paintings become increasingly valuable in the world at large, even the friends now held on tight to the paintings that they were left with – because once it was scarce, it was that much more sought after. Page 2 of 4 בס"ד Name _________________ Miss Blumenberg ___ / ___ / ___ Grade 11 – ELA Structured Response Your Task: Write an extended response on theme/central idea using one of the following stories: “Is He Living or Is He Dead” – Mark Twain “Fox” – Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks “Sweet Potato Pie” – Eugenia Collier Title: _________________________________ Author: _______________________________ What happened? (Write your plot summary) _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ What’s the point? (Identify the theme[s]) Good Better Best Textual Evidence: 1. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 3. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 4. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 5. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 6. ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ Page 3 of 4 בס"ד Name _________________ Miss Blumenberg ___ / ___ / ___ Grade 11 – ELA Structured Response Your response should include, in the following order: A hook Title and author of the work you’ve selected A well – defined “best” theme statement 3 pieces of textual evidence that support your theme, presented in ICE format (introduce where you’re taking the quote from, cite the quote, explain how the evidence supports your theme). Be sure to adhere to all conventions of grammar and mechanics. ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 4
