Life Choices- Controlling Idea Essay

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Writing Assignment

Life Choices- Controlling Idea Essay

Nicole Wood

Larger Context

This assignment is part of a larger genre study of poetry being taught to a 10th grade English class. Throughout the study, students have read poems by different author’s, examined theircommonalities and studied various literary elements used by writers to make their writing more interesting, intriguing, and likeable. Some of the elements include simile, metaphor, tone, characterization, mood, and theme. The students’ ability to analyze literature for understanding and critical analysis exemplifies NYS standards 1 and 3. After guided practice and scaffolding by the teacher, students will compose their own piece of literature which will be reviewed by a peer and shared with fellow classmates (Standard 4). The classes will be publishing their poems on a class blog, and each class will receive an anthology containing all of the poems the students have written. The students will also be producing a comparison/contrast paper using the controlling idea of life choices. They will be writing about the types of choices made by the speakers in the poems and comparing what the poems have in common and how they are different. They will write in their journals about their feelings after hearing the two poems I chose. After completing their essays, they will compose their own poems using the theme of life choices. The poems can be about a personal choice they have made in their own lives or they can choose to write the poems about another person who has made an important life choice.

Immediate Context

In my English class, we have begun to look at the theme of life choices. I will start by reading two poems: “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost and “Life Is Fine” by Langston Hughes. After giving background information to the students about both authors, I will read each poem out loud at a steady pace. After the first reading of each poem, I will ask students to free write in their journals for about three minutes. This writing will not be a graded activity. It will give them an opportunity to react using written expression with their own thoughts about each of the poems. We will then discuss the speaker’s voice in the poem. Both poems are first person narrative, which is something we have discussed in class previously.

I will then read the poems a second time, thinking aloud about parts or words that students may have difficulty understanding. For example, in Frost’s poem, line 8, “Because it was grassy and wanted wear” or line 12, “In leaves no step had trodden black,” or In Hughes’ poem, line 25, “I’ll be dogged, sweet baby.” Thinking aloud while reading Iwill model my thought process and demonstrate critical reading habits. The poems will be read a third time. After the third reading, students will be given five minutes to respond in their journals again adding more detail to their initial response. I will also instruct them to write more personally about the poems, providing the following prompts: How did the poem make you feel? Did it remind you of something? Is there a choice you have made that was important to your life now? Appropriate sentence starters that I would suggest to them would be: I once had to decide…, I chose to…, My Mom had to make a tough choice about…. They can also choose to answer a question. I will have questions written on the board. Questions posed would be: What choice have you made that changed you? Do you know anyone who has had to make a difficult choice?

I would then ask volunteers to share responses about the choices they have written about. I would begin with my journal entry first. My response would be:

“The two poems, remind me of a difficult choice I had to make at a young age. When I was in third grade, I was flown to Iowa to visit my sick little brother. When I got there, I went with my parents to talk with doctors. They told me that I would be tested to see what type of bone marrow I had and to see if it matched by brothers. I was very confused. Why? I asked. They explained that my brother was extremely sick from his cancer, and my bone marrow might save his life. If I was a close enough match, I would have to decide if I wanted to donate my marrow to my brother. After the test, they found that I was a close enough match, so then I had to choose whether to donate or not. Since I was only about eight years old, I was scared! Of course I said yes because I didn’t want my brother to be sick anymore and if my bone marrow would keep him alive, it was a good choice to make. My brother lived eleven years longer after my donation. The choice was a good one that changed not only my life, but gave my brother life too.”

I would then ask for student volunteers to share their entries. After the students shared, I would remind them that just as in their lives and mine, the authors of the poems make choices that were important and affected them directly.

Students would then get into two groups, with each group being responsible for one of the poems. Together they would analyze the poem, picking out literary elements the authors use to portray the type of choice they had to make and to express how they felt. They would also pick out poetic elements that add to the poem’s mood and delivery. I would have them locate elements I have already taught them like tone, metaphor, simile, and theme. Students would be familiar with this type of group work because we would have done this with previous units. We would then as a class put together a list of literary elements and examples from the poem that portray the speaker’s feelings about the choices made. We would also find the differences between the types of choices made in the poems.

I would then distribute the assignment for the compare/contrast essay along with a *sample essay for them to refer to:

Your Task:

After reading the poems, write an essay about the types of choices made by the speaker. In your essay, use ideas from both of the poems to establish a controlling idea about life choices. Using evidence from each poem to support your controlling idea, offer an in depth analysis of the kinds of choices each author made and how they affected the author’s life according to the information provided by the poems. Also, discuss at least one poetic device that we have discussed in class. Suggestions would be tone or mood.

Purpose and Audience:

Imagine you are writing this essay for someone who doesn’t understand what the two poems’ meanings are. They want to know what types of choices the speaker is making in each of the poems. They also want to know if the choices in both poems are the same or different. You want to show this reader that although the poems are about the same idea- life choices- they are different as well.

Format:

In order for you to complete your task, your paper will need to be two to three pages long. Be sure to use 12 point, Times New Roman font, and have your lines double spaced. Margins should be one inch all the way around.

Writers Checklist:

It is important to make sure you have included all of the necessary elements in your essay. This checklist will help you determine if you have met all of the criteria needed for proper completion of your task. Also, refer to the rubric to see what elements you may need to work on to improve your grade. Your first draft will be reviewed by a peer. You will make any necessary changes and then hand it to me. I will review it further to suggest any other changes you may need. You will then finalize your paper and hand it in. Your grade will be based on how well you completed your task in the essay. *Use the Rubric*

• Did I state the controlling idea of life choices in my first paragraph?
• Did I include title, author, and genre (TAG) in my introductory paragraph?
• Did I punctuate the titles of the poems correctly using quotation marks?
• Did I refer to the different/similar choices the speakers made in the poems?
• Did I cite parts of the poems in my paragraphs to support my ideas?
• Did I use good transition statements between the different sections of my essay?
• Did I discuss at least one poetic device found in each of the poems?
• Is my essay organized and is the language understandable and fluent?
• Did I use more difficult vocabulary correctly?
• Did I check my paper for typos, spelling errors, or anything else that would make it difficult to read?

Schedule:

Begin the first draft of your essay today in class. (Monday)

Your first draft is due to your peer reviewer on Wednesday.

My peer reviewer is: ______.

Peer reviews will take place in class onWednesday.

Revise your paper using your peer’s suggestions and hand to Mrs. Wood onThursday.

Mrs. Wood will review your paper, make any further suggestions, and had it back to youMonday.

Your final draft is due Wednesday.**

**If you hand in your final draft on Tuesday, you have an opportunity for 5 extra credit points.

*Please see Appendix A for the poems the students will be using for their essays. Please see Appendix B for the sample essay and Appendix C for the poems I used to create the sample essay. The rubric for this assignment can be found in Appendix D*

The students will use the lists we created together and their journal entries to begin brainstorming ideas of what they would like to include in their own essays to support their controlling idea about life choices. In class, they will begin writing a first draft which will be shared with a peer for review the next class meeting. I will model for them how to begin their essays, giving a mini lesson on the components of an essay. I will also model how to use my brainstorming ideas to begin my essay with a thoughtful thesis that I will build the rest of my essay upon. NYS standards 3 and 4 will be covered in the peer review process since students will be analyzing their peers’ essay and discussing their suggestions with one another through interaction and a peer review sheet.

Once their first draft is completed the students would complete the peer review. After the students are finished with the reviews I will give a lesson on revising, for example: distinguishing between summary and commentary using color coding to model for the students the difference between the two. Students will revise their essay using their peer’s suggestions and ideas from the lesson. After the revision is complete, students will submit the draft to me. I will respond to their draft with further suggestions on making the essay better and return the drafts to the students. Once the drafts are returned, I will give an editing lesson, for example: how to punctuate lines taken from poems. Using my suggestions and ideas from the lesson students will edit their paper once more and submit the final draft to me to be graded.

In terms of the NYS ELA standards this assignment mainly addresses the following standards:

Standard 2: Students will read, write, listen and speak for literary response and expression. Listening to the poems being read; responding in their journals; sharing with fellow classmates.

Standard 3: Students will read, write, listen and speak for critical analysis and evaluation. Evaluating each of the poems meanings; composing lists for each poem of elements found; writing the essay.

Standard 4: Students will read, write, listen and speak for social interaction. Peer review/editing session.

Appendix A: Poems for Student Essay Assignment

The Road Not Taken By: Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, and just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
Life Is Fine By: Langston Hughes
I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.
I came up once and hollered!
I came up twice and cried!
If that water hadn't a-been so cold
I might've sunk and died.
But it was Cold in that water! It was cold!
I took the elevator
Sixteen floors above the ground.
I thought about my baby
And thought I would jump down.
I stood there and I hollered!
I stood there and I cried!
If it hadn't a-been so high
I might've jumped and died.
But it was High up there! It was high!
So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born
Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.
Life is fine! Fine as wine! Life is fine!

Appendix B: Sample Essay to be distributed for Student Reference

Nicole Wood

Sample Essay for Writing Assignment

ENG 504

20 November 2008

Discrimination is a word that has many negative connotations. Discrimination isn’t even a word people like saying. It reminds us of struggle, of being treated unfairly, and being misjudged or misunderstood. Discrimination is a subject many authors write about and have experienced. In the poems “I, Too” by Langston Hughes and “Our Nation” by Dwayne Bailey, the poets write about discrimination. Although both poems share the common theme of inequality, they portray different sides and aspects of discrimination. The tones of the poems are different as well.

In Hughes’ poem, the speaker asserts that he has the right to sing about America because, like his white brothers, he, too, is America. When faced with discrimination, his tone is one of defiance. The poem addresses how African Americans were perceived when living in a home with White Americans. In stanza two the speaker says: “They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes.” This portrays an element of inequality between the speaker and the other “people” in the house. He suggests that one day this division of color will no longer exist. This becomes apparent in the third and forth stanzas when he says: “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes. Nobody’ll dare say to me ‘eat in the kitchen’ then.”

In the second poem by Bailey, different aspects of discrimination and inequality are addressed. The speaker asks questions to the reader about things that could be used by one person to cast judgment on another person. He questions religion, skin color, and material things such as the car one drives. His response is not so much one of defiance as Hughes’ is, but one of anger. This becomes apparent in stanza four when he says: “Something is wrong with our nation today/ we seem to have lost all common sense.” He also suggests that discrimination is a defense for lack of unity. He suggests an answer to the questions he poses in the last stanza. He says: “Let’s put an end to the hatred/ let’s put discrimination in the past/ Let us restore our nation to greatness/ with a greatness that will surely last.”

The tone the speaker takes in each poem is another difference between them. As I have suggested above, Hughes’ response is in a tone of defiance. His poem predicts a change in how white and black Americans co-exist together. He wants the reader to know that “I, too, am America.” Baileys’ tone is much harsher and filled with more anger. His response indicates that we need to get back to being one nation that stands together instead of one divided by discrimination and inequality.

In conclusion, both of these poems address a negative look into what discrimination and inequality consist of. Both authors address a different aspect of discrimination and offer different tones to support their feelings.

Appendix C: Poems used for Sample Essay

I, Too
By: Langston Hughes
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed-
I, too, am America / Our Nation
By: Dwayne Bailey
Does it really matter what your religion is;
Or the color of your skin?
What church you attend on sunday,
or the neighborhood you live in?
Is the car you drive really important?
Does it make the man or woman inside?
Does any thing in this world truely matter?
Can you take it to the other side?
Something is wrong with our nation today,
we seem to have lost all common sense.
We no longer stand united,
we use discrimination as our defense.
We try to exhault our selves higher,
then everyone else we see;
We try to prove we are better inside,
but our selves we can not decieve.
Let us put an end to the hatred,
lets' put discrimination in the past;
Let us restore our nation to greatness,
with a greatness that will surely last.

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