ENGLISH II
STAAR English II Resources
You can use the links below to access English and writing resources. The following links open portable document format (PDF) files unless otherwise noted:
ASSESSMENT DESIGN
- CATEGORY 1: UNDERSTANDING/ANALYSIS ACROSS GENRES - 8 MC Questions
- CATEGORY 2: UNDERSTANDING/ANALYSIS of LITERARY TEXTS - 13 MC Questions
- CATEGORY 3: UNDERSTANDING/ANALYSIS of INFORMATIONAL TEXTS - 13 MC Questions
- CATEGORY 4: COMPOSITION - 1 COMPOSITION (PERSUASIVE)
- CATEGORY 5: REVISION - 9 MC Questions
- CATEGORY 6: EDITING - 9 MC Questions
TOTAL: 52 MC Questions and 1 Composition - 5 Hour Testing Time Limit
*View the Assessed Curriculum for a detailed account of each category above
PERSUASIVE WRITING (Rubric)
SCORE 4 POINTS:
Organization/Progression
The organizing structure of the essay is clearly appropriate to the purpose and responsive to the specific demands of the prompt. The essay is skillfully crafted because the writer uses organizational strategies that are particularly well suited to the persuasive task.
The writer establishes a clear position. All ideas are strongly related to the position and are focused on the issue specified in the prompt. By sustaining this focus, the writer is able to create an essay that is unified and coherent.
The writer’s progression of ideas is logical and well controlled. Meaningful transitions and strong sentence-to-sentence connections enhance the flow of the essay by clearly showing the relationships among ideas, making the writer’s train of thought easy to follow.
Development of Ideas
The development of ideas is highly effective. The argument is forceful and convincing because the reasons and evidence the writer uses to support the position are specific and well chosen.
The essay is thoughtful and engaging. The writer may choose to recognize the complexities of the issue, consider opposing or alternate points of view, use his/her unique experiences or view of the world as a basis for writing, or connect ideas in interesting ways. The writer develops the essay in a manner that demonstrates a thorough understanding of the persuasive writing task.
Use of Language/Conventions
The writer’s word choice is purposeful and precise. It reflects a keen awareness of the persuasive purpose and maintains a tone appropriate to the task. Word choice strongly contributes to the quality and clarity of the essay.
Sentences are purposeful, varied, and well controlled, enhancing the effectiveness of the essay.
The writer demonstrates a consistent command of sentence boundaries and spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and usage conventions. Although minor errors may be evident, they do not detract from the fluency of the writing or the clarity of the essay. The overall strength of the conventions contributes to the effectiveness of the essay.