The task
Students were asked to write an opinion piece for the school newspaper
on the latest welfare reform bill passed by Congress.
| 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
Public Documents: The student produces public documents, in which the
student:
• exhibits an awareness of the importance of precise word choice
and the power of imagery and/or anecdote;
• utilizes and recognizes the power of logical arguments, arguments
based on appealing to a reader’s emotions, and arguments dependent
upon the writer’s persona;
• uses arguments that are appropriate in terms of the knowledge,
values, and degree of understanding of the intended audience;
• uses a range of strategies to appeal to readers.
The title of the paper and the introduction given in the first paragraph engage the reader, especially since this is a human interest topic regularly in the news. The persona is initially that of a serious, reasonable individual willing to investigate and address opposing viewpoints.
The student exhibited
an awareness of the importance of precise word choice choosing such words
as “cheating,” “tough,” and “succumbed,”
each of which has powerful connotations around issues of welfare and leadership.
The student chose
examples of possible outcomes which create for the reader an image that
the welfare reform bill is primarily to improve the lives of the children
of parents on welfare.
These examples
demonstrate the student’s use of arguments based on appealing to
the reader’s emotions.
The second paragraph
provides a clear description of the welfare bill in terms of the assumed
knowledge and level of understanding of the intended audience.
Although the tone in the second paragraph is objective, the student made
use of this context to influence the reader. The student peppers the factual
information with emotive phrases that may subliminally sway the reader.
The use of contractions gives the article a conversational tone which
is appropriate for the context and invites confidence from the intended
audience.
There are a few errors of sentence structure (e.g., the second sentence), spelling (e.g., “has” instead of “as” in the last sentence of the second paragraph), and punctuation (e.g., the misuse of commas in the second last sentence in the third paragraph). These errors do not detract from the overall quality of the work.
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