English Essay Help Rip Van Winkle

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Graded Assignment ENG303A/ENG304A: American Literature | Unit 4 | Lesson 1: Creating an American Mythology – Introduction

Graded Assignment
“Rip Van Winkle” and the Emergence of an American Mythology
This document provides an overview of the tasks and time line for completing this assignment.

Assignment Instructions
As you have learned, the stories that make up a nation’s mythology share several characteristics:

• They are set in the past, often in remote or exciting places and times.
• They are filled with remarkable, strange, or exaggerated characters.
• They feature incredible, heroic, impressive, magical, or mysterious events and their consequences.
• They convey a positive message about a nation or its people.

After reading Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle,” consider it as a story that helped create an American
mythology. Then answer the following question in the form of a short essay. Your essay should consist of at least
five paragraphs: an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph.

How does Irving incorporate at least three of the above characteristics into “Rip Van Winkle”? What is the
impact of these characteristics on the story or on the reader’s experience of the story?

Be sure to cite specific examples from the text in your response.

Process

You should always use a process for your writing that includes planning and drafting. To complete this
assignment, you will do the following:

• Review the assignment instructions and grading criteria thoroughly. The writing assignment you complete in

this unit will be graded against a rubric that assesses the essay in a number of categories. These categories
focus both on the essay’s contents and its clarity.

o Read the rubric on the last page of this document. Keep the criteria listed on the rubric in mind as
you complete the writing assignment.

o Remember to write in standard formal English and use the third person (no personal opinions)
and the present tense.

• Read and study “Rip Van Winkle” by Washington Irving. As you study the work, you will gather information and

start to plan your approach to the essay.
• Complete a plan for your essay.
• Begin drafting your paper, using your plan as a guide.
• Review and revise your first draft. You should try to have another person read your work and give you

feedback as part of your revision process.
• Write the final draft of your project. Be sure to follow these requirements and recommendations when

completing your draft:
Open a new Microsoft Word document. Type your name, your teacher’s name, your school name,
and the date at the top of your document. To help your teacher know from whom the project
came, save the file as:
ENG303A/ENG304A_04_01_Rip_Van_Winkle_Essay_FirstInitial_LastName

Example: ENG303A/ENG304A_04_01_Rip_Van_Winkle_Essay_M_Smith

Type your project in the document you create.

Copying or distributing without K12’s written consent is prohibited.

Graded Assignment ENG303A/ENG304A: American Literature | Unit 4 | Lesson 1: Creating an American Mythology – Introduction

Time Line
You will complete this project over the course of eight school days.

Task Start Complete
Print and review assignment instructions. Day 26 Day 26

Read and study “Rip Van Winkle.” Day 26 Day 28

Complete a plan for your essay. Day 28 Day 29

Draft and revise your essay. Confer with your teacher if
necessary.

Day 29 Day 33

Submit final draft for a grade. Day 33

Grading/Point Values
Assignment Point Value: 200

Required Final Draft Length
Pages: 1–2

Word Count: 250–500

Graded Assignment Answer Key ENG303A/ENG304A: American Literature | Unit 4 | Lesson 1: Creating an American Mythology – Introduction

“Rip Van Winkle” and the Emergence of an American Mythology Grading Rubric

5 4 3 2 1 Criterion

Purpose The literary essay fulfills its
purpose of explaining how
“Rip Van Winkle” reflects the
emergence of an American
mythology. The essay
contains a complete analysis
of the characteristics and
explains how these
characteristics affect the
story and the reader’s
experience of the story.

The literary essay explains
how “Rip Van Winkle”
reflects the emergence of an
American mythology, but the
analysis of the characteristics
is not complete. The essay
presents more summary than
analysis. The writer’s
appreciation of how the
characteristics affect the
story and the reader’s
experience is not always
clear.

The purpose of the literary
essay about “Rip Van
Winkle” and the emergence
of an American mythology is
not entirely clear. The essay
provides some analysis of
the characteristics, but there
are significant gaps that
leave the reader questioning.
The writer may or may not
explain how the
characteristics affect the
story and the reader’s
experience. The essay
contains irrelevant
information, which makes the
reader question the main
purpose of the essay.

The literary essay about “Rip
Van Winkle” and the
emergence of an American
mythology does not fulfill its
purpose because it lacks
significant analysis of the
characteristics, or contains
irrelevant information, or is
mostly a summary of the
story.

This essay is not a literary
essay about “Rip Van
Winkle” and the emergence
of an American mythology. It
does not contain an analysis
of the story’s characteristics,
and it does not convey the
writer’s understanding of the
story, the characteristics, and
the effect of those
characteristics on the reader.

Graded Assignment Answer Key ENG303A/ENG304A: American Literature | Unit 4 | Lesson 1: Creating an American Mythology – Introduction

5 4 3 2 1 Criterion
Ideas and
Content

The literary essay presents a
valid thesis and contains
examples of three of the four
characteristics of stories that
participate in a nation’s
mythology:

The literary essay does not
present a valid thesis, and
the writer discusses only one
of the specified
characteristics. The writer is
unable to make convincing
connections between the
analysis of the characteristics
and the emergence of an
American mythology. The
writer does not use
paraphrases, examples from
the story, or quotations to
support his or her analysis.
The writer draws conclusions
for which he or she offers no
evidence. The writer does
not explain the effect of the
characteristics on the story or
the reader, and the essay
presents more summary than
analysis.

The literary essay does not
have a valid thesis, and the
writer does not discuss the
characteristics. The essay
shows no insight into the
story and its contribution to
an American mythology and
does not use any
paraphrases, quotations, or
examples from the story to
support an analysis of the
story’s effect on the reader
and its contribution to an
American mythology.

The literary essay presents a
valid thesis and contains
examples of three of the four
characteristics of stories that
participate in a nation’s
mythology:

The literary essay presents a
valid thesis and contains
examples of fewer than three
of the four characteristics of
stories that participate in a
nation’s mythology:

• They are set in the past,
often in remote or exciting
places and times.

• They are set in the past,
often in remote or exciting
places and times.
• They are set in the past,
often in remote or exciting
places and times.

• They are filled with
remarkable, strange, or
exaggerated characters.

• They are filled with
remarkable, strange, or
exaggerated characters.
• They are filled with
remarkable, strange, or
exaggerated characters.

• They feature incredible,
heroic, impressive, magical,
or mysterious events and
their consequences.

• They feature incredible,
heroic, impressive, magical,
or mysterious events and
their consequences.
• They feature incredible,
heroic, impressive, magical,
or mysterious events and
their consequences.

• They convey a positive
message about a nation or
its people.

The three chosen
characteristics are clearly
supported by evidence in the
form of relevant paraphrases,
quotations, and examples
from the story. The writer
explains the connections
between the evidence and
the creation of an American
mythology. The writer
concludes by explaining the
effect of the characteristics
on the story and on the
reader.

The three characteristics are
mostly supported by relevant
paraphrases and quotations
from the story. The writer
explains the connections
between the evidence and
the creation of an American
mythology, but some points
remain unsupported, or the
writer does not make a
convincing connection
between evidence presented
and conclusions drawn. The
writer concludes by
explaining the effect of the
characteristics on the story
and on the reader.

The characteristics are
sometimes, but not always,
supported by relevant
paraphrases and quotations
from the story. The essay
includes some irrelevant or
tangential content. The writer
does not always explain the
connections between the
evidence presented and the
creation of an American
mythology. The writer may
fail to conclude by explaining
the effect of the
characteristics on the story
and on the reader, or the
essay may offer more
summary than analysis.

Graded Assignment Answer Key ENG303A/ENG304A: American Literature | Unit 4 | Lesson 1: Creating an American Mythology – Introduction

5 4 3 2 1 Criterion

Structure
and
Organization

The essay identifies the title
of the story and the name of
the author and presents a
thesis in the introductory
paragraph, and ends with a
concluding paragraph that
summarizes the main points
or restates the thesis of the
essay. The body of the essay
contains paragraphs that
support the essay’s thesis.
The essay consistently
follows an organizational
pattern such as order of
importance. Transitions are
well placed and make
meaningful connections
between ideas and
paragraphs.

The essay identifies the title
of the story and name of the
author, presents a thesis in
the introductory paragraph,
and ends with a concluding
paragraph that restates the
thesis of the essay. The body
of the essay contains
paragraphs that support the
essay’s thesis. The essay
usually follows an
appropriate organizational
pattern, but a few details or
ideas may be out of place.
Transitions are generally
used effectively.

The essay identifies the title
of the story and name of the
author, but may not do so in
the introductory paragraph.
The essay presents a thesis,
but it may not be in the
introductory paragraph, or
the essay may have a
concluding paragraph that
does not restate the thesis.
The body of the essay
contains paragraphs that
support the essay’s thesis,
but there may be irrelevant or
tangential content. The essay
sometimes follows an
appropriate organizational
pattern, but not consistently.
Transitions are occasionally
used.

The essay might not identify
the title of the story or the
name of the author. The
essay does not have a clear
thesis that is identified in the
introductory paragraph or it
may lack an introductory
paragraph altogether. The
conclusion, if present, does
not restate the essay’s
thesis. The essay does not
follow a clear organizational
pattern, and the writer tends
to jump around without
connecting ideas. Minimal
transitions are used.

The essay identifies neither
the title of the story nor the
name of the author. The
essay lacks a clear thesis
and a clear conclusion. The
structure of the literary essay
is non-existent. The essay
consists of only one long
paragraph, and there are no
transitions between ideas.

Language,
Word
Choice, and
Style

The writer uses effective,
compelling language to
express key ideas. He or she
considers purpose, audience,
and tone in language and
word choice. The essay uses
present tense when referring
to the story. The essay
incorporates literary terms
and contains no
colloquialisms or slang
expressions. The essay is
written in the third-person
point of view without first-
person expressions of
opinion. The literary essay is
written in a formal style.

The writer uses effective
language to express key
ideas. He or she usually
considers purpose, audience,
and tone in language and
word choice. The essay
usually uses formal
language, incorporates some
literary terms, and does not
contain colloquialisms or
slang expressions. The
literary essay is usually
written in the third-person
point of view, is mostly
objective, and typically does
not contain first-person
expressions of opinion.

The writer’s language is
occasionally compelling. The
writer attempts to consider
purpose, audience, and tone,
but sometimes loses sight of
one of these aspects and
includes inappropriate
language or wording. Few
appropriate literary terms are
employed, and the writer
sometimes incorporates
slang, colloquialisms, or
other informal language. The
literary essay is not
consistently objective, and
third-person language
sometimes lapses into first-
person expressions of
opinion.

The essay lacks compelling
language. The writer does
not consider purpose,
audience, or tone, and uses
inappropriate language or
wording. Literary terms are
not used, and the language
is informal. The literary essay
is not objective or is not
written in the third-person
point of view. The writer
includes many first-person
expressions of opinion.

The essay’s language is
often incoherent. The writer
does not consider purpose,
audience, or tone. The
literary essay contains
personal opinions,
comments, and
exclamations. The essay
contains informal language,
including slang and other
inappropriate expressions.

Graded Assignment Answer Key ENG303A/ENG304A: American Literature | Unit 4 | Lesson 1: Creating an American Mythology – Introduction

Criterion 5 4 3 2 1
Sentences
and
Mechanics

Each sentence expresses a
complete thought. The title of
the story and the name of the
author are capitalized
correctly. Quotation marks
are used around the title of
the story, and quotations
within the essay contain the
exact words from the story
and are punctuated correctly.
There are extremely few
errors in grammar, usage,
and mechanics, and those
that exist do not impede
understanding.

Most sentences contain
complete thoughts. The title
of the story and the name of
the author are capitalized
correctly. The title of the
story is enclosed in quotation
marks. Quotations from the
story include the correct
words, but they are
sometimes not punctuated
correctly. There are few
errors in grammar, usage,
and mechanics, and they
rarely interfere with a
reader’s ability to understand.

The title of the story and
name of the author might not
be capitalized correctly, or
the title of the story is not
enclosed in quotation marks.
Sentences do not all contain
complete thoughts. There are
several unintentional
fragments and run-ons.
Quotations do not contain all
of the correct words or are
not punctuated correctly.
There are errors in grammar,
usage, and mechanics that
sometimes interfere with the
reader’s ability to understand.

The title of the story and
name of the author, if
present, might not be
capitalized correctly. Many
sentences are incomplete,
and it is difficult to recognize
quotations from the story.
There are errors in grammar,
usage, and mechanics that
make the essay difficult to
understand.

Most sentences contain
errors in structure.
Quotations, if used, are
incorrectly transcribed and
punctuated. Multiple errors in
grammar, usage, and
mechanics make the essay
difficult to understand.

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