“Morrie” Project Requirements

I. Format:

The paper must be typed. MLA is not required for this assignment. You can be creative and try to format the final product so that it resembles a book with parts broken into chapters with titles. Vignettes need to be written in present tense and in italics.

II. Title Page:

This page should resemble a book cover and contain the title and your name. You may be creative with graphics, photos, collages, or colors.

III. Second Page:

This should contain either a dedication or acknowledgements; you may do both if you like.

IV. Back of the Cover:

Place this so that is the back of your book cover. You may list a series of blurbs from people who have read the draft (maybe peer response groups). Be sure that you identify each person. You may also make up your own fictitious blurbs:

Example: “A beautifully written book of great clarity and wisdom that

captures all of life’s complexities.”

--M. Scott Peck, M.D., Author of The Road Less Traveled.

Or you may give a brief biographical sketch of you, the author.

Or you may do both—blurbs and a bio.

V. Optional:

If you would like to include a photo or photos of the person, you may.

(The photo would be a nice touch.)

Rubric for Final Draft of “Morrie” Project

Student Name: ______________________

Final Score: _______

A= 90-100%: The project excels in meeting all the criteria for the assignment: vignettes are written in present tense and focus on important and early events with the person; the significance of the person is clear; the description of the person allows the reader to visualize him or her; the setting contains specific details; the constant object or one that is associated with the person is clear; the reader gets an excellent view of the person’s past and perfect day; dialogue and quotes from the person have voice; event from the news adds to the piece; reader easily grasps the lesson that student earned from the person; fitting quote concludes the piece effectively; sentences are varied and constructed effectively; word choice is fresh and appropriate; format and technical aspects of the project excel.

B= 80-89%: The project meets most of the criteria for the assignment: vignettes may not be as focused and may not be consistent in present tense; significance of the person is adequate; description of the person and setting may not be as specific as possible; constant object or object associated with person may not be repeated enough; reader may get a more generalized view of the person’s past or perfect day; the piece could contain more dialogue and quotes; event from the year may be a fluid part of the piece; reader may get a more generalized view of the lesson that the person taught the student; fitting quote concludes the piece adequately; sentences may have repetitive sentence structure; format and technical aspects of the project are adequate.

C= 70-79%: The project does not meet the majority of the criteria for the assignment: vignettes may not be focused and aren’t in present tense; significance of the person is unclear; description of the person and setting is generalized; object is missing or not obvious to the reader; person’s past and perfect day may be too brief; very little dialogue and quotes; event may be missing or doesn’t fit the pieces; lesson learned isn’t specific or not elaborated; quote may be missing from the ending; sentences contain fragments, fused sentences, comma splices, subject-verb agreement, and awkward constructions; clichés and slang do not fit the piece; many aspects of the format are not followed.

D= 60-69%: The project does not meet the main criteria for the assignment. Many aspects of the assignment are missing or done incorrectly.

F= 0-59%: Partial completion of assignments or failure to turn in final draft.

Chris Sutterfield

Tuesdays with Morrie

Junior English III

Tuesdays with Morrie: Writing the Rough Draft

Now that we have almost finished reading the memoir and taking notes, it is time to start the rough draft. These are the following requirements:

1. Begin with a vignette. It should be similar to the first one that you wrote. Use present tense and write about an important event or situation that took place you and your Morrie. Example: Mitch wrote about his graduation from college when he introduced his parents to Morrie.

2. Introduction of the person and his or her influence or importance to you. This should be brief since you will be discussing this in the conclusion.

3. Description of the person, the setting where you often interacted with him or her, the object what was always there or one that you associate with the person.

4. The person’s description of his or her perfect day.

5. Person’s past—this could be in the form of a story. Person’s present—career, family, hobbies, etc. Include dialogue from meaningful question.

6. 2^nd vignette. Use Present Tense. This should be about the first or early meeting with your Morrie. Example: Mitch used his first day of Morrie’s class.

7. What you learned from the person or the lesson in life that he or she taught you. What you accomplished with the person’s help. Include a quote from the person or his or her favorite quote.

8. Elaborated significance of the person or his or her influence on you.

9. A quote from you that is fitting for the person.

10. Include an event from this year that has happened in the news somewhere in your draft.

**See Syllabus for Rough Draft Due Date. Type the rough draft and bring 4 copies to class.