Name: _________________________________
Ms. Heatherly p. _______
Freshmen I Unit IV Summative: Argumentative Essay Self Reflection
Learning Target: Students will reflect over their writing and recognize that writing is a process.
*Students will have an opportunity to revise their argumentative essay. If you would like you revise your essay, it is
due NO LATER than Monday, March 23rd. You must highlight your changes that you make and attach the new version
on top of the original essay.
Directions: Please look over your essay and based off Ms. Heatherly’s comments, the rubric, and your own personal
reflection, score yourself on the following errors (9-10 would fall under Excellent 7-8 Satisfactory, 4-6 Proficient, etc.)
Introduction/Claim is well developed and established the argument that the student is making in their essay. The
introduction and claim preview the texts that will be used to support their claim.
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Text support evidence is effectively integrated into the body paragraphs. The textual support (3 Quotes is properly
cited and logically supports the argument being made in the essay.
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Analysis of evidence is formal, well-developed, and effective in the showing the reader WHY the text supports the
argument being made in the essay.
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Conclusion recaps the main argument being made and the support provided for the argument. Claim is restated in
different words and the essay closes in a thought-provoking statement.
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Works Cited is included and is in proper MLA format. All cited texts are given credit.
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Conventions/Grammar use does not distract the reader of the essay. There are no spelling, grammar, or formatting
issues within the essay.
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Things I did well
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Not as well
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Total Score: ______/100
Two goals for next essay:
1.
2.
Argument Essay Strong Student Samples
*Helpful Grammatical Reminders:
-Do not use second person
-Newspaper articles/ short stories go in quotations (“ “).
-Punctuation goes INSIDE of the quotation
-Do not use contractions (don’t=do not)
*Helpful Content Reminders
-Explain/introduce article BEFORE evidence
-Weave in quote to sentence
-Relate BACK to claim in each paragraph
-ETA: Explanation, Text Evidence, Analysis
Introduction:
Student Sample 1: Different people with different homes and communities may argue against each other about who
encourages them the most in their lives. Someone with no one at home may argue that their community affects them most.
Although someone with a bad community and a better home life may argue that their family has influenced them most.
Either way there will always be two sides to an argument. Based on the texts “ The Blind Side” by Michael Lewis, “Stone
Soup” by Barbara Kingslover and “ The Stories that Bind Us” it is clear that family is more significant to our personal
growth than community. Family is more influential because it impacts the individual by showing love, support, and
providing new opportunities.
Student Sample 2: Every year, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States alone. That’s a
student every 26 seconds or 7,000 a day. Dosomething.org Just think how this statistic could be significantly reduced?
The answer may or may not surprise you, but your family's influence is one of the key components of your success and
your effect on society. Based on the texts “The Blind Side,” “Stories that Bind us,” and “Functional Vs. Dysfunctional,” it
is clear that family is more influential than community by causing an individual to become a good contributor in society.
Family is influential by encouraging an individual to overcome difficult obstacles, providing opportunities that no one else
may be able to provide, and by respecting you.
Topic Sentences:
Finally, an individual will be more capable of handling stressful situations if they have a close relationship with
their family.
Body Paragraph:
Student Sample 1: Secondly, family influences their relatives by telling them stories about the family, and surprisingly, it makes
them mentally stronger. In the story “Stories That Bind Us”, Dr. Duke, a psychologist at Emory University did a series of tests and
came to the conclusion that “The ones who know more about their families tend to do better when they face challenges.”(Feiler 2)
This is clear evidence that good parents and family can influence you because it explains that people who know the most about their
family background get through hard times better. Also, after 9/11, he conducted another test and it resulted in the same way. He said
“Once again, the ones who knew more about their families proved to be more resilient, meaning they could moderate the effects of
stress.”(Feiler 2) This proves that family has a greatest influence on a person. Even though we go through stress filled times, if we
have family, we will be ok. While being firmly rooted in your family’s past is important, the ongoing togetherness of family also
meets our need for companionship.
Student Sample 2: Family helps a child’s personal growth, by providing a feeling that they belong. In “The Importance of
Belonging”, Enayati is writing about how every person belongs somewhere, and the positives and negatives of the feeling of
belonging. “Because as humans, we need to belong. To one another, to our friends and families, to our cultures and country, to our
world” (Enayati 1). This evidence proves that everybody wants to feel like they belong, specifically in families. The more a person
knows about their family, that person will have a sense of belonging with them, and it won’t matter if you don’t find a sense of
belonging with the community. “Dr. Duke said that children who have the most self-confidence have what he and Dr. Fivush call a
strong ‘intergenerational self.’ They know they belong to something bigger than themselves” (Feiler 3). This evidence shows what I
was stating before; people who feel they belong with their family will do better in life with more confidence. Overall, family
influences an individual greatly by providing a sense of belonging.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, based on the texts “Michael Oher: Homeless Hero Becomes Academic Success”, “The Stories That Bind Us” and
“Stone Soup”, it is clear that family is more influential to our personal growth than Community. Family is more influential to our
personal growth because it impacts the individual by building them up instead of tearing them down. Family helps boost your
confidence, and provides you with necessities and when parents aren’t together anymore they try to prove their love even more. A
family is a group of people who will love you no matter what and will always be there for you that is why they are more
influential than a community.