The task
Students were asked to write a murder mystery. This sample of student
work is a two-page excerpt from a thirteen-page short story.
| 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
Literature: The student produces work in
at least one literary genre that follows the conventions of the genre.
The work follows the conventions of a short story murder mystery
using sequencing, suspense, and rising action to engage and hold reader
interest. The student organized the events of the story—the murder,
the middle of the night call to the detective, and the examination of
the murder scene—to imitate storylines commonly used in professionally-written
murder mysteries.
The work is organized around the passage of time which is visually indicated by the use of three asterisks between portions of the short story. The initial murder scene is printed in italics which also separates it from the rest of the text of the short story.
The violent action in the opening scene of the first person narrative is reminiscent of the traditional private eye detective stories. The characterization of the detective as a brash, male “lone wolf” has been given a new slant with a female as the protagonist. The street language and truncated sentences further demonstrate a knowledge of the conventions of this genre.
The student’s selection of sentence structures and vocabulary reflects and develops the characters and the situations. This is particularly apparent in the dialogues. For example, the victim’s conversation with her cat can be contrasted to the sharp, urgent conversation between the detectives in the second section.
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This work incorporates many
of the elements of a short story. It is concise, focuses mainly
on one character and event, and moves chronologically. It also has
many of the elements of the detective story. It has the introduction
to the characters via the middle of the night phone call, the detective/
protagonist and side-kick, and, of course, the murder.
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a
Conventions, Grammar, and Usage of the
English Language: The student independently and habitually demonstrates
an understanding of the rules of the English language in written or
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.
In almost error free writing, the student demonstrated an understanding of the rules of the English Language. Noteworthy in this excerpt are the student’s consistent use of correct quotation punctuation, ellipses, and paragraphing.
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