SOUNDINGS XVIII:

Focus Paper 2:

“He Topia, She Topia, You Topia… Just Don’t Diss My Topia!”

Name: ______Date: ______

Title: ______
Intended Audience: ______
Primary Purpose:(Circle those that are appropriate)

informpersuadeentertain

Mode of Writing: (Circle those that are appropriate)

journalessayreportdescriptive narrativeother ______

Directions:

You encounter persuasive writing every day. Whether it's the tv commercial explaining why you should buy the new cell phone, a magazine article on your favorite band/artist promoting their new album, or even the President of the United States giving the State of the Union address, persuasive writing plays an important part in your everyday life.

The prompt for this Focus Paper is, relatively, straight forward… if you had to choose between living in the society set in The Giver or living in the one set in The Truman Show, which would you choose, and why? Taking into consideration the pros and cons of living in either society, develop an argument for why living in one of the societies would be better than living in the other. Ultimately, your goal is to convince the reader of your Focus Paper, that the society you choose to live in is the better of the two options.

When you turn in your best draft, you should include any pre-writing/rough drafts, as well. The order should be as follows:

This cover sheet on top

Writing Rubric

Best/Most Current Draft

Rough Drafts

Pre-Writing

Focus Paper #2 is due by ______. HAVE FUN!
I dedicate this effort to: ______.
Assessment Domains:

SOUNDINGS XVIII:

Focus/Overall Development: the single controlling point made with an awareness of task about a specific topic: the overall effect of the paper.
Style/Word Choice: the choice, use and arrangement of words: vocabulary, word choice and usage.

Conventions/Mechanics: the use of grammar, mechanics, spelling, usage and sentence formation; also the use of correct punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphing.

Style/Sentence Structures: the choice, use and arrangement of sentence structures; the degree to which the response includes sentences that are complete, correct and varied in structure and length.

Organization: the order developed and sustained within and across paragraphs using transitional devices including an introduction and a conclusion; the degree to which the response is focused and clearly and logically or appropriately ordered.

Content/Support: the presence of ideas developed through facts, examples, anecdotes, details, opinions, statistics, reasons and/or explanations; the degree to which the response includes examples that develop the main point.