This is an issue that every educator deals with. Some people might be tempted to slap a D or an F on the assignment and move forward, but that won’t help the student in future compositions, so what can we do?

Even though the concept of a “wrong answer” should not really apply to literature, written responses can still be poorly done. We want our students to learn and to grow into the very best version of themselves, and studying literature and writing literature responses can develop their thinking as well as their communication abilities.

But what should you do when something about the student’s writing just doesn’t work?

Generally,

• identify what is lacking
• discuss how to remedy the situation with the student
• have the student correct the problematic areas.

Often, poor responses fall into one of three categories:

1. It misunderstands the literature
2. It doesn’t use textual support
3. It is badly written

How should you respond in each of these situations? For now, let us consider example high school-level responses to Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken.” (This poem is readily found online if you are not familiar with it or need a refresher.) The prompt they are answering is:

Explain a theme in “The Road Not Taken.” Support your answer.

Example #1

       “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is an excellent poem about resisting peer pressure. In the first stanza, a traveler is contemplating two roads, and in the final stanza, he says that he took the road that most travelers ignored. The roads are metaphors for life choices, and the traveler chooses to resist going with the crowd. In the same way, people should choose to make wise choices rather than popular ones. Frost’s poem is an edification for people who choose to do what is right, even if most people choose to do what is wrong.

This response is very well written! The word choice is elevated, it cites specifics aspects from the poem, and the content is well organized and communicates clearly—but it fundamentally misses the point of the literature.

Frost’s poem is not about peer pressure, so even though the student has evidenced critical thought and written well, they missed what the poem is about.

In this situation, praise the student for writing and communicating well and then discuss the literature with them. Show them how they may be misreading or misinterpreting certain areas and then guide them to better understanding. Oftentimes, we read or see what we want to see in art rather than what is actually there.

Oftentimes, we read or see what we want to see in art rather than what is actually there.

Example #2

          “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost describes how everyone makes choices that affect the rest of their lives. Sometimes in life, choices are made, and there’s no going back. For example, if someone chooses to commit a crime, they cannot escape from the aftermath of the crime. Personally, I have made choices that I’m sure have changed my life. When I was in fifth grade, I chose to take piano lessons instead of joining a soccer team. I’ve played piano ever since, but I wonder what kind of person I would be if I chose soccer instead. Robert Frost’s poem focuses on this kind of contemplation of life choices.

This student understands the point of the poem! The opening line clearly and correctly states one of the main themes. The rest of the response, however, provides no support for why the student thinks the poem contains this theme.

Even though the student has the right idea, they are making an unfounded claim. They apply the idea very well and provide a fabulous personal anecdote that relates to the poem, but they never connect with the actual text.

In this situation, commend the student for their valid understanding and relevant life applications, and then explain that they need to support their understanding with textual evidence. Just like a blueprint for a rocking chair doesn’t only show the finished product but also the parts and methods for achieving that finished product, a literature response must demonstrate why and how the literature supports certain ideas. (Another way to think about this is likening it to theorems and proofs in geometry, but I didn’t want to scare anyone away with math.)

Example #3

          The roads mean life choices. The poem says neither one is better. It says both are worn about the same. That means just as many people chose one as chose the other, but later the poem says he took the one that was less traveled. But that doesn’t mean it was better. Sometimes choices aren’t better or worse but just one or the other. And some choices can make big differences in life, like the poem says. That’s what the poem is about.

This response has the right idea and uses textual support—but it is very poorly written. The word choice is lacking for a high school student, it is more like a list of statements than an organized paragraph, and they never even indicate what poem they are discussing!

In this situation, once again, encourage the student that their reading of the literature was excellent and their ideas were correct; they only need to work on communicating better in writing. Show them how they can organize their thoughts and articulate their ideas in a stronger fashion. Encourage them to improve their word choice and to transition more smoothly from thought to thought. This student gets the literature. They simply need to improve their writing.

These concepts can apply to any kind of literature response—responses to short stories, novels, poetry, nonfiction, and so on.

Overall, when it comes to literature responses, you want your student to understand the literature, use textual support, and communicate clearly in writing.

By Athena Lester

Curriculum Development and Scoring Services

2 + 2 = 4. Always.

The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. Correct.

The scientific binomial name for a llama is Lama glama. Amusing, but also factual.

Subjects like math, history, and science have right and wrong answers. 2 + 2 never equals 7, and the Declaration of Independence was not signed in 1864. These answers are easily checked and marked as right or wrong on activities and tests.

However, English is not a subject with such easy “right” and “wrong” answers. 

In most cases.

Oh no, here we go with the exceptions and grey areas that are so frustrating! How are we supposed to learn and teach English if it has no right and wrong answers (in most cases)?!

Many people will be happy to know that certain areas of English can be identified as plainly correct or incorrect. In compositions, things like capitalization and punctuation can be “right” and “wrong.” Is the first letter of every proper name capitalized? Do the compound-complex sentences have commas in the required places? Such areas of mechanics are readily checkable.

In literature, also, sometimes wrong answers are easy to spot:

Question: What is a theme in Charles Dickens’s novella A Christmas Carol?

Obviously wrong answer: All old people hate the holidays.

See? Sometimes it’s easy! It’s the other times, however—the times when a response seems to be good but doesn’t match the sample answer in the Parent/Teacher Handbook—that induce headaches.

So how do you judge answers for composition and literature?

Here is where we need to shift our thinking a little. We are not computers that only understand 1’s and 0’s—yes and no, there and not there. We are human beings with minds, wills, and emotions that can process in terms other than “correct” and “incorrect.”

Instead of thinking in terms of “right” or “wrong,” think in terms of “done well” or “done poorly.”

Let me ask you: What is the right time to finish a foot race?

That’s an absurd concept, isn’t it? There is no right time; there is only a good time and a poor time.

This concept applies to English responses, and it will hopefully take the burden of finding the “right” answer off both students and parents. Some people may be uncomfortable with the lack of correct/incorrect limits, but we can handle this, trust me. I believe in you!

Now that we are thinking in terms of “done well” and “done poorly,” how are we supposed to know if a response is “done well”?

Here are some guidelines to help homeschool students write and to help parents judge responses for English.

Composition:

• Does the composition clearly communicate ideas? Then it is done well.
• Is the content organized and easily-followable? Then it is done well.
• Does the composition utilize proper mechanics? Then it is done well. (Note: Everyone makes mistakes. A few typos or missing commas does not ruin an entire essay.)
• Is the content worth reading because it contains quality thoughts? Then it is done well.

In literature, things are trickier, but we still have some general guidelines for creating and judging responses.

Literature:

• Does the response demonstrate thinking? Don’t approach a piece of literature with the goal to find the answer. Rather, consider how it makes you think (or feel). A response that demonstrates one’s thinking is done well.
• Is it supported by the literature? The idea that literature can mean whatever you want is not true. (But that’s a subject for another blog post.) A response that uses the piece of literature to support one’s thinking (that uses “textual support”) is done well.
• Does the response consider the entire piece of literature? Sometimes people base their response on one small part of a story or poem, but it doesn’t accurately represent the literature in question. A response that considers the piece of literature as a whole is done well.
• Is it well-written? For this, see the previous bulleted list

Composition and literature don’t have to be intimidating. Without the high stress pressure of finding the “right” answer, English can even be an enjoyable subject to learn and to teach!

By Athena Lester
Curriculum Development and Scoring Services