The Problem With Power – Source List

Fiction

The Wave by Todd Strasser

“The Cub” by Lois DykemanKleihauer (MVW)

“Thank You M’am” by Langston Hughes (GS)

“Weakest” from All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (MVC)

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

Nonfiction

“Professors Push Back Against Laptops In the Lecture Hall” by Eric Andrew-Gee (MVW)

“Can Teenage Defiance Be Manipulated For Good?” by Amanda Ripley (MVW)

Poetry

“An Interuption” by Robert Foote

“Keeping Quiet” by Robert Bly

“Fish?” by Shel Silverstien

Lyrics to “Buzzer” by Dar Williams (GS)

Lyrics to “Roar” by Katy Perry (GS)

“The First Day of School” by Barbara JusterEsbensen

“The Balloon of the Mind” by William Butler Yeats

“Complainers” by Rudy Fransisco (GS)

All poems in PPT on Mr. V’s website. MVW = Mr. V’s website, MVC = Mr. V’s classroom, GS = Google Search it

Dear students,

It is my sincerest hope that our study and process for crafting an essay will both help you to progress as a writer and help shape a more positive view of this genre. At the start, I asked you to craft an idea that felt like stepping onto an unexplored island. Your writing process is one of exploration, and the chart (or map) below is one designed to help you to succeed while giving you the freedom to explore your ideas in the way you choose. Of course this essay also helps me assess your understanding of our unit. Give me your best effort, please. Tenacious writers plan, work hard, and succeed!

Sincerely,

Mr. Vogelsinger

The Problem With Power: Unit Essay Rubric

Advanced / Proficient / Basic / Developing
Focus
Essential Questions / The essay incorporates ideas related to more than one essential question. / The essay incorporates the language of one essential question. / The essay relates to power, but does not incorporate an essential question / The essay lacks focus.
Content
Variety of Sources and Insights / The essay pulls insights from life experiences, observations, and texts. / The essay pulls insights from life experiences and a little bit from texts. / The essay contains just a few insights or rushes through many. / The essay lacks depth of content.
Organization
Paragraphing and Structural Choices / The paragraphing choices are purposeful, clever, and highlight big ideas / The paragraphing choices are purposeful and help create a flow of ideas. / The paragraphing choices are inconsistent. / The essay is a five paragraph essay.
Style
Hyphen, Dash, Semicolon, Colon / Four listed punctuation marks are used correctly, adding to the sophistication. / Four listed punctuation marks are used correctly, adding to the rhythm of sentences. / Some listed punctuation marks are used correctly. / Few listed punctuation marks are used correctly.
Conventions
Spelling and Sentences / Spelling and sentence conventions reveal careful, repeated editing. / Spelling and sentence conventions reveal editing. / Spelling and sentence conventions reveal editing needs more attention. / Errors detract from the ideas in this piece, making it hard to read fluently.