The POWER of WORDS to Influence CHANGE
Formative Writing Assessment
Standards: 8.W.1. Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence; RL.3. Analyze how dialogue and incidents
propel action, reveal character, and provoke decisions; RL.2. Determine theme and its development throughout a text.
In this unit, you have studied how literature addresses the influence of others’ actions, inactions, and words on
groups and individuals, as well as how people in real life have used their words to spur action. You have also studied
the crafts of organization, main idea/claim, and support to learn how authors effectively organize their writing and
convey their messages.
In this assignment, you will apply the author’s craft skills you have studied while demonstrating your
understanding of how your literature study helps answer one of our unit’s guiding questions:
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What influences a person’s decisions to act or not to act?
What makes a person influential?
When should a person speak out or stand up for a cause versus being a follower or a bystander?
What are the consequences of our choices, actions, and/or inactions?
Instructions
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Choose which question you want to answer.
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Choose the organizational structure you think would be best to use to organize your ideas.
Write a claim (based on your novel study) for that question.
Brainstorm some supporting details from your novel that you think you could use to answer the question. You
do not have to include direct quotes or page numbers for this assignment. Just make sure what you include is
specific and from the novel.
Put the ideas you have brainstormed into the organizer.
Add appropriate signal/transition words into the organizer to show how you might connect your ideas.
Write a detailed response (approximately 1-2 well-developed paragraphs) responding to the given prompt.
You do not need to write a full introduction or conclusion, but it is expected that you will include clear topic
sentences and well-elaborated (think point, proof) supporting details.
**When you write a literary analysis like this, you should always write
as if the person reading it is not extremely familiar with the story you
are writing about. Give enough detail that someone not familiar with
the story would understand what it is you are trying to argue.**
The POWER of WORDS to Influence CHANGE
Formative Rubric for Feedback
Conven
tions
Claim
s
Organization
Content & Elaboration
Exceeds Expectations
Meets Expectations
Below Expectations
_ Stays on topic
_ Includes thorough and
convincing textual evidence for the
purpose
_ Details and explanations directly
support the purpose
_ Stays largely on topic
_ Includes adequate textual
evidence for the purpose
_ Details and explanations are
mostly aligned with purpose
_ Central topic and purpose can be
seen, but focus is inconsistent
_ Textual evidence somewhat
aligns with purpose
_ Details and explanations
somewhat align with purpose
The response has a clear and
effective organizational structure
creating unity and completeness:
_ Consistent use of a variety of
appropriate transitional strategies
to clarify relationships and create
strong connections among ideas
_ Logical progression of ideas
from beginning to end with a
clearly identifiable organizational
structure
The response has an evident
organizational structure and a
sense of completeness, though
there may be minor flaws and
some ideas may be loosely
connected:
_ Use of transitional strategies with
some variety attempt to clarify
relationships and create
connections among ideas
_ Adequate progression of ideas
from beginning to end with an
attempt to use an organizational
structure
_ Claim clearly stated, focused and
maintained
The response has an inconsistent
organizational structure, and flaws
are evident:
_ Inconsistent use of basic
transitional strategies with little
variety and/or weak connections
are made among ideas
_ Uneven progression of ideas
from beginning to end with no
evident organizational structure
_ Audience does not notice errors.
_ Claim is stated and mostly
maintained, though there might be
a slight drift
_ Audience is informed but notices
a few errors.
Does not Meet
Minimum Expectations
_ Wanders from topic
_ Focus cannot be seen or has
many side comments
_ Textual evidence is minimal or
absent or irrelevant
_ Details and explanations do not
align with stated purpose and/or
frequent extraneous ideas may
intrude
The response has little or no
discernible organizational
structure:
_ Few or no transitional strategies
are evident
_ No discernable progression of
ideas from beginning to end
_ Claim is absent, confusing, or
ambiguous
_ Audience is irritated by errors.
Exemplar Writing Piece from Holes
Zero’s decisions to act are based around his loyalty to others. When Zero was homeless, he had
learned habits from his mom, whom he was very loyal to even though she left him. This is the reason
why he stole Clyde Livingston’s shoes—his mom had taught him to always take what he needed, so he
took the shoes. When he realized the shoes were famous, he ditched them, which led to Stanley’s arrest.
The next day, Zero attempted stealing a new pair of shoes. As a result of his shoe thefts, Zero and
Stanley both ended up at Camp Green Lake.
At Camp Green Lake, Zero felt guilty about being the reason Stanley was there. This produced a sense
of loyalty towards Stanley. Therefore, when Stanley got in trouble for stealing the sunflower seeds
(which he didn’t do), Zero dug the rest of Stanley’s hole for him. This led to an eventual deal where Zero
would dig a part of Stanley’s hole each day in exchange for Stanley teaching Zero to read and write. Their
eventual friendship stemmed from this time they spent together. Because of this friendship, when Zero
eventually ran away from Camp Green Lake, Stanley followed him and, as a result, ended up saving his
life. If Zero had not been such a loyal person, he might have died from his experiences at Camp Green
Lake.
Exemplar Writing Piece from Holes
Question: What influences a person’s decisions to act or not to act?
Organizational Structure: Cause/Effect
Effect
Cause
He was found on the
street and sent to
Camp Green Lake
Zero was
homeless
Cause
Zero saw the
shoes and needed
them
Event
Zero stole shoes
of a famous
baseball player
Effect
Zero threw the
shoes when he
heard sirens
Effect Stanley got
in trouble and
sent to Camp
Green Lake
Cause
Zero asked
Stanley to teach
him to read
therefore
Effect
Effect/Cause
Zero dug part of
Stanley’s hole
each day
Stanley follows Zero
into the desert
Event
Zero and Stanley
become friends
Cause
It bothered Zero
when Stanley took
responsibility for
things that
weren’t his fault
Effect Stanley
eventually saves
Zero’s life