PLEASE PLACE THIS PAGE IN THE WRITING SECTION OF YOUR NOTEBOOK.

Instructions for Completing Honors English 10 Writing Sample

Description:
Your first essay assignment as an Honors English 10 student will help me to identify your strengths and
weaknesses as a writer. It will serve as a sample of the best writing you are capable of doing at this time. This
means that you should put forth strong effort on this assignment in order to compose a quality response. Dont
forget to revise; your work must represent more than just a typed rough draft of ideas.
As a student electing to enroll in Honors English, I expect excellent writing from youin content and in form.
Your ideas should reflect depth of thought, and your paper should be neat and free of error. I look forward to
reading your words.

Details:
* Please follow all MLA 8 formatting guidelines in preparing your work. Points will be deducted for errors.
* All papers must be typed.
* Create an original, interesting title for this essay.
* Your essay will consist of two paragraphs. Each paragraph should begin with a strong topic sentence and end
with a compelling concluding sentence. Details about content appear below.
* Keep in mind that thorough and thoughtful work is expected.
* I statements (I think, I feel) are inappropriate for this essay. Rather than writing, I believe the authors
intention was, just state, The authors intention was. This will strengthen your work.

Evaluation:
* This assignment is worth 20 points and will be graded holistically. Overall, your work will be considered
Outstanding, Very Good, Good, or Acceptable.
* Outstanding papers will earn 20 points (A+)
* Very Good papers will earn 18 or 19 points (A)
* Good work will earn 16 or 17 points (B)
* Acceptable work will earn 14 or 15 points (C)
* Work which is considered unacceptable will be returned to be redone.
* This assignment is due at the beginning of the period on ______________________________________ .
If you are in school at any time on the due date, your work must be submitted.
No late work, except in the case of all day absence, will be accepted.

Essay topic:
Authors write for several reasons. Some write to entertain people and make them laugh. They may also write
to persuade or convince the audience to believe something. Writers also write to inform or teach readers about
a topic. When we read, it is important to understand why a piece was written. While it is true that Things Fall
Apart and A Long Way Gone include elements of entertainment and persuasion, both Chinua Achebe and
Ishmael Beah wrote mainly to inform their readers. For this essay, please explore authors purpose including
examples from the books to support your conclusions.
Why did Achebe and Beah write their books? Why did they tell these specific stories?
Please discuss ideas related to Chinua Achebe and Things Fall Apart in one paragraph, and Ishmael Beah and A
Long Way Gone in another one. You may write about the books in either order.