Essay #2: Deep (Expansion) Revision
DUE: April 10th

First Draft: March 25th
20% of final grade

5-6 Pages

ESSAY OVERVIEW:

Your first essay asked you to discuss your own literacy development. This second major assignment of the
semester, asks you to use your own experiences to respond to an academic article. Just as Kim Emery
responded to Gerald Graff, you will respond to one of the articles we have looked at in class. Select one of the
academic articles about literacy and write a paper in which you respond to the thesis or main points of that
author’s argument. You may choose to agree or disagree with the thesis that the author makes or add onto or
complicate the argument in any way you see fit. Regardless, you need to use your own lived experiences to
support your argument. You also need to quote directly from the article that you are responding to.

ARTICLE OPTIONS:

• Any of the exerpts from Literacy and
Educa.on by James Paul Gee

• “Sponsors of Literacy” by Jean Anyon

• “Our Undemocratic Curriculum” by Gerald
Graff

• “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of
Work” by Jean Anyon

• “Silence and Powerlessness go Hand in
Hand” by Rebecca Solnit

Grading Criteria:

In order to do well, your essay should do the following:

• Select one of the possible articles

• Summarize the main argument that the author is making

• Decide how you will respond to that argument

• Draw from personal experience to develop and support your thesis

• Properly quote from your selected article using MLA format

• Include a proper works cited page (does not count towards page count)

• Have an imaginative and informative title

• Have a clear and logical progression of ideas and moments, including transition words and
phrases when necessary

• Be mindful of sentence style and structure (including word choice, grammar and spelling)

• Show revision and improvement from first to final draft

• Follows attached rubric

• Meet the minimum page requirement listed above (3-5 pages)

• Be completed and turned in on or before the due date (including drafts)

• Adhere to proper MLA format (double spaced, Times New Roman 12pt font, 1-inch margins,
proper page heading shown below:

Last Name # 

Student Name
 
Professor X
 
English 111
 
DATE

 
Informative and Engaging Title

 
Start first paragraph here…….

Excellent Good Needs
Improvement

Unacceptable

IDEAS (15 points)

ARTICLE SELECTION: Student selects
one article from the given list to respond
to

5 4 3 0

RESPONSE: Student has a clear thesis
that responds to the selected article

10 8 6 0

CONTENT (60 points)

SUMMARY: The essay summarizes the
thesis and main points of the selected
article

10 8 6 0

EVIDENCE: Student includes relevant
quotes and paraphrases from selected
article with proper MLA citation

15 12 9 0

ANALYSIS: Student analyzes quotes to
tie in to overall thesis of the essay

10 8 6 0

SUPPORT: Student uses experience
from their own life in order to support
their response to the selected essay

15 12 9 0

WRITING STYLE: Student is aware of
intended audience and caters writing
style to that audience. Student uses a
variety of sentence structures and styles
in a way that is engaging for the reader.

10 8 6 0

STYLE (25 points)

NAME:___________________________

REFLECTIVE NARRATIVE RUBRIC

COMMENTS:

MECHANICS: Student shows clear
evidence of proof reading and has been
thoroughly checked for spelling and
grammatical issues.

10 8 6 0

FORMAT: Student follows strict MLA
Format and meets minimum page count
requirement

15 12 9 0