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Work Sample & Commentary: Survival

The task
During a unit on how people have triumphed over difficult circumstances, students read a number of books on this theme. At the end of this unit, students were asked to compare and contrast the survival experiences of the characters in four of the books.
Circumstances of performance
This sample of student work was produced under the following conditions:
alone in a group
in class as homework
with teacher feedback with peer feedback
timed opportunity for revision

What the work shows
b Reading: The student reads and comprehends at least four books (or book equivalents) about one issue or subject, or four books by a single writer, or four books in one genre, and produces evidence of reading that:
• makes and supports warranted and responsible assertions about the texts;
• supports assertions with elaborated and convincing evidence;
• draws the texts together to compare and contrast themes, characters, and ideas;
• makes perceptive and well developed connections;
• evaluates writing strategies and elements of the author’s craft.
The work demonstrates that the student read four books on the theme of survival. The student summarized each book and presented the main idea of each in a topic sentence. The information presented is concise and focused on the theme of survival.
The student identified the common theme (survival) and went on to describe what this meant for each of the protagonists.

This work sample illustrates a standard-setting performance for the following parts of the standards:
b Reading: Read in depth.
b Writing: Produce a response to literature.
a Conventions: Demonstrate a basic understanding of the rules of the English language.

The student identified the story details in each book that depict the survival theme. Clear and concise examples are given, for example, in The Cay, Philip and Timothy use specific equipment to survive.
The student designed a chart to make the point that surviving means making use of what you have and finding or making what you need.
The work connects the theme of survival among the four texts. The student made the point that some of the stories require the main character to survive alone while other books have the main character survive with a companion. The student discussed the survival strategies used by each of the characters. The student also connected the theme of survival to real life experiences.
In the final two paragraphs, the student asserted the universality of survival and its popularity as a theme in novels. The student also recognized that authors may incorporate this theme in many ways.

b Writing: The student produces a response to literature that:
• engages the reader by establishing a context, creating a persona, and otherwise developing reader interest;
• advances a judgment that is interpretive, analytic, evaluative, or reflective;
• supports judgment through references to the text, references to other works, authors, or non-print media, or references to personal knowledge;
• demonstrates an understanding of the literary work;
• provides a sense of closure to the writing.

The human interest title and the discussion about survival in the first paragraph engage the reader’s attention.
The student related the struggle for survival faced by each of the main characters in the four books read. The analysis of the survival techniques used by each of these characters makes specific references to the text.
The student connected the theme of survival among several books and asserted that this theme is frequently found in stories.
Implicit throughout the discussion of the books is the judgment that survival, despite the varying circumstances, is a difficult experience.
The student supported this judgment by discussing all the ways each of the main characters survives in the books.
The work ends with a summary of the different experiences of survival and the recognition that this is a common theme in novels.

a Conventions, Grammar, and Usage of the English Language: The student demonstrates a basic understanding of the rules of the English language in written and oral work, and selects the structures and features of language appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context of the work. The student demonstrates control of:
• grammar;
• paragraph structure;
• punctuation;
• sentence construction;
• spelling;
• usage.

The student demonstrated, through virtually error free writing, a basic understanding of the rules of the English language.
The student successfully managed a variety of sentence structures including quite complicated ones where the correct use of the comma is crucial to meaning. There is only one lapse (e.g., the first sentence under the chart on the second page).
The successful use of paragraphing keeps the discussions of the various books differentiated. This provides a clear organizing structure which helps readability.