Gomez 1

Chris Gomez
English 101
Joan Robinson
18 September 2016
The summer school class that changed my life

High school was never that hard for me, I was just really, lazy which
was why I ended up in a summer school class after my junior year. That class
just happened to be English. In that English class I learned way more about
literature and how to write better than the past three years of high school.
The first thing I noticed was that there was a lot of people form
Coronado Hhigh Sschool, which was the school I went to. The class was at
Liberty high school and it started at seven in the morning and it ended at
one in the afternoon. I forgot my teachers name but he was a cool guy. I
remember he liked Star Wars a lot and loved to play video games. One of my
good friends was in that class with me, his name is Nick Bruno. I didnt even
know he was taking a summer school class until I saw him there. I still
remember my first assignment in that class. I had to write an essay about
someone I didnt know in that class, so obviously I had to meet that other
person that I got paired up with. I first wrote down over twenty-five questions
that I would like to know about this other person. Her name was Paulina and
she was from Russia. It was kind of hard to understand her sometimes, but
we made it work. I also learned a little Russian speaking to her all the time
and getting to know her. Nick, Paulina and I became really good friends
because we all sat in the back row so we talked a lot.

Gomez 2

In that class we wrote many essays, poems, short stories, and many
other forms of literature. Our warmup everyday was to write at least half a
page on one certain topic. Then we would practice grammar and
punctuation. We would learn things like, how to properly form a sentence and
where to use the correct punctuation. We would then move on to some sort
of reading. We would read short stories, books, plays, and even comics. We
read plays like The Crucible and a couple others. I also got to read poems
and stories by Edgar Allen Poe. I remember reading Tthe Raven, that was a
really weird and creepy poem, but I liked it. Those stories were very
interesting to me for some reason. After doing all that stuff, we would have
to do some type of writing. The things we would write were based on what
we learned that day. For example, if we read poems that day, we had to
create our own poems using correct punctuation. We usually had at least a
couple hours to finish that assignment. Because of that class I felt like my
writing was improving drastically.
I ended up passing that class with an A, and it was probably one of the
most fun classes I have taken because everyone there got along. Although
the class was a pain, it was worth going to it because I wouldnt have passed
high school without it. I thought I was going to hate having one class for six
hours but it turned out to be really fun and it actually taught me a lot. I also
learned so much that would help me later in school and life.
Once I got into my senior year of high school, English was my best
class. I honestly didnt even have try hard to understand what the teacher

Gomez 3

was talking about. I am glad I took that class. Knowledge really is power
because with this new knowledge I was now in control. Not only did it help in
my English class, but in Government, math word problems in, and every
other class as well.

ENG 101 Project 1: Literacy Narrative Rubric

Assignmen
t
Requireme
nts

Creativity

A
Exceeds
requirements for
the assignment.
Clearly addresses
the prompt by
telling a story
about your
literacy. Includes
reflection and
analysis of your
experiences,
which attributes
an overall
meaning or
lesson to the
narrative.
Includes
characterization,
setting,
descriptive
language, dialog,
conflict and
resolution, and
other elements
of good
storytelling.
Makes an effort
to make the story
entertaining as
well as
instructive.

B
Meets all
requirements
for the
assignment
including
appropriate
topic,
narrative
structure and
page/word
length.

C
Essay is a
Literacy
Narrative but
does not
meet the
length
requirement.

D
Essay makes
some
connection
to literacy,
but the
connection
is slight and
the essay is
too short.

F
Essay is off
topic.

Utilizes
characterizati
on,
descriptive
language,
dialog,
conflict and
resolution,
but
occasionally
lapses into
clich.

Makes some
attempt at
creative
storytelling, but
the effort is
clichd or
inappropriate
for the topic.

Little
evidence of
creativity.
The
presentation
of the story
generic and
impersonal.

The author
does not
make any
attempt to
engage the
reader and
make the
story
interesting.

Gomez 4
Rhetorical
Strategies

Organizatio
n

Academic
Correctnes
s

Addresses
audience,
purpose, and
voice with
expertise
through the
savvy use of
rhetorical
strategies.
Engages
audience with
vibrant details
and storytelling.
Includes a strong
thesis statement.
Uses a strong
narrative
structure. One
idea or scene
follows another
in a logical
sequence with
strong
transitions.
Contains almost
no errors in
grammar,
spelling, or
mechanics.
Format is
extremely
polished and
professional. Title
is creative,
sparks interest
and is related to
the story and
topic. Paper is
correctly
formatted for
MLA Style.

Has a good
grasp of the
interests of
the audience
and engages
them but
may veer into
abstraction in
one place.
Includes a
thesis
statement.

Makes an
attempt to
address the
interests and
feelings of the
audience but it
is not always
clear what the
author intends.
Includes a thesis
statement.

Makes a
slight
attempt to
address and
audience,
but it is
unclear what
the author
means to
convey.
Includes a
partial thesis
statement.

Missing
thesis
statement
or lesson
at the end
of the essay
or the
lesson does
not fit the
story. No
attempt to
engage the
audience.

Essay has a
solid
narrative
structure but
the
transitions
sometimes
draw
attention to
themselves.
Contains a
few minor
errors in
grammar,
spelling,
punctuation
or
mechanics.
Formatted
correctly for
MLA style.

Organization
al structure
evident for
the most
part, but the
transitions
are choppy
and
awkward.

Makes some
attempt at
structure but
sometimes
the
connections
between
events or
examples is
lost.
Errors begin
to interfere
with
meaning.
MLA style
format is
missing two
or more
elements.

Essay lacks
structure.
Reader
cannot
follow the
sequence of
events.

Contains
several
errors in
grammar,
spelling,
punctuation
or
mechanics
but they do
not interfere
with
meaning.
Formatted
correctly for
MLA with
one mistake.

Not
formatted in
MLA style.
Errors make
reading
nearly
impossible.

I really like the idea for this topic, and you have some good details, but the
whole essay needs some more expansion and development. Do a better job of
setting the scene. Why are the two high schools you mention important? Are they

Gomez 5
rivals? Maybe describe the kids in class the first day and their attitudes and how
they changed. Also, you could set up a bit more contrast between this class and the
previous English classes you took that did not hold your interest. A good draft, but
not quite a final copy. C 75