Expository: explains/informs neutrally (definition, classification, comparison, cause-effect). Persuasive: convinces audience of a position via ethos/pathos/logos and counter-argument. Literary-analysis: argues an interpretive claim about a text using textual evidence and analysis of form/meaning. Common feature: thesis + organised support; difference: purpose (inform vs convince vs interpret).
B. Ethos = credibility, pathos = emotion, logos = logic.
Possible: Straw man — misrepresenting an opponent's argument so it is easier to attack ("My opponent wants no testing — schools without rigour"). Slippery slope — claiming one step inevitably leads to extreme outcomes. False dilemma — presenting only two options when more exist. Bandwagon — appealing to popularity. Hasty generalisation — drawing conclusions from too few examples. Marks: 1 each (definition + example).
Strong theses are specific (focused on particular text/device/effect), debatable (someone could disagree), supportable (can be proven with textual evidence). The given thesis is none — it is vague (which themes?), undebatable (true of every play), and unsupportable (no specific direction). Stronger version: "Hamlet's repeated metaphor of disease — 'something rotten in the state of Denmark' — turns Claudius's regicide into a symbolic infection that spreads moral corruption beyond a single court."
B. MLA: (Author Page) — no comma, no "p." before the page.
Revising — re-seeing the whole; reshaping argument, structure, evidence, paragraph order. Editing — refining sentence-level expression: word choice, transitions, clarity. Proofreading — final pass for surface errors: grammar, punctuation, spelling, formatting. The order matters: revise first, edit next, proofread last.
Sample: (a) "Ontario should reduce standardised testing in secondary schools because the time spent on test preparation undermines the deeper literacy and inquiry the curriculum requires." (b) Reason 1 — measurable opportunity-cost in instructional hours. Reason 2 — narrow forms of literacy assessed (multiple-choice reading) misrepresent the curriculum's demand for sustained writing and discussion. (c) Counter — testing provides comparability across schools and accountability. Rebuttal — comparability can be achieved through moderated writing samples or audited classroom assessment without large-scale single-day testing. Marks: 1 thesis, 2 reasons, 2 counter+rebuttal.
Weaknesses: (1) "is a feminist book" — vague generic claim, not interpretive. (2) "lots of evidence" + run-on listing without analysis. (3) "the author wants the readers to know" — intentional fallacy / vague purpose. (4) Punctuation (run-on); informal "lots of" register. Rewrite: "Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale uses Gilead's colour-coded uniforms — Offred's red robe, the Wives' blue, the Marthas' green — to literalise patriarchal classification: women's bodies are read before their voices are heard. The novel's opening scene establishes this hierarchy when …" Marks: 3 for diagnosis, 2 for rewrite quality.
B. The "lovely, dark and deep" woods evoke the seductive pull (often read as the death-wish), while "But I have promises to keep" pivots back to social/life obligations — both halves of the thesis appear in two adjacent lines. (A) sets ownership; (C) shows the horse's interruption (good context but doesn't speak the dilemma); (D) is descriptive atmosphere. Marks: 1 correct selection; 4 for the comparative analysis of why the others are weaker.
Marks rubric: clear topic sentence (1), two embedded quotations with signal phrases and line citations (2), interpretive analysis of how the language signals wistfulness (2), conclusion sentence linking back (1). Sample first sentence: "Although Frost's speaker has often been mis-read as a celebrant of self-reliance, his diction throughout 'The Road Not Taken' positions him as wistful, even regretful, about the irreversibility of choice." Sample evidence: '"And sorry I could not travel both / And be one traveller" (lines 2–3) ' followed by analysis of "sorry" as regret.
(a) Orwell, George. 1984. Secker and Warburg, 1949.
(b) Smith, Zadie. "On the Limits of Realism." The Guardian, 4 Feb. 2022, www.theguardian.com/books/sample-url. Marks: 2 each — author format, title format, container, date, URL where applicable.
Sample: "George Orwell finished 1984 in 1948, eight months before his death; the novel reads now less as a prophecy than as a warning we have not yet heeded. Orwell's central insight — that the manipulation of language is the manipulation of thought — is dramatised through two parallel devices: the systematic creation of Newspeak and the public performance of doublethink. Together these show how a regime can foreclose dissent before dissent can find words." Marks: 1 hook, 2 thesis (specific + debatable), 2 roadmap.
Fallacies: (1) Bandwagon — "Everyone knows junk food is bad." (2) Hasty generalisation / anecdotal — "my friend ate chips every day and he failed math" — one case is not evidence. (3) Could also identify "Studies show" as missing source. Rewrite of (2): "A 2018 University of Toronto study of 4,200 students linked daily ultra-processed-food intake to a 12% drop in standardised reading scores, suggesting that diet, alongside other factors, can affect academic outcomes." Marks: 2 fallacy IDs, 1 explanation, 2 rewrite.
Strong responses: name a specific ad/speech, identify each appeal with a concrete textual or visual example, then evaluate. Marks: 1 ethos, 1 pathos, 1 logos, 1 evaluation, 1 communication conventions.
Strong responses note: longer papers require sustained thesis (one argument across 5–10 paragraphs); evidence integration from primary AND secondary sources; nuance via counter-readings; tighter conventions (style guide, citation accuracy). New strategies might include outlining at the section level, drafting in stages, peer review, source-management tools (Zotero), and timetabling for revision passes. Marks: 1 transfer of skill, 2 new demands, 1 strategy, 1 conventions.