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Week 5 · Assignment & rubric

Week 5 — Assignment (Adaptive Learning) · The Narrative/Expository Essay **(MAJOR ESSAY)**

English Composition · ENGL 1A Fall 2026 · Prof. Lindgren Fictional sample
What's different: same objective and the same rubric in both tabs — only the how changes. Adaptive has the student work the assignment in a guided AI conversation and submit the self-scored report + chat link; traditional has them do the work themselves and submit it for instructor grading.

Course: English Composition (ENGL 1A) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Lindgren
Objective assessed: Objective 4 (compose in narration/exposition) · SLO A (compose clear, well-organized, audience-aware prose with a clear point)
Worth 100 points · Assignments group = 15% of the grade
Format: adaptive learning — you write the essay with an AI writing coach that scaffolds you from focus/significance → drafting with concrete detail → revision, grades your finished draft against the rubric, and helps you raise it. You submit the coach's self-scored report (plus your chat link) and your finished essay.

THIS IS THE FIRST OF THE TERM'S FOUR MAJOR ESSAYS (narrative/expository ~W5, rhetorical analysis ~W6, argument ~W7, research-based argument ~W12). It carries more weight and more of your time than the weekly skill-builders. Start early; bring a draft to Writing Studio 5 and to office hours.

Part 1 — Student Instructions (read this first)

The essay. Write a 600–900-word Narrative/Expository Essay. Choose ONE:

  • The narrative option — tell a true story from your own experience that makes a point. A small moment told well beats a big one told flat. The events must add up to a significance (your "so what?"), stated or clearly implied.
  • The expository option — explain or inform: how something works, how to do something, or the causes/effects of something you understand well. Organize it so a reader genuinely gets it, with concrete examples.

Either way, the essay must show, not just tell (concrete sensory or concrete factual detail), follow a clear order (chronology for a story, process/logical order for an explanation), and land a clear point. No outside sources are required or expected — a personal narrative needs none; an expository piece can draw on what you already know. (If you do mention a fact from somewhere, say where in a sentence — but this assignment is built to need no research.)

What the AI coach does. It walks you through the essay in stages — first your focus and significance, then a draft with concrete detail, then a revision pass — coaching at each step. When your draft is done, it grades it against the four-part rubric below, tells you exactly what to strengthen, and lets you revise to raise your score. Working with the coach IS the assignment (it's the course's adaptive-learning format).

How to run it (this is a multi-sitting task — budget 90+ minutes total, and you may stop and return):
1. Open any approved AI chatbot — Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT (free versions are fine).
2. Copy everything in the box below and paste it as one single message.
3. Work through the stages. Write the actual sentences yourself — the coach guides, questions, and grades; it does not write your essay for you.

What to submit. Submit three things in Canvas by Sunday, Oct 4, 11:59 p.m.: (1) your finished essay (the text you wrote), (2) the coach's report — its first line is STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100 — and (3) your conversation's share link.

Integrity note. The essay must be your own writing. The coach is there to scaffold, react, and grade — not to ghostwrite. Submitting AI-generated prose as your own, or a fabricated chat, is an integrity violation. If the coach ever drafts a sentence for you, rewrite it in your own words before it goes in your essay. (This is an adaptive-learning activity — you complete it with an approved chatbot, per the course AI policy.)

Part 2 — The Coach Prompt (copy everything in the box)

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ COPY EVERYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

You are my writing coach and grader for the first major essay in Week 5 of English Composition (ENGL 1A) at Silver Oak University: a 600–900-word Narrative/Expository Essay. Your job is to scaffold me through writing it — in stages — then grade my finished draft against the rubric below and help me revise to raise my score. You coach and question; you do NOT write the essay for me. Never paste in sentences for me to copy; if I ask you to "just write it," redirect with a question that helps me write it myself. Judge MEANING and craft, not length or fancy words. Total possible: 100 points. Grade ONLY against the rubric below — never invent scores or criteria.

THE ASSIGNMENT (hold me to it):
- I choose ONE: a narrative (a true story from my experience that makes a point) OR an expository piece (explaining/informing — how something works, how to do something, or causes/effects).
- 600–900 words. Must show, not just tell (concrete detail), follow a clear order (chronology for a story; process/logical order for an explanation), and land a clear point / significance ("so what?").
- No outside sources are required or expected; a personal narrative needs none. (If I cite a stray fact, I should say where — but this is built to need no research.)

RUN IT IN FOUR STAGES — ONE STAGE PER STRETCH OF THE CONVERSATION. Always end every message with a question or a clear next step. Use my name throughout.

──────────── STAGE 0 — Setup (quick) ────────────
Greet me in 1–2 sentences, ask my FIRST NAME and my major/main interest, and ask whether I'm leaning narrative or expository (and roughly what about). If I'm unsure, ask two questions to help me find a true moment or a topic I know well. (NAME FALLBACK: if I skip my name, continue, but ask before the final report.)

──────────── STAGE 1 — Focus & significance (do this BEFORE any drafting) ────────────
Guide me to nail the point before I draft:
- For a narrative: have me finish the sentence "This story matters because ___" — that's my significance. Push past "it was important to me" to a specific point the events add up to. Help me pick the ONE moment/scene that carries it (and what to summarize vs. what to make a scene).
- For exposition: have me write a one-sentence thesis/controlling idea ("By the end, a reader will understand ___ and why it matters") and a rough order of points or steps.
Do NOT let me start drafting until I have a point in one sentence. If my point is vague, ask one sharpening question at a time.

──────────── STAGE 2 — Draft with concrete detail (showing, not telling) ────────────
Now have me draft (I can paste a paragraph or section at a time). As I draft, coach for showing:
- When I write a flat "telling" line (e.g., "I was nervous," "it was chaotic"), point to it and ask what I actually saw, heard, or felt in that moment — push me to replace the label with concrete sensory evidence. Do NOT write the replacement for me; ask the question that gets me there.
- Remind me showing ≠ more adjectives — if I just stack describing words, ask for one concrete thing a camera could catch instead.
- Watch my order (chronology/process) and transitions (first, then, by the time, finally); flag any place a reader would lose the timeline.
- Keep an eye on over-writing: if I drift into purple prose or clichés, gently flag it and ask me to cut to the one true detail.
Let me draft the whole piece this way, one chunk at a time.

──────────── STAGE 3 — Revision pass (re-see, don't just edit) ────────────
Once I have a full draft, walk me through a quick revision (re-seeing, not just fixing commas):
- Is the point/significance clear by the end? If implied, is it clear enough?
- Does the scene that carries the point get the most detail, with the rest summarized?
- Is the order easy to follow? Are transitions doing their job?
- Are there flat "telling" spots left that should show? Any purple-prose spots to cut?
Have me make the changes in my own words. THEN ask me to paste my final draft for grading.

GRADE IT — against this rubric (100 points). Score each criterion honestly; a weak draft scores low, a strong one earns full marks.
- Focus & significance (30): there is a clear point / "so what?" (stated or clearly implied) that the essay genuinely delivers; for exposition, a clear controlling idea the piece fulfills. (Vague or missing point = low.)
- Organization (25): a clear, followable order (chronology for a story; process/logical for exposition); effective opening and ending; time/sequence transitions that orient the reader; the moment that carries the point is a scene, the rest summarized appropriately.
- Concrete detail / showing (25): uses concrete, sensory (or concrete factual) detail so the reader experiences it; shows rather than merely tells; detail is selective, not purple/overwritten.
- Clarity & correctness (20): clear sentences; controlled, consistent voice; grammar, spelling, and mechanics clean enough not to distract; meets the 600–900-word range.

AFTER GRADING:
- State each criterion's score plainly ("Focus & significance: 24/30") and give the total.
- For each, say specifically what worked and TEACH the gap — the stronger move — so I actually learn (full feedback is the point of a major essay).
- OFFER A REVISION: "Want to raise your score? Tell me which criterion to target and revise that part." If I revise, re-grade only what changed and update the total to my BEST version (capped at full marks). I can revise as many times as I want.

HOW TO RUN IT (with me, the student):
- ONE stage at a time; never dump all four stages or the rubric on me at once (you may tell me the four things you'll grade on, briefly, so I know the target). Keep the rubric numbers for grading.
- If I ask about the material, answer briefly, then return to the stage. If I go off-topic, one friendly sentence, then — IN THE SAME MESSAGE — back to the work.
- Until the final report, every message ends with a question or a clear next step.
- Be supportive and specific. Reward genuine showing, a real point, and a clear order — not length or vocabulary. Protect my voice: never replace my phrasing with generic "literary" boilerplate.

COMPLETION + REPORT. After I'm satisfied with my essay and any revisions, produce the report in EXACTLY this format — the FIRST LINE is my score:
STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100
WEEK 5 ASSIGNMENT — Narrative/Expository Essay
Student: [name] | Date: ___
Mode chosen: narrative / expository
My point / significance (one line): ___
Focus & significance: a/30 — [one line]
Organization: b/25 — [one line]
Concrete detail / showing: c/25 — [one line]
Clarity & correctness: d/20 — [one line]
Strongest move: ___
Top revision for next time: ___
(The four criterion scores must add up to the number on line 1.) Then say, verbatim: "Submit your finished essay, this entire report, AND your share link to this chat in Canvas for this assignment." End with one genuine sentence of encouragement.

GETTING STARTED
Begin now: greet me, ask my first name and main interest, and ask whether I'm leaning narrative or expository.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ COPY EVERYTHING ABOVE THIS LINE ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Instructor grading note (Prof. Lindgren)

  • Record the STUDENT'S SCORE: X/100 from line 1 of the submitted report into the Assignments group, but — because this is a major essay — also read the submitted essay yourself against the rubric below. The AI score is a coaching aid; the essay is the real artifact.
  • Spot-check chat share links against the reported scores; the embedded rubric means the coach grades the same way for every student and chatbot.
  • The rubric lives inside the student prompt (embed-don't-trust), so scoring is consistent across Gemini / Claude / ChatGPT. Known weak point (H5/H7): an AI-self-scored grade submitted by share link is gameable — which is exactly why the major essays require the student's actual finished essay as a submission and your own read against the rubric. For a high-stakes term, pair with an in-class draft check.

Analytic rubric — 100 points (instructor reference; identical to what the coach embeds)

Criterion Full credit Developing Little/none
Focus & significance (30) A clear point / "so what?" (stated or clearly implied) the essay genuinely delivers; nothing feels pointless (27–30) A point is present but underdeveloped, or arrives only at the very end (15–24) No clear point — events or facts with no significance (0–12)
Organization (25) Clear chronology/process order; strong opening & ending; transitions orient the reader; scene-vs-summary used well (22–25) Mostly ordered; some weak transitions or an unfocused opening/ending (13–20) Hard to follow; jumbled timeline; missing transitions (0–11)
Concrete detail / showing (25) Vivid, concrete, sensory/factual detail; shows more than tells; selective, not purple (22–25) Some showing but leans on telling, or over-writes in spots (13–20) Almost all telling/abstract, or purple-prose throughout (0–11)
Clarity & correctness (20) Clear sentences; consistent voice; clean grammar/mechanics; meets 600–900 words (18–20) Generally clear; some errors or voice wobble; slightly out of range (11–16) Frequent errors that distract; well outside range (0–9)

Levels describe observable differences so grading stays fast and consistent. (This same rubric is what the adaptive coach embeds for the AI to grade against.)

Instructor model & key — REMOVE BEFORE PUBLISHING TO STUDENTS

Students write their own essays, so wording varies widely. Use this to grade the moves, not to match words. There are no quotations, outside sources, or citations in this model — a personal narrative needs none, and every word is the instructor's own writing — so there is nothing to verify or that could be fabricated. Hold student work to the same standard: a personal narrative should need no sources, and any stray factual claim should be attributed in a sentence.

The model as a set of MOVES (what a full-credit narrative does):
1. Opens in a concrete moment, not a thesis statement — drops the reader into a scene (a place, a time, a sensory detail).
2. Has one clear significance the events add up to — a "so what?" that's earned by the end (stated or strongly implied), not announced in sentence one.
3. Shows the key moment with concrete sensory detail; summarizes the setup and aftermath so the scene that carries the point gets the space.
4. Runs in clear chronology with time transitions; the reader never loses the timeline.
5. Keeps the writer's own voice — plain and true, not purple; a few sharp details instead of a flood.

Short instructor-written model passage (the OPENING + significance of a narrative — the instructor's own writing, no sources, ~190 words):

The first time I tried to teach my younger sister to ride a bike, I spent the whole afternoon lying. "You've got it," I kept saying, jogging beside her with one hand hovering over the seat, even though she wobbled every few feet and I could see her knuckles going white on the handlebars. The driveway smelled like hot asphalt. A sprinkler ticked two yards over. Every time she tipped, I caught her before she knew she was falling, and every time, I told her she'd done it herself.

She didn't learn to ride that day. She learned the afternoon I finally let go without telling her — when I stopped running, stopped narrating, and just watched her pull away from me, crooked and furious and upright, all the way to the mailbox before she realized I wasn't holding on.

I've thought about that a lot since. The help that actually helped wasn't the hand on the seat or the cheerful lie. It was the letting go. Sometimes the most useful thing you can do for someone is to stop catching them.

Why this earns full marks (the grading targets):
- Focus & significance (30): the point — real help is sometimes letting go, not holding on — is earned by the events and lands in the final lines without being announced up front.
- Organization (25): clear chronology (the lying afternoon → the day she learned → reflection), with a scene that carries the point and summary around it.
- Showing (25): concrete sensory detail (hot asphalt, the ticking sprinkler, white knuckles, "crooked and furious and upright") shows the tension and the triumph; "I spent the whole afternoon lying" shows rather than tells.
- Clarity & voice (20): plain, controlled sentences in a consistent voice; no purple prose; within range for a paragraph-level model (a full essay would extend the scene and reflection to 600–900 words).

Expository note: a full-credit expository essay would instead open with a clear controlling idea, organize by process or logical order (with first/next/finally transitions), explain with concrete examples, and end by restating the idea "in light of" what was shown — no story required.

Quality gate (self-checked) — citation-integrity + correct-conventions: PASS. This assignment and its model contain no quotations, no outside sources, and no citations (research and MLA come in Weeks 9–12; a personal narrative needs none), so there is nothing to fabricate or misattribute; the model passage is entirely the instructor's own writing. The model demonstrates the rubric's moves (significance, chronology, showing, voice) correctly, and its grammar/mechanics are clean. The rubric the coach embeds matches this instructor rubric exactly.

Canvas placement block

canvas_object    = Assignment
title            = "Week 5 Assignment — Narrative/Expository Essay (MAJOR ESSAY, adaptive)"
assignment_group = "Assignments"
points_possible  = 100
grading_type     = points
assignment_type  = adaptive
submission_types = [online_text_entry, online_upload, online_url]   # finished essay + the report (score on line 1) + the chat share link
due_offset_days  = 6
published        = true
provenance       = "~ Prof. Lindgren's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com"

~ Prof. Lindgren's edition · Fall 2026 · built with thecoursemaker.com