Grading
Every other week, I will collect an analysis packet from you. Please visit the Nitty Gritty page to see due dates for the entire year. Each packet consists of analyses plus notes for 2,3, or more literary OR visual items.
You will be given a completion grade (in points- see conversion to 4-point scale below) as follows:
- 1-attempted but incomplete (or, chosen author/work is unpublished),
- 2-complete but didn’t follow directions,
- 3-completed according to directions) on the following assignments.
Turn in what you have on the due date— if you don’t, the work you have done will be considered LATE, and late work requires “interest” to receive credit. It is not in any way beneficial to turn in work late or decide to take a break from these analysis assignments. You will have to do them sooner or later, for the final project, so it’s better to do them now, and earn full credit, without the added interest hanging over your head.
THE WEEKLY PACKETS
1. Journal entries OR Analysis worksheet-2 or 3 per week usually, due every other Thursday
You have a choice each week of completing a worksheet or a journal entry for each item that you read. You may mix and match these any way you please. You may stick with one format or try any combination for any of the pieces that you read. Note that for visual analysis there is no journal option– please do the worksheet.
Analysis worksheet:
I am looking for close analysis gained by careful reading, but I am not looking for PhD level scholarly dissection of the works. Do your best to answer the questions in a way that reflects close reading and analysis and you will get credit. You don’t have to answer in paragraphs or even sentences-you may use bullet points and/or provide examples and short explanations.
Journal Entry
If you don’t like worksheets, or you want to do something different, then you can write a journal entry about your literary item(s) instead. There are very specific guidelines for what needs to be included in the journal entry. In addition, it must be at least 450 words long. For students who want to practice their writing, the journal entry is a good option. I recommend you try a few journal entries from time to time, to keep yourself from getting bored with the worksheets.
- Click here to view the fiction analysis worksheet.
- For a complete description of the fiction journal entry requirements, click here
- Click here to view the nonfiction analysis worksheet.
- For a complete description of the nonfiction journal requirements, click here
- Click here to view the poetry analysis worksheet.
- For a complete description of the poetry journal requirements, click here
2. Notes about each item you read:
There is no set format for this. You can take Cornell notes, or just jot things down in a notebook, or use sticky notes and then tape them to a page in a logical order…the only requirement is that you think as you read and try to have at least one comment or reaction per ten lines of text. You will take notes about things that you will have to write on your analysis sheet and about how the text you are reading relates to your core book or its main character. These notes will help you later as you look for concrete examples to support your thesis and arguments. Make sure to put page or paragraph numbers with your notes so that you can easily find examples when you need them later.
HOW DO THESE CONVERT INTO A GRADE?
As stated earlier, you will receive points for each worksheet (or journal entry) and annotations (notes) in your packet. These points will be added up and then converted into a process grade as follows:
OUT OF 24 POINTS
23-24 points= grade of 4 on Standard Score
20-22 points= grade of 3.5 on Standard Score
19-21 points=grade of 3 on Standard Score
17-20 points=grade of 2.5 on Standard Score
15-19 points=grade of 2 on Standard Score
14 or fewer points=grade of 1 on Standard Score
OUT OF 18 POINTS
17-18 points= grade of 4 on Standard Score
15-16 points= grade of 3.5 on Standard Score
12-14 points=grade of 3 on Standard Score
11-13 points=grade of 2.5 on Standard Score
10-12 points=grade of 2 on Standard Score
11 or fewer points=grade of 1 on Standard Score
OUT OF 12 POINTS
12 points= grade of 4 on Standard Score
11 points= grade of 3.5 on Standard Score
9-10 points=grade of 3 on Standard Score
7-8 points=grade of 2.5 on Standard Score
5-6 points=grade of 2 on Standard Score
4 or fewer points=grade of 1 on Standard Score
OUT OF 15 POINTS
14-15 points= grade of 4 on Standard Score
12-13 points= grade of 3.5 on Standard Score
10-11 points=grade of 3 on Standard Score
8-9 points=grade of 2.5 on Standard Score
6-7 points=grade of 2 on Standard Score
5 or fewer points=grade of 1 on Standard Score
OUT OF 27 POINTS
25-27 points= grade of 4 on Standard Score
21-24 points= grade of 3.5 on Standard Score
17-20 points=grade of 3 on Standard Score
13-16 points=grade of 2.5 on Standard Score
8-12 points=grade of 2 on Standard Score
7 or fewer points=grade of 1 on Standard Score
OUT OF 9 POINTS:
This is for weeks when you are reading a novel as one of your two literary selections. You do not have to turn in a worksheet or a journal entry until you have read the LAST section of the novel. While reading, you only need to turn in notes. Therefore, the maximum # points you can earn is 9 (3 for the novel notes, 3 for annotations of the second item you read, and 3 for the worksheet or journal entry of the second item you read. Grades will translate into the 4-point scale as follows:
9 points= grade of 4 on Standard Score
8 points= grade of 3.5 on Standard Score
6-7 points=grade of 3 on Standard Score
4-5 points=grade of 2.5 on Standard Score
2-3 points=grade of 2 on Standard Score
1 point=grade of 1 on Standard Score
TURNING YOUR WORK IN
Each week, you will basically turn in a “packet” of work to me. The “packet” consists of 2, 3 or more annotated texts (or the notes you took on those texts), plus analysis worksheets (or journal entries) for each item.
If you choose to do the work on paper, then you will just staple everything in and put it in the blue basket each Thursday (ok to turn it in on WED at the end of class or FRIDAY at the beginning of class on weeks we don’t meet on a Thursday).
If you choose to do the work on your computer, then you should put it in DropBox on THURSDAY by 11:59 PM.
It is okay to switch from one method (paper) to another (electronic) from week to week. But, please turn in ALL your work from that week in one form or the other. In other words, do not submit the journal entries electronically but the notes by hand. I should have all your work in a single submission (either paper or electronic), each week.
SPOT-CHECKS
Sometimes I will assign extra work for you to do; such as reading something and taking notes, or doing some exercises. I might collect these or I may simply do a “spot-check.” A “spot-check” means I am checking an assignment for completion only, at the beginning of class. I will make a note of whether or not you completed the work, and later the points you earn will be added (or not) to your analysis packet. So, if I say, please go to XYZ website and take notes tonight, or if I say, you need to complete one of your 2 analyses by tomorrow, that is fair game for a spot check.
If the spot-checked work is complete, you will receive +3 points added to your packet for that week; if it is complete but directions weren’t followed, you will receive +2, and if it not complete, you will receive +1. If you do not have your work, you cannot “show it to me later” and get the points added to the packet later on. It is due at the moment I check it, and it will affect your packet grade for that week. If you do not like your packet grade, you can raise your grade by doing interest. Please click here to read about raising your grade on an analysis packet.
Depending on how many spot-checks I perform each week, the total # of points possible will be higher (ie 9 or 12 or 15). When this happens, I will convert the grades into the 4-point scale and post the scales here.
The Collection 