Please follow the instructions and the rubric very carefully 

ENG 510 Module Three Journal Guidelines and Rubric

Overview: Journal activities in this course are private between you and the instructor. A course journal is generally made up of many individual assignments.

The journals in this course will help to prepare you for the final project, the writer’s toolkit. In this final project, you will select creative writing styles and
techniques that you believe will be most effective in both expressing your goals as a writer and reaching the audiences you plan to target in your work.

Prompt: Whether it is a work of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or drama (onstage or on screen), many writers approach storytelling by thinking about premise. No
matter where your story begins on the page, you should ask yourself the question of “Why now?” Essentially: What “new” situation is the character in that
makes a story worth telling? Typically, this is related to the concept of a moment of change or crisis. Your task in this journal is to compose a short story,
nonfiction essay (or part of one), poem, or excerpt from a screenplay depicting the moment a character’s “regular” life is changed or disrupted by a crisis. In a
follow-up explanation of two to four sentences, you should articulate why this crisis moment or change is particularly disruptive to your chosen character.

Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:

I. Creative Work
A. Craft a short story, piece of nonfiction, poem, or screenplay excerpt in any subgenre that depicts the moment a character’s life changes or is

disrupted by a crisis.
II. Explanation

A. Write two to four sentences explaining the connection between the “crisis” moment of change and how or why it impacts the character you
have created.

Rubric

Guidelines for Submission: Submit the journal assignment as a Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins.

Your journal assignment should be 10 to 50 lines for poetry, 500 to 1000 words for fiction/nonfiction, or 2 to 4 pages of screenwriting.

Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (90%) Needs Improvement (70%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Creative Work Meets “Proficient” criteria and

provides exceptional detail in
depicting the crisis and its
impact on the character

Crafts a short story, piece of
nonfiction, poem, or screenplay
excerpt in which the character’s
life is changed or disrupted by a
crisis

Crafts a short story, piece of
nonfiction, poem, or screenplay
excerpt but creative work lacks
a character whose life is
changed or disrupted by a crisis

Does not craft a short story,
piece of nonfiction, poem, or
screenplay excerpt

45

Critical Elements Exemplary (100%) Proficient (90%) Needs Improvement (70%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Explanation Meets “Proficient” criteria and

provides exceptional detail in
explaining the connection
between the crisis and the
character, and uses detail from
the creative work to support
explanation

Explains the connection
between the moment of change
and how it impacts the
character

Explains the connection
between the moment of change
and how it impacts the
character, but explanation is
unclear, incomplete, or lacks
support

Does not explain the connection
between the moment of change
and how it impacts the
character

45

Articulation of
Response

Entry is free of errors in
organization and grammar

Entry is mostly free of errors of
organization and grammar;
errors are marginal and rarely
interrupt the flow

Entry contains errors of
organization and grammar, but
errors are limited enough so
that entry can be understood

Entry contains errors of
organization and grammar
making the entry difficult to
understand

10

Total 100%