ENGLISH 207—American Literature: Pre-Colonial to 1865
SLOS AND METHODS OF ASSESSMENT/MEASUREMENT AND RUBRICS (WHEN AVAILABLE)
1.
SLO—The student should be able to identify both major and minor American writers from the pre-colonial
period to the Civil War within an historical context.
A/M—The student will be asked to identify passages by author and title of work within an historical period.
RUBRIC FOR SLO1:
Average (passing) answer (2): The student can identify passages by author and title of work within an historical
context from the pre-colonial period to the Civil War.
Poor answer (1): The student cannot identify passages by author and title of work within an historical context from
the pre-colonial period to the Civil War.
2.
SLO—The student should be able to analyze one or more passages from American literary texts, particularly
from the perspective of American literature before the Civil War.
A/M—The student will be asked to analyze one or more passages from American literary texts.
RUBRIC FOR SLO2:
Good answer (3): The student demonstrates an insightful analysis of American literature, quoting from and using
specific passages from the text and applying ideas developed and discussed throughout the semester
concerning the context within which American literature developed in the pre-Civil War period.
Average (passing) answer (2): The student demonstrates an adequate analysis of American literature, but the
student may not use sufficient textual evidence to support his or her analysis or may not consistently
demonstrate his or her understanding of the context within which American literature developed in the
pre-Civil War period.
Poor answer (1): The student summarizes or paraphrases passages without analyzing or does not demonstrate his
or her understanding of the context within which American literature developed in the pre-Civil War
period.
3.
SLO—The student should be able to analyze and compare different writers’ perspectives and interpretations
of situations and events in light of the ethnic, literary, geographical, religious, ideological, and political
environments within which American writers were writing.
A/M – The student will be asked to analyze and compare different writers’ perspectives and interpretations of
situations and events in light of the ethnic, literary, geographical, religious, ideological, and political
environments within which American writers were writing.
RUBRIC FOR SLO3:
Good answer (3): The student demonstrates an insightful analysis of the perspective of different writers and their
interpretations of situations and events in light of the ethnic, literary, geographical, religious, ideological,
and political environments within which American writers were writing.
Average (passing) answer (2): The student demonstrates an adequate analysis of the perspective of different
writers and shows an adequate understanding of the writers’ interpretations of situations and events in
light of the ethnic, literary, geographical, religious, ideological, and political environments within which
American writers were writing, but the student may not use sufficient textual evidence to support his or
her analysis or may not consistently demonstrate his or her understanding of the impact or influence that
the situations and events exerted on the different writers to help account for the differences in
perspective.
Poor answer (1): The student summarizes or paraphrases passages without analyzing or does not demonstrate his
or her understanding of the impact or influence that the situations and events exerted on the different
writers to help account for the differences in perspective.
4.
SLO—The student should be able to assess American writers’ complexity of language choice in addressing
different audiences.
A/M—The student will be asked to assess American writers’ complexity of language choice in addressing
different audiences.
RUBRIC FOR SLO4:
Good answer (3): The student demonstrates an insightful analysis of a writers’ complexity of language choice in
addressing different audiences.
Average (passing) answer (2): The student demonstrates an adequate analysis of a writers’ complexity of language
choice in addressing difference audiences, but the student may not use sufficient textual evidence to
support his or her analysis or may not consistently demonstrate his or her understanding of the complex
language choices the writer makes in addressing different audiences.
Poor answer (1): The student summarizes or paraphrases passages without analyzing the complexity of language
choices or does not demonstrate his or her understanding of the complex language choices the writer
makes in addressing different audiences.
5.
SLO—The student should be able to relate themes in literature to past and present issues and social contexts.
A/M—The student will be asked to relate themes in literature to past and present issues and social contexts.
RUBRIC FOR SLO5:
Good answer (3): The student demonstrates exceptional insight in relating themes in literature to past and present
issues and social contexts and uses textual evidence to support his or her analysis.
Average (passing) answer (2): The student adequately relates themes in literature to past and present issues and
social contexts, but the student may not use sufficient textual evidence to support his or her analysis or
may not consistently demonstrate his or her understanding of how the themes in literature are related to
past and present issues and social contexts.
Poor answer (1): The student summarizes or paraphrases passages without adequately relating themes in
literature to past and present issues and social contexts.
6.
SLO—The student should be able to examine literary texts closely and critically and recognize how literary
interpretation is linked to critical thinking and to an understanding of human interactions and behaviors—both
on a personal and on a public level.
A/M—The student will be asked to examine literary texts closely and critically and to use critical thinking in his
or her interpretation to show how literary interpretation is linked to critical thinking and to an understanding
of human interactions and behaviors—both on a personal and on a public level.
RUBRIC FOR SLO 6:
Strong answer (4): The student demonstrates his or her ability to read texts closely by insightfully and critically
analyzing passages from various texts to show how ideas presented in literature reveal, reflect, and
expose human interactions and behaviors—both on a personal and public level.
Good answer (3): The student shows an ability to read texts closely but may not demonstrate his or her ability to
think critically or to adequately develop his or her ideas with a more insightful analysis or enough textual
evidence.
Average answer (2): The student may make obvious or superficial observations that do not reveal deeper insights
or critical thinking, may not use specific textual evidence in presenting or supporting his or her
observations, and/or may not demonstrate an understanding of the significance or relevance of the ideas
presented in various texts.
Weak answer (1): The student may not make connections between ideas presented within various texts, or the
student may force connections, rely on generalities, or fail to support his or her reading of the texts with
specific textual evidence.
Prepared by Bea Ganim/May 2011