Susan Ramsey

Writing Assignment Design

Dear Dr. Hartman,

This assignment challenged me in ways I have not been challenged for a long time. I was very
good at creating detailed lesson plans as an undergraduate and for my first few years as a
newbie to the classroom. As a teacher in some capacity for the past 26 years, however, I
have become somewhat lax in writing out formal lesson plans and have become reliant on my
years of teaching experience to guide me. While this has served me fairly well for some time, I
believe that going through this process again has opened my eyes to some areas of my planning
that may be lacking. I will admit, after going through the module on the WAD Design work and
watching the video on Backwards Design, that I can look back in my minds eye on assignments
that did not go as well as I had planned and the assessment did not work with what had been
taught. This very well could have been because I came at it from a forwards view rather than
setting my goals out concretely at the beginning. So, again, I am grateful for the challenge to
refocus some of my thinking as a teacher.

In regard to this assignment specifically, I am looking forward to working through this

assignment in my classroom. I have eight students in this class and I think the workshop
environment will work well with this particular mixture and level of students. A couple of
questions I had while thinking through this process, though.
1. I am modeling an outline process with them first. Should I do double-entry journal
instead of an outline? Would that lend itself to this assignment in a more effective way?
2. In modeling the actual writing of a Chreia, I was going to work through four paragraphs
each day and then have them work on their own. I am wondering if I should break that
down more, i.e. model one paragraph at a time and then have them write.
3. On top of my modeling of the assignment, would it be good to give them yet another
example of a Chreia essay in written form for them to have as they write?
4. Is my walking around and checking on them as they write enough of a workshop
criteria, combined with the peer review/feedback portion?
5. I had thought of pairing them with each other to write the essays instead of having
them do it individually, but decided against that. Now I am second guessing.
6. I also thought of giving them Peter Elbows suggestions for feedback, but was wondering
if that would work for this grade level.
These are a lot of questions, I know. If you can just give me feedback on one or two of these,
that would help me. I have loved so many of the ideas and thoughts that have been presented
in this course, but I am afraid to try too much at once, partly perhaps because I am used to the
status quo, but partly perhaps because it seems overwhelming at this point. I am so open to
the change, though, and am excited to share my newfound learning with my students.
WRITING ASSIGNMENT DESIGN Phase I

Overview:
The Chreia is the third stage of writing in the Progymnasmata, a series of 14 rhetorical exercises
that originated in ancient Greek and Roman cultures. These exercises can be used in modern
classrooms to help students work systematically through a progression of writing/speaking
exercises from the classical rhetorical tradition in order to enhance their own writing and
speech. If the student has already worked through the first two stages of the Progymnasmata,
Fable and Narrative, the Chreia builds on these. In isolation, the Chreia is taught to introduce
students to the significance of a certain short, wise, or pithy statement and to help them
analyze the statement by way of developing an eight-paragraph essay called the Chreia.

Many times, writing an effective Chreia requires a student to be familiar with the author of the
statement on which they are expounding. While there are a plethora of available statements
that a Chreia could be used to analyze, many of which come from famous and important
individuals in society throughout the decades or even centuries, the particular Chreia I will be
assigning will draw from a statement by a fictional character, Screwtape, within C.S. Lewiss
book The Screwtape Letters. In this way, they will be pulling from knowledge of the text that
we are reading in class as a way to further synthesize the information we have already been
working through and discussing.

Context:
This lesson will be taught to my 9th/10th grade Language Arts class over the period of a week
(four class periods) with the final product being submitted on the fifth class day. The statement
they will be analyzing will be one by Screwtape in Letter 10 of The Screwtape Letters. In this
letter, his advice to his nephew, Wormwood, is this: All mortals tend to turn into the thing
they are pretending to be. Because we are about one-third of the way through the book at
this point, the students already have a good understanding through their reading, study
questions, and in-class discussion of Screwtape and his methods/intentions. They will also have
been given information and had discussions about C.S. Lewis as an author and his rationale for
writing this particular book. Beyond that, I will be giving them a firm understanding of the
format of the Chreia overall and its eight-part format and components. My goal is to allow
students to work on this assignment through a workshop format during class.

Goals/Objectives:
1. Describe what a short, wise, or pithy saying is and give examples.
2. Discuss the importance and usefulness of such sayings and how they might impact our
lives.
3. Describe the purpose of a Chreia and identify its eight component parts.
4. Discuss the importance of specific sayings within the context of The Screwtape Letters.
5. Outline ideas for eight specific paragraph formats.
6. Compose an eight-paragraph Chreia explaining and analyzing the statement All mortals
tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be.
7. Develop writing through planning, drafting, revising, and publishing in a workshop
format.
8. Review peers writing by providing constructive feedback on writing drafts.
9. Show understanding of MLA format.

Writing Assignment Design:

DAY ONE ~ Introduction to the Chreia & Planning

1. Students will look up Chreia and discuss the definition and/or overall idea of a Chreia
and its purpose.
2. Students will take notes on the format of the Chreia. These notes will include the
purpose of a Chreia as a whole and specifically on the types and function of each of the
eight Chreia paragraphs: Panegyric, Paraphrastic, From the Cause, From the Contrary,
Analogy, Example, Testimony, and Epilogue.
3. Teacher will model the writing process for a Chreia using the well-known statement We
are what we repeatedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit by Aristotle.
TODAYS MODELING:
a. As a background to the author, discuss with the class some facts on Aristotle.
b. Model the creation of an eight-part outline following the Chreia format.
4. Hand out detailed Chreia assignment/rubric to students and briefly read through with
them (SEE ATTACHMENT A below).
5. Discuss the assigned saying in context of The Screwtape Letters.
6. Have students work with a partner to make a list of background information on
Screwtape and the context of this saying to further review/reinforce their background
knowledge.
7. Have students work on producing an outline individually in class for their own assigned
Chreia saying. Teacher will walk around, monitor student progress, and provide
feedback as necessary.

DAY TWO ~ Drafting

1. Review information from Day One.

2. TODAYS MODELING: Work through first four paragraphs of the Chreia with Aristotles
saying.
3. Give students class time to use their background information, notes/questions from
teacher modeling, and Chreia format notes to create a draft of the first four paragraphs
of their Chreia essay. Teacher will walk around, monitor student progress, and provide
feedback as necessary.
DAY THREE ~ Drafting

1. TODAYS MODELING: Work through the last four paragraphs of the Chreia with
Aristotles saying.
2. Give students class time to use their background information, notes/questions from
teacher modeling, and Chreia format notes to create a draft of the last four paragraphs
of their Chreia essay. Teacher will walk around, monitor student progress, and provide
feedback as necessary.

DAY FOUR ~ Peer Review/Feedback & Revision

1. Students will swap their drafts with each other and provide constructive feedback on
their peers essay. A handout on the requirements/expectations for this feedback will
be provided to the students (SEE ATTACHMENT B below). Once students have finished
their peer feedback, students will return drafts to their owners, who will be given time
to read the comments and ask clarifying questions.
2. Give students class time to revise their essays based on peer review.

DAY FIVE ~ Publishing

FINAL DRAFT DUE

Assessment:

My rubric is combined with my assignment parameters handout (See ATTACHMENT A below).

 ATTACHMENT A Assignment Handout/Rubric
WRITING A CHREIA

ASSIGNMENT: Using your class notes, your knowledge from in-class discussion, and the text
of The Screwtape Letters as a source, write a Chreia on Screwtapes advice in Letter 10: All
mortals tend to turn into the thing they are pretending to be. For several paragraphs of this
essay, you may need to do some additional research.

GRADING/RUBRIC:

I. PLANNING:

________/15 Outline sets essay up with preliminary thoughts and ideas.

II. CONTENT:

________/7 Paragraph One Panegyric (4-5 sentences)

Discuss the person who uttered the wise saying.

________/7 Paragraph Two Paraphrastic (3-4 sentences)

Put the saying into your own words.

________/7 Paragraph Three From the Cause (4 or more sentences)

Explain the motivation of the speaker.

________/7 Paragraph Four From the Contrary (4 or more sentences)

Explain the consequences if the opposite of the saying had occurred.

________/7 Paragraph Five Analogy (4-5 sentences)

Liken the saying to something else.

________/7 Paragraph Six Example (3 or more sentences)

Point the reader to a specific instance in which the saying was demonstrated.

________/7 Paragraph Seven Testimony (3 or more sentences)

Quote a famous person, past or present, who testifies to the truth of this
saying.

________/7 Paragraph Eight Epilogue (4 or more sentences)

Summarize your previous paragraphs/conclude.
ATTACHMENT A Page Two

FORMAT/STYLE:

________/10 Essay has good flow and organization of thoughts.

Good transition between paragraphs.

________/10 Essay uses strong verbs and descriptive adjectives where necessary.
Essay shows good mastery of correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.

________/9 Essay shows mastery of MLA format.

________/100 TOTAL
 ATTACHMENT B
PEER REVIEW REQUIREMENTS/FEEDBACK CRITERIA

GENERAL RULES FOR PEER REVIEW:

1. Take your role in reviewing your peers work seriously.
2. You may give positive comments and critical comments, but negative comments must
be constructive in nature, i.e. tell the writer how the writing could be made better or
improved for you as a reader.
3. Feel free to ask questions of your peers writing where you may be confused or need
additional information.
4. Make your comments as specific as possible so that your peer may have intentional
ways to improve the essay.
5. Do not give a comment without telling why. For example, instead of saying, I do not
like this part, try saying something like I think that this sentence/portion of your essay
does not follow your thesis, etc.
6. Do not correct your peers grammar, punctuation, or spelling. Your feedback needs to
relate to the content of the essay itself.

SPECIFIC STEPS:
1. Read through the essay once without making any comments and to get a feel for your
peers essay.
2. Re-read the essay a second time with the object of making comments or notes.
3. Give your peer at least five comments or questions on the positive aspects of their
writing as well as anything you find confusing or lacking.

SAMPLE QUESTIONS TO ASK AS YOU READ (this is only a list of examples not meant to be
exhaustive):

1. What is the writers purpose? Does their essay convey that purpose all the way
through?
2. Identify any places where the writers ideas are unclear. How could the writer clarify
these points?
3. Where would you like the writer to have provided more information?
4. Was there something that you could relate to as a reader? A point that helped you
understand or learn something new?
5. Is the essay easy to read? If not, how and where could it have flowed better?
6. What are some strengths of the essay? Weaknesses?