This document provides instructions for a writing assignment asking students to write a persuasive essay describing how a person has risen above difficult beginnings using examples from various sources. Students are to brainstorm ideas, create an outline, and write a rough draft in class. The final draft must be typed on the provided paper and cannot exceed two sides. It will be evaluated using a rubric. The essay should include an introduction with an attention grabber, background information, and three-point thesis statement. The body should have three paragraphs each with a topic sentence, three supporting examples, and a concluding sentence corresponding to the thesis points. The conclusion should reword the thesis, summarize main ideas, and provide a new insight. Students are to follow a writer

1. Honors English 2 Writing Sample:
Rising Above
Essay Topic: Describe a situation where a person has risen above difficult beginnings. Use
evidence from literature, movies, pop culture, and sports.
Procedure: On a separate piece of paper, brainstorm for ideas and create some kind of web,
outline, and/or map that will help you organize your ideas concerning the essay topic. From this
organizational structure, compose a rough draft of your persuasive essay.
When you have completed the rough draft, edit your paper for spelling, grammar, punctuation,
and capitalization—please use the dictionaries and thesauri in the room! Use the checklist on the
back of this page to check your rough draft. All of the writing for this assignment must be
completed in class.
 You should have already done the procedure in class so please
attach that to this assignment
Your final draft will be written on the paper provided by your teacher. You will write on both
sides of the paper, but you cannot go beyond the two sides! One thing to know about my class is
when you go above and beyond you get points for that. You will type your paper.
Evaluation: Your final draft will be scored using the AIMS Rubric. (I will provide you with a
copy of this rubric to keep.) Be sure you have all of the following elements in your essay in
order to score at least a “MEETS the standards” which would be an average score of 3.5 on the
rubric.
INTRODUCTION: (1ST paragraph) (6pts.)
 Attention Grabber (This is the first part of your essay—the part that “hooks” your reader
or grabs her attention and makes her want to read more. It should probably be more than just
one sentence.)
 2-3 sentences that transition your reader from your attention grabber to the thesis
statement (This would be some background information about the topic.)
 Thesis Statement (This should be the last sentence of your first paragraph. It needs to
clearly identify the main idea/opinion of your essay and contain 3 points in parallel
structure.)
BODY: (2nd, 3rd, & 4th paragraphs)—each paragraph should contain the following:
(15pts.)
 Topic Sentence that clearly identifies the main idea of the paragraph. (This needs to be
the FIRST sentence of each body paragraph! Your three topic sentences need to correspond
to the three points in your thesis statement!)
 At least three relevant examples that support this main idea of this paragraph. (facts,
statistics, examples, anecdotes)
 Concluding Sentence (or clincher) that sums up the main idea of this paragraph.
CONCLUSION: (5th paragraph)(3pts.)
 A reworded thesis statement (DO NOT use the exact same thesis statement! RE-
WORD IT!)
 A summary of your main ideas (This is basically reworded topic sentences.)

2.  A new insight (something you have not addressed in the body of your paper)
WRITER'S CHECKLIST(11pts.)
 Follow the checklist as you are writing your paper
 Is my paper written for a specific audience and purpose?
 Does my paper have a strong controlling (central) idea? (THESIS STATEMENT!)
 Does my paper have relevant and specific details, examples, reasons, or evidence?
 Does my paper stay on topic?
 Is my paper well organized and complete?
 Does my paper have an effective beginning, middle, and end?
 Is my paper written in a logical order with a clear progression of ideas?
 Does my paper flow smoothly?
 Does my paper contain words that help make it interesting?
 Does my paper contain clear and varied sentences and effective paragraphing?
 Is my paper free of grammar/usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling errors?
If you cannot answer yes to all of the above questions, then you need to do some more
editing of your paper. Be sure to read your paper silently aloud in your head!
AIMS Rubric:(6pts.
Follow this rubric as you are writing your paper
 well-developed ideas
 good organization
 a voice appropriate to the audience and purpose
 carefully selected words
 varied and fluid sentence structure
 conventions (spelling, punctuation, capitalization, etc.)
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