| The task This student wrote a poem for Mothers’ Day to be read aloud in church. The student brought the poem to school to be included in her English Language Arts writing portfolio. Circumstances of performance This sample of student work was produced under the following conditions:
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| This work
sample illustrates a standard-setting performance for the following
part of the standards: |
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 b |
Literature: Produce work in at least one literary genre that follows the conventions of the genre. |
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What the work shows The student used free verse and figurative language to create a
poem that pays tribute to the sacrifices made by a mother for her
children. |
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the work. The poem conveys the depth of feeling that is held by
a child for a mother. The work is presented in its original handwritten form. There are some errors of spelling (e.g., “sheild” instead of “shield”) and spacing (e.g., at the bottom of the first page). However, these errors do not detract from the overall quality of the work. |
The work
effectively employs metaphors to create powerful images and evoke
strong emotions in the reader. The metaphor in the first verse compares
a mother’s breast to a soft pillow. This image of comfort and
softness evokes feelings of love, rest, and security.
The student
used words whose connotations give life and beauty to the images
described in 
The breaks
in rhyme scheme in the poem sharpen the focus of the verses and
separate the images. Rhyme is used to give the poem rhythm and to
speed up the flow of the work.