Writing about Literature

This is the area that I have the most experience, from AP English through college. Jago's section on grading rubrics was helpful for me as a teacher to be sure that I am fair and equal in my grading, but also that I should appreciate creativity.

The most helpful section of this chapter however was getting students to deconstruct quotations from literature. Using quotations can be difficult to master, and I know that I am still working on this. The worksheet that outlines the quote, What I think, What this says about the book, and What this says about the world, is a great prompt that would get the student to think about the bigger picture.

The five step deconstruction of the quote also helps the student write about the quote. Every student has gone through a phase where simply putting a quote in your essay counted as evidence because that's what the teacher asked them to do. The five step process is a sure fire way to get students to show how the quote provides evidence for a thesis. Doing this would also help the students realize if the quote really does support their argument. I appreciate how this process really focuses on word choice and how words provoke connotations, symbolism, irony, etc. Reading this may help me in my own writing, and I hope that I can pass this on to students.