Encore English 12
Mrs. Sharp
name:
period:
Performance-Based Assessment:
Constructing the Self
Part One: Understanding Arguments in Visual and Written Texts
In this part of the assessment you will be looking at a short text by Susan Bordo. In it, she analyzes a number of
texts to show how they influence the way people think and behave. This work is important because later on in
the assessment you will be asked to do a similar analysis of a text you know well.
Individual Work: RESPONSE
Read the selection from Susan Bordo’s Unbearable Weight. At the end of the text,
Bordo makes the claim that “cultural imagery” is “teaching us how to see.”
Write a 400-500 word response to the following questions:
1) What is Bordo’s main claim?
2) What evidence does she use to support her claim?
3) Is she persuasive? Do you find her argument convincing? Why or why not?
Part Two: Textual Analysis – What are the Messages or Arguments in a Popular Text?
In Part One you studied a text by Susan Bordo. Now it is time for you to become a cultural critic by analyzing
some texts of your own choosing. In this task, you will analyze the messages or arguments that are made in the
texts, as well as the strategies used to communicate those messages.
Individual Work: NOTES
Select a popular text you know well—for example, a movie, a television
show, a song, an ad or series of ads— that you think sends powerful
messages about how young people should think, look, or behave.
The text you choose should meet some of the following criteria:
• You should see aspects of your own identity portrayed in it
 You should know it well and have thought about it
• You should have heard other people react to it or discuss it
• You should think it is worth investigating
Make notes about the popular text that answers the following questions (be sure to cite lines and
examples from the text to illustrate your answers):
 Text: What is the text? What medium/media/format is it? Who is the creator?
 Topic: What is the identity group being portrayed in the text? (Focus on one or two.)
 Cultural imagery:
o Describe what you read / see in the text (the explicit message).
o What message is the text trying to communicate to the audience? (the implicit message)
o How does the text communicate these messages? What choices or strategies were used to
convey these messages?
o What aspects of identity are portrayed in the text? What is the text “teaching”
readers/viewers about that identity? Are the messages fair? Accurate? How so?
Part Three. Present Your Perspective on the Message Sent by Popular Texts
Individual Work: SYNTHESIS
Write an essay in which you communicate your own perspective about the message
texts send to young people about how they should think, look, and behave, using the
popular texts selected in Part 2 as a specific case study .
Your essay will:
 Summarize the argument(s) about identity contained in texts you have selected —in other words, what do
they “teach” about the aspect(s) of identity you are looking at? Be sure to draw on your notes from Part 2
and to cite lines and examples from the text to illustrate your point of view.

Connect your analysis to the idea that “texts teach” all kinds of lessons. For example, you might “talk
back” in your essay by challenging or extending arguments the text makes. You might also use the idea as a
“lens” you look through to compare, contrast, and critique the arguments about identity contained in the
text you are analyzing. Be sure to cite lines or examples from the text to illustrate your ideas.

Explain how the text manages to “teach” and your thoughts on the lesson it imparts. Is it an accurate
representation of “you”? Is it a positive or negative lesson? Is it fair and accurate? Unfair and inaccurate?
What is good or bad about it? Be sure to discuss both the explicit and implicit messages within the text.
Also include your own reflections about how you believe young people should be represented in texts.

Include introduction and conclusion paragraphs. Your introduction should contain your argument
(thesis)*, and your conclusion should make a suggestion about why it is important to be aware of the
messages texts send and/or what is to be done now.
* Your argument or thesis statement should answer the questions: What do the texts you have
selected teach us about your chosen identity group(s)? Is this image accurate, realistic, and/or fair?
You may work in small groups to study and discuss the texts, but you must complete the written task
individually. You may also collaborate with other students to revise and refine your writing. I cannot edit or
revise your essay; however, I can conference with you individually and/or via email if you send me questions.
Your essay must meet MLA format guidelines, including a “Works Cited” page. Use the resources you receive
in class to plan, organize, revise, and edit your work.
ALL WORK MUST BE COMPLETED BY
MIDNIGHT on WEDNESDAY JAN 16th
Essays will be turned in (IN PERSON) on Wednesday 1/16 OR EMAILED by 11:59pm THAT NIGHT.
Late work will lose 10% each day it is late.
Any work received after FRIDAY, JANUARY 18th will not be accepted.