ShortStoryChecklist

StudentName:__________________________

Directions:Numbereachofyourparagraphs(nomatterhowbigorsmall).Asyougothroughthechecklist,youwillthenidentify
evidenceofeachofthefollowingrequirementsinordertoprovethatyouvethoughtaboutthedevelopmentofyourstory.

CharacterDevelopment
Theprotagonistisdescribedinawaythatallowsthereaderto
visualize,hearorimaginetheiractions.Thecharacteractsinawaythatisappropriatetohisor
herpersonality.

Evidence:

EstablishSetting
Thesettingiswelldescribedandcontributestothemoodofthestory.

Evidence:

PlotDevelopment
Itisveryeasyforthereadertounderstandtheproblemthemaincharacters
faceandwhyitisaproblem.Thesolutiontothecharacter'sproblemiseasytounderstand,and
islogical.Therearenolooseends.

Evidence:

Theme
Thereaderisabletodeterminethethemeofthestory,thecharacterslearnedalesson.

Evidence:

Dialogue

Dialogueisusedinallthreeways:tomovethestoryforward,givedetailsabout
characters,andbuildtension.

Evidence:

Spelling&Punctuation
Therearerelativelynospelling,grammar,orpunctuationerrorsinfinal
draft.

Evidence:

Length
Thestoryiswithintheshortstorylengthrequirementsof1,0007,500words.

ScoringRubric

Organization

MeetsStandards

Content

Conventions

Engagesandorientsthereaderby
establishingacontext,
establishingapointofview,and
introducinganarrator,and/orcharacters(W.7.3.a)
Developsanaturalandlogicalsequenceofevents
(W.7.3.a)
Providesaconclusionthatfollowsfromorreflectsonthe
narratedeventsorexperiences(W.7.3.e)

Organizationisartful,movingbeyond
thetraditionalformulaicapproachto
writing.
Placementofplotelementsor
experiencesisparticularlyeffective,
addingtotheoverallofthenarrative
ontheaudience.

Usesnarrativetechniques,suchasdialogue,pacing,and
description,todevelopexperiences,events,and/or
characters(W.7.3.b)
Usesavarietyoftransitionalstrategiestoconvey
sequenceandsignalshiftsfromonetimeframeorsetting
toanother(W.7.3.c)
Usesprecisewordsandphrases,relevantdescriptive
details,andsensorylanguagetocapturetheactionand
conveyexperiencesandevents(W.7.3.d)
Demonstratesanunderstandingofanysourcetext(s)
provided(RL/RI.7)

Thenarrativetechniqueschosenadd
totheaestheticqualityofthe
narrative.
Ideasflowlogicallyfromonetothe
nextwithanobviousintentionaland
artfulselectionoftransitional
strategies.
Thelanguageusedrepresentsan
understandingofthenuancesinword
meaningandtheimpactof
connotationsandimageryonthe
audience.
Athoroughandperceptive
understandingofanysourcematerial
isevidentinthedetailsofthe
narrative.

Signalsdifferingrelationshipsamongideasthroughthe
appropriateuseofsimple,compound,complex,and
compoundcomplexsentences(L.7.1.b)
Placesphrasesandclausesappropriatelyinordertoavoid
misplacedordanglingmodifiers(L.7.1.c)
Usescommastoseparatecoordinateadjectives(L.7.2.a)
Spellswordscorrectly(L.7.2.b)
Avoidswordinessandredundancy
(L.7.3.a)
FollowstheconventionsofstandardEnglish(L.PK.1
L.6.1)

Punctuationandsentencestructureis
artfullyusedtoenhancethedelivery
ofexperiencesandevents.
Adistinctandappropriatevoiceis
revealedthroughaparticularly
effectiveandartfuluseoflanguage.

TeacherComments:

ExceedsStandards