Genre (Fictional Narrative Organization and Focus Sentence Structure Conventions

Writing)

What it means: tell a story. nClearly addresses the writing nIncludes sentence nContains some errors

Fictional Narrative Writing: task. variety. in the conventions of the

nProvides a thoroughly nDemonstrates a clear understanding English language

developed plot line, including of purpose and audience. (grammar, punctuation,

major and minor characters nMaintains a consistent point of view, capitalization, spelling).

and a definite setting. focus, and organizational structure, These errors do not

including the effective use of interfere with the reader’s

transitions. understanding of the

nIncludes a clearly presented central writing.

idea with relevant facts, details,

and/or explanations.

Genre (Persuasive Writing) Organization and Focus Sentence Structure Conventions

What it means: do your best n Clearly addresses the writing n Includes sentence n Contains some errors in

to convince your reader task. variety. the conventions

that the points you are making n Demonstrates a clear understanding of the English language

should be believed and acted of purpose and audience. (grammar, punctuation,

upon. Be sure to imagine and n Maintains a consistent point of view, capitalization, spelling).

include what your opponents focus, and organizational structure, These errors do not

might be thinking and answer including the effective use of interfere with the reader’s

their objections. transitions. understanding of the

Persuasive Writing: n Includes a clearly presented writing.

nAuthoritatively defends a central idea with relevant facts,

clear position with precise and details, and/or explanations.

relevant evidence and

convincingly addresses the

reader’s concerns, biases,

and expectations.

Genre (Summary Writing) Organization and Focus Sentence Structure Conventions

What it means: discuss n Clearly addresses all parts of n Includes sentence n Contains some errors

main points and ideas only the writing task. variety. in the conventions

(should have about 1/3 the n Demonstrates a clear understanding of the English language

number of words as the of purpose and audience. (grammar, punctuation,

source document). n Maintains a consistent point of view, capitalization, spelling).

Summary Writing: focus, and organizational structure, These errors do not

n Summarizes text with clear including the effective use of interfere with the reader’s

identification of the main idea(s) transitions. understanding of the

and most significant details, in n Includes a clearly presented writing.

the student’s own words, and central idea with relevant facts,

clearly reflects underlying details, and/or explanations.

meaning.

Genre (Response to Literature) Organization and Focus Sentence Structure Conventions

What it means: discuss a nClearly addresses the writing nIncludes sentence nContains some errors

character and events in the story task. variety. in the conventions of

provided in the test booklet. nDemonstrates a clear understanding English language (grammar,

Response to Literature Writing: of purpose and audience. punctuation, capitalization,

nDevelops interpretations that nMaintains a consistent point of spelling). These errors do not

demonstrate a thoughtful, view, focus, and organizational interfere with the reader’s

comprehensive grasp of the text. structure, including the effective understanding of the writing.

nOrganizes accurate and use of transitions.

coherent interpretations around nIncludes a clearly presented

clear ideas, premises, or images central idea with relevant facts,

from the literary work. details, and/or explanations.

nProvides specific textual

examples and details to

support the interpretations.

How to gain clear

understanding: underline the words in the directions that tell what you should be writing about; underline the important words in the

source document (the story they give you); use the extra space they give you to write down some ideas, then number

those ideas in the order you will present them; draw the appropriate graphic organizer.

What is consistent

point of view? If you begin a story which tells about something that happened to you (an imaginary story or narrative), talk about “I”;

include your friend or member of your family as “he” or “she.” Always say “who” for people and “that” or “which” for

animals and things. Say: “to him” or “for them” or “with her” or “by whom” or “from me” or “to us” (Come

with me. It’s a present for her.) Never use “you” in your narrative or in your summary or in your response to literature.

Only use first person in a narrative (I was there. It happened to me.) and third person (as appropriate to your story): he,

she, it, they, who, him, her, them, whom. Do not talk about “you” in any of the STAR writings unless you are writing as if

are trying to persuade fellow-students. (Prompt: “You wish to involve students in a campus campaign to remove and keep

the areas clean of trash.” Sample response: “Fellow students, are you disgusted by what you see when you look out the

windows at trash blowing across the yard? We can do something about this if we work together.”) If you tell about a person

or animal in a response to literature or summary, do not use “I” or “you.” Talk about “he” or “she” or “they” or “that” or

“which” or “who,” and so on, but never say anything about yourself or about the reader (you) in these writings.

Also, do not use “and so on” (even though I used it in the line above) or “etc.” or “etcetera.” When you are finished writing

all you need to include, just stop. Don’t let the reader expect more which you have decided not to mention (that is what the

term “etc.” implies).

Play it safe with verb tenses in a story—write in the past tense. “I rode to school on the city bus as I usually do. As I

walked around the corner of the eighth-grade wing, I realized something unusual was going on—there was no one in the yard at 15 minutes before the bell was supposed to ring. Glancing up, I saw a large silver disk hovering a foot above the ground in the field where my class usually plays soccer.”

Andrew Pudewa’s Institute for Excellence in Writing program presents a list of ideas for developing sentence-variety.

If you have been practicing these “rules”--begin sentence with –ing word (Glancing up, I saw…), begin sentence

with prepositional phrase (On the lawn hovered a silver disk.), begin sentence with “when” or “while” or “since” or

“therefore,” use a “who or which” clause (The principal, who usually visited each room throughout the school day, failed to

make an appearance.), write one very short sentence in each paragraph--, then you will easily and naturally fulfill the

“includes a variety of sentence types” or “includes sentence variety” requirement.

How can I check

for errors? If you can, leave enough time to read your finished writing twice: once from beginning to end to test if everything makes

sense and is in order with no off-the-subject ideas (if so, draw a line through them to delete); next read the last sentence at the end, then the next to the last sentence, then the third from the last sentence, and so on all the way up to the first sentence. While you read from the bottom up, look for: missing words, misspelled words, errors in punctuation, errors in verb tense, sentences that aren’t written the way you intended them, incomplete sentences. Could you change a verb or add a quality describing word (adverb or adjective) to help your reader gain a better understanding of your experience through the five senses? Try reading from the bottom up with some of your writings at home. You see from a new perspective when you read from the last sentence to the first.

It goes without saying, but I am going to say it anyway: be neat; write legibly; erase thoroughly or draw a line through what you want to delete (no scribbling or digging into the paper).

One final note: It is possible that your prompt (what they are asking you to write about) includes being in a school setting. That can’t apply to me, you might say, because I am in a homeschool, not a classroom school. The people who write the tests and grade or evaluate the tests are only thinking of the classroom school, so you must think and imagine what a classroom school setting would be, and you must pretend to be in that type of school. Once you imagine that, write from your imagination.

I wish you well. If I have not answered a question you have on this topic, you are welcome to email me at MrsCSilva@gmail.com. In order to avoid having your message end up in SPAM, please write: STAR test question in the SUBJECT line.

Mrs. Cher Silva,

Tutor and HQT English Instructor

Instructor for “Fast Track Institute for Excellence in Writing” classes