SCARAB Evaluation Essay

Welcome!

• This powerpoint will give you information and instructions about how to write your SCARAB evaluation essay.

• Make sure you read carefully through the examples.

• You can go back to any slides you need to read again.

• You should have this powerpoint up on your computer as you write your essay.

Your final essay is due:

3pm on Friday, Oct. 25th.

You will be sharing your essay with me on Google Docs. Whatever is on your Google Doc at 3pm on Friday is what I will grade. If you are absent, no problem! I

will grade whatever you have by 3:00 Friday!

Your essay:• For your essay, you will be explaining and defending

the scores you gave your article on the SCARAB rubric.

• You will only cover 4 of the 6 categories on the rubric: – You will skip Currency and Accuracy– You will write paragraphs about Substance, Authority,

Relevance, and Bias (the remaining 4 categories).– This means your essay will be 4 paragraphs long.

• For your essay, you will use CEW format. The next slide explains how CEW format applies to this essay.

Overview of how CEW applies to this essay:Claim:

– First sentence of each paragraph: I scored the essay a 2 on relevance.– Claims within each paragraph:

• I thought the essay was a 2 because…• I didn’t score the essay lower because… • I didn’t score the essay higher because…

Evidence:– Quotes from the text

• Make sure to introduce each quote with “for example,” or “the author states” or “In addition, the author mentions” or something.

– Facts from the text– Use separate pieces of evidence for each claim within your paragraph (some

for why you didn’t score it higher, some for why you didn’t score it lower)Warrant:

– Explain HOW the evidence supports your claim.– Explain even things you think are obvious.– Restate why you gave the score you gave.

Let’s talk about Claims first:

• On the next slide, you will see that you will have 3 different claims in each paragraph.

• One will be the topic sentence of your paragraph.

• The other two will be within the paragraph.

• Look at the next slide for the 3 example claims.

Claims:• Your first sentence of each paragraph will look like this:

– I scored this article a 2 for Substance because…– (Explain why this article DOES fit everything in the 2 box.)

• When you finish saying why the article fits in the 2 box, then move on to your next claim: – I didn’t score this article lower on Substance because…– (Explain why this article DOES NOT fit the things in the 0 and 1 box.)

• When you finish saying why the article is NOT a 1, then move on to your final claim: – I didn’t score this article higher Substance because…– (Explain why this article DOES NOT fit the things in the 3 box.)

Let’s look at an example paragraph.

• On the next slide, you will see an example paragraph for the “Substance” category on the SCARAB rubric. You don’t have to do a paragraph about that category, but it’s a good example anyway.

• The 3 claims are in red type. Don’t worry about reading the rest of the example paragraph yet—we’ll get there.

I scored the substance of this article a 2 because it seems to be written for a general public. For example it is written in the magazine, The American Spectator. I looked this magazine up online, and it is a general magazine. It is not a magazine specifically about science. Because the magazine is meant for a wider audience, and not just scientists, it seems like the author is speaking to normal people, or the general public. Also, the writer seems to be speaking to the general public when he writes, “It was less than fours years ago that biotech researchers told us that all they wanted…” The author seems to be addressing the reader directly, so the substance feels more personal like he is specifically talking to me. This gives the article a more informal tone and less of a professional one. That is why I scored it a 2. One reason I didn’t score the essay lower is that the author seemed to assume the reader knew a lot of background information about the topic. For example, the author mentioned “California’s Proposition 71” without really explaining what it was—he just assumed the reader would already be familiar with this proposition. He also used many scientific terms such as “IVF,” “embryonic stem cell research,” and “human somatic cell nuclear transfer” without explaining the definitions of these terms. While these are not ridiculously difficult scientific concepts, if a reader didn’t know anything about cloning, that reader would be lost. So the information is clearly not written for children, and it certainly doesn’t lack depth because the writer assumes the reader comes with some background knowledge. In addition, he also alludes to “cloning technology used to create Dolly the sheep” without explaining the reference to the reader. All these technical terms indicate that the author is assuming a certain level of understanding from the reader, which indicates at least a moderate level of depth and understanding. On the other hand, this article is certainly not written for a biologist or scientist, which is why I didn’t score it a 3. For example, the tone of the essay is quite informal. The author uses phrases like “Katie, bar the door!” along with loaded language like “lab of horrors” and “the Jihad” to indicate a strong opinion on the topic. A professional essay would be much more neutral. It is possible that one could argue it’s written at a college level because of the language mentioned above, but it is certainly not technical enough to count as being written at a professional level.

Claims: things to notice

• Each claim is pretty obvious. I actually said “I didn’t score it lower because…” etc.

• I gave a short reason in each claim (after the “because…”), but I used the sentences after each claim to explain my reason more.

• The first claim will always be why you DID score it whatever you scored it.

• The other two (why not higher, why not lower) can go in whichever order you want.

Claims:

• Wait…what if I scored my article a 0 or a 3? If I scored it a 3, how can I say why I didn’t score it higher? There is no “higher” for a 3!– Good point. If your article scored a 0 or 3 in one

of the categories, you will only have two claims instead of three claims. You’ll skip whichever one doesn’t exist.

Ready to move on?

• If you’re ready to move on to Evidence, go to the next slide.

• If you have questions about Claims, ask me now, or go back and re-read the Claim slides.

Evidence:• You will use quotes from the article as

evidence.– Make sure to introduce each quote with “for

example,” or “the author states” or “In addition, the author mentions” or something like that. Don’t just plop evidence into the paragraph

– All evidence that you take from the article must be in quotation marks “”!

• Use separate pieces of evidence for each claim within your paragraph.

Let’s look at an example:

• On the next slide, you’ll see the same paragraph you looked at before.

• The parts of the paragraph that count as evidence are in green type.

I scored the substance of this article a 2 because it seems to be written for a general public. For example it is written in the magazine, The American Spectator. I looked this magazine up online, and it is a general magazine. It is not a magazine specifically about science. Because the magazine is meant for a wider audience, and not just scientists, it seems like the author is speaking to normal people, or the general public. Also, the writer seems to be speaking to the general public when he writes, “It was less than fours years ago that biotech researchers told us that all they wanted…” The author seems to be addressing the reader directly, so the substance feels more personal like he is specifically talking to me. This gives the article a more informal tone and less of a professional one. That is why I scored it a 2. One reason I didn’t score the essay lower is that the author seemed to assume the reader knew a lot of background information about the topic. For example, the author mentioned “California’s Proposition 71” without really explaining what it was—he just assumed the reader would already be familiar with this proposition. He also used many scientific terms such as “IVF,” “embryonic stem cell research,” and “human somatic cell nuclear transfer” without explaining the definitions of these terms. While these are not ridiculously difficult scientific concepts, if a reader didn’t know anything about cloning, that reader would be lost. So the information is clearly not written for children, and it certainly doesn’t lack depth because the writer assumes the reader comes with some background knowledge. In addition, he also alludes to “cloning technology used to create Dolly the sheep” without explaining the reference to the reader. All these technical terms indicate that the author is assuming a certain level of understanding from the reader, which indicates at least a moderate level of depth and understanding. On the other hand, this article is certainly not written for a biologist or scientist, which is why I didn’t score it a 3. For example, the tone of the essay is quite informal. The author uses phrases like “Katie, bar the door!” along with loaded language like “lab of horrors” and “the Jihad” to indicate a strong opinion on the topic. A professional essay would be much more neutral. It is possible that one could argue it’s written at a college level because of the language mentioned above, but it is certainly not technical enough to count as being written at a professional level.

Evidence: things to notice

• I used some evidence for each of my 3 claims.• Each time, the evidence comes right after the

claim.• I used a lot of phrases like “for example” or “in

addition” or “the author states” to smoothly link my evidence to my claim. You should do this too!

Ready to move on?

• If you’re ready to move on to Warrant, go to the next slide.

• If you have questions about Evidence, ask me now, or go back and re-read the Evidence slides.

Warrant:

• Warrant can be the trickiest part of your paragraph. Warrant is where you:– Explain HOW the evidence supports your claim.– Explain even things you think are obvious.– Restate why you gave the score you gave.

• The warrant is usually is at least 2 sentences in length and maybe longer. It should be longer than the evidence you are explaining.

• Often, it helps to repeat words and phrases from SCARAB rubric in your warrant.

Let’s look at an example:

• On the next slide, you’ll see the same paragraph you looked at before.

• The parts of the paragraph that count as warrant are in purple type.

• The underlined parts are words and phrases I used from the actual SCARAB rubric.

I scored the substance of this article a 2 because it seems to be written for a general public. For example it is written in the magazine, The American Spectator. I looked this magazine up online, and it is a general magazine. It is not a magazine specifically about science. Because the magazine is meant for a wider audience, and not just scientists, it seems like the author is speaking to normal people, or the general public. Also, the writer seems to be speaking to the general public when he writes, “It was less than fours years ago that biotech researchers told us that all they wanted…” The author seems to be addressing the reader directly, so the substance feels more personal like he is specifically talking to me. This gives the article a more informal tone and less of a professional one. That is why I scored it a 2. One reason I didn’t score the essay lower is that the author seemed to assume the reader knew a lot of background information about the topic. For example, the author mentioned “California’s Proposition 71” without really explaining what it was—he just assumed the reader would already be familiar with this proposition. He also used many scientific terms such as “IVF,” “embryonic stem cell research,” and “human somatic cell nuclear transfer” without explaining the definitions of these terms. While these are not ridiculously difficult scientific concepts, if a reader didn’t know anything about cloning, that reader would be lost. So the information is clearly not written for children, and it certainly doesn’t lack depth because the writer assumes the reader comes with some background knowledge. In addition, he also alludes to “cloning technology used to create Dolly the sheep” without explaining the reference to the reader. All these technical terms indicate that the author is assuming a certain level of understanding from the reader, which indicates at least a moderate level of depth and understanding. On the other hand, this article is certainly not written for a biologist or scientist, which is why I didn’t score it a 3. For example, the tone of the essay is quite informal. The author uses phrases like “Katie, bar the door!” along with loaded language like “lab of horrors” and “the Jihad” to indicate a strong opinion on the topic. A professional essay would be much more neutral. It is possible that one could argue it’s written at a college level because of the language mentioned above, but it is certainly not technical enough to count as being written at a professional level.

Warrant: things to notice

• I kind of restated my claim in each warrant (I scored it a 2, I didn’t score it higher, I didn’t score it lower), but the warrant was more than just restating the claim.

• I explained things I thought might be obvious.• I used some words and phrases from the actual SCARAB

rubric. These are underlined. You should do this too.• I explained HOW the quote supported my score, or

proved my score was the correct score to give this article.

Ready to move on?

• If you’re ready to move on to some thoughts about putting your essay all together, go to the next slide.

• If you have questions about warrant, ask me now, or go back and re-read the warrant slides.

Putting it together:

• The last thing you need to think about as you write your paragraphs is…

• …transitions!• You will use these within the paragraph to

make it smooth.• Take a look at the next slide. I put my

transition words and phrases in orange type.

I scored the substance of this article a 2 because it seems to be written for a general public. For example it is written in the magazine, The American Spectator. I looked this magazine up online, and it is a general magazine. It is not a magazine specifically about science. Because the magazine is meant for a wider audience, and not just scientists, it seems like the author is speaking to normal people, or the general public. Also, the writer seems to be speaking to the general public when he writes, “It was less than fours years ago that biotech researchers told us that all they wanted…” The author seems to be addressing the reader directly, so the substance feels more personal like he is specifically talking to me. This gives the article a more informal tone and less of a professional one. That is why I scored it a 2. One reason I didn’t score the essay lower is that the author seemed to assume the reader knew a lot of background information about the topic. For example, the author mentioned “California’s Proposition 71” without really explaining what it was—he just assumed the reader would already be familiar with this proposition. He also used many scientific terms such as “IVF,” “embryonic stem cell research,” and “human somatic cell nuclear transfer” without explaining the definitions of these terms. While these are not ridiculously difficult scientific concepts, if a reader didn’t know anything about cloning, that reader would be lost. So the information is clearly not written for children, and it certainly doesn’t lack depth because the writer assumes the reader comes with some background knowledge. In addition, he also alludes to “cloning technology used to create Dolly the sheep” without explaining the reference to the reader. All these technical terms indicate that the author is assuming a certain level of understanding from the reader, which indicates at least a moderate level of depth and understanding. On the other hand, this article is certainly not written for a biologist or scientist, which is why I didn’t score it a 3. For example, the tone of the essay is quite informal. The author uses phrases like “Katie, bar the door!” along with loaded language like “lab of horrors” and “the Jihad” to indicate a strong opinion on the topic. A professional essay would be much more neutral. It is possible that one could argue it’s written at a college level because of the language mentioned above, but it is certainly not technical enough to count as being written at a professional level.

I used transitions like:

• For example• The author says that• Because• So• While• In addition• Also

• Such as• The article states• One reason• If• The writer• On the other hand• But

Let’s start!

Step 1: Get your article.• Take out your research packet so you can see

what you scored this article. (This would include your topic proposal, SCARAB rubric, your Evaluation Essay prep sheet and your annotated article.)

Let’s start!Step 2: Start your Google Doc• You will be writing this essay on Google Docs.• Open Google Docs from the OSH website.• Start a new document. • Title it like this:– First name Last name, Hour ?, Evaluation Essay– Example: Dudley Doright, Hour 7, Evaluation Essay

• Share it with your teacher (share it with Caroline Benton!) Ask how to do this if you don’t know how.

Paper heading

• This goes in the top LEFT corner of your paper:– Your name– English 12-Your hour– Ms. Benton– 25 Oct. 2013

• Title centered after you hit enter: – Evaluation Essay

• Set the paper up for at least 1.5 spacing. See next slide

Write!• Go ahead and start writing your essay.• Look at the examples on this powerpoint as you write.

There are more example at the end of this powerpoint.• At the end of the hour TODAY, you will print off ONE

PARAGRAPH and give it to your teacher. • If you don’t get this done, it is homework!!!!!!! You

want to do this if you want to do well on this essay!!!!!!!!

• I will look at it and give you feedback for tomorrow.• USE YOUR BRAIN. You are smarter than you give

yourself credit for! Don’t fall off the ship!!!!!

Example paragraph for Relevance:I gave this article a 1 for relevance. One of the reasons I didn’t score it higher is because the author requires the reader to know so much background information. Alone, this article wouldn’t really give a reader very much information unless the reader already knew a lot about Proposition 71. A reader would need to do a lot of additional research into the terms and allusions mentioned, so this article on its own is not actually very useful. In addition, since the article is from 2005, a reader would also have to figure out if this law is still on the books or has been changed since then, which detracts from the usefulness of the article. On the other hand, the source is clearly related to my topic, since it is about cloning, and small bits of information in it could be useful. Since my topic is “should cloning be allowed,” this article could give me useful information about the fears some people have about what could happen if cloning becomes commonplace. The author clearly states the fears about “fetal farming” and “mixing animal DNA into human embryos,” which are fears based specifically on cloning. In addition, he talks about the general fear of science and scientists being given a “constitutional ‘right to research’ and thereby unfetter science from meaningful regulation by society.” This is why it’s not rated a 0.

Example paragraph for Bias:This article was clearly biased. I found it difficult to decide whether to give it a 0 or a 1. Obviously the source is completely opinion-based. There is loaded language sprinkled all over the entire article. For example, the author calls pro-science advocated “Big-Biotech,” implying that large corporations with lots of money are somehow manipulating policy. He also refers to the “cloning agenda” as “audacious.” The word “agenda” has negative connotations, and using the term “audacious” to describe it makes it seem dangerous and foolish. In addition, the author is also using scare tactics throughout most of the piece. The author warns of the dangers of “the macabre practice of fetal farming,” and hypothesizes that fetuses might be used “to grow organs for transplant patients” or “to test new medicines in place of animals.” All these scare tactics are geared toward creating an emotional, not a logical response in the reader, which makes this article biased and opinionated. These are some of the reasons I thought about giving the article a 0 on the rubric. On the other hand, though, the article does include a lot of factual information in support of these opinions. The author cites the actual legal language of the New Jersey law, and refers to many different bills in progress in other states. However, I wasn’t convinced that these facts succeeded in supporting the author’s arguments. The author seemed to just assume we would take his word for the facts, and didn’t really explain how exactly they supported his argument that science is trying to take over the world. In the end, I guess I would go with a .5 score on this one.

Three Excellent Examples

See the assign drive for the PDF of these examples!

Things to remember as you put this essay together

• Proofread! Watch your grammar and mechanical mistakes. This will lower your grade. Capitalize ‘I.’ (Seriously!)

• “Quotation marks” go around any evidence that is directly quoted from the text---even words that you use.

• Set up your quotes so they are a complete sentence. Do it like this:– For example, the author writes, “English is the most

important subject in the world.” Notice my evidence is integrated into the sentence so it is complete! Many of you aren’t doing this.

More…

• Punctuation goes INSIDE quotation marks.– For example, the author writes, “English is the most

important subject in the world.” The period goes inside the quotes. A comma would go inside the quotes, too. For example:• The author uses words such as: “GMO’s,” “ostentatious,” and

“supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” when he refers to words people misspell the most.

• Notice the commas are inside the quotation marks.– Underline magazine/newspaper/database titles– Put article titles in “quotation marks.”

CEW• Everyone who turned in a draft to me gets the CEW format! Yay!• Now, a few things to make it better:– Make sure your claims are SUPER obvious.– Evidence should be DIRECT quotes from your article. Don’t use

super long quotes though. – Evidence and warrant always go together back to back. NEVER

SEPARATE these two.– Warrant should be AT LEAST 2 sentences of explanation: how

and why evidence supports claim. If you say “this shows…” then you need to explain how the evidence shows whatever it shows.

– Warrant should use language from the rubric– You should have a concluding sentence that comes back to

your first claim. “All of this evidence is why I scored it a two.”

Last one…

• Make sure you have 4 SEPARATE paragraphs: one for each category: Substance, Authority, Relevance, Bias

• Don’t include stuff in your paragraph that has nothing to do with your category. My model is an example of how to set it up and the kinds of things to include in your paragraph not what to write word for word.

• Tab your paragraphs!