Text- Dependent Analysis Writing Assignment
“The Hill We Climb”
Prompt: In the poem “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman, the poet uses symbols to represent other ideas within the poem. Write an essay analyzing how Gorman uses certain words to symbolize ideas. Use evidence from the text to support your response.
Directions:
Deconstruct the prompt by numbering and underlining the tasks you must complete. Circle the keywords as well.
Write a text-dependent analysis essay (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion). Each body paragraph should be no less than 8 sentences.
In your introduction, be sure to restate the prompt and introduce the topic (TAG Sentence).
In your body paragraph, be sure to completely answer the question and use evidence from the text. Explain your evidence clearly.
In your conclusion, be sure to restate the prompt again (including the title and author) and summarize your main point.
TDA Grading Ru
ic
CATEGORY
4
3
2
1
0
Response to Prompt
Effectively addresses all parts of the prompt with clear analytic understanding of the text
Adequately addresses the prompt with sufficient analytic understanding of the text
Inconsistently addresses the prompt with partial analytic understanding of the text
Minimally addresses the prompt with the inadequate analytic understanding of the text
Off-prompt/No attempt to complete task
Organization
Strong organizational structure with effective introduction, development, and conclusion
Appropriate organizational structure with clear introduction, development, and conclusion
Weak organizational structure with weak introduction, development, and conclusion
Minimal evidence of an organizational structure with no clear introduction, development, or conclusion
Not complete or not enough completed to provide a grade
Content
Substantial reference to main ideas and relevant key details of the text to support the writer’s purpose
Sufficient reference to the main ideas and relevant key details of the text to support the writer’s purpose
Weak reference to the main ideas and details of the text
Minimal reference to the main ideas and details of the text
Not complete or not enough completed to provide a grade
Analysis
Thorough analysis of explicit and implicit meanings from the text that effectively support ideas
Sufficient or appropriate analysis of explicit and implicit meanings that support ideas
Weak or inconsistent analysis of explicit and implicit meanings that somewhat support ideas
Insufficient or no analysis of the text
Not complete or not enough complete to provide a grade
Textual Evidence
Substantial, accurate, and direct reference to the text using relevant key details, examples, quotes, facts, and/or definitions
Sufficient, accurate, and direct reference to the text using relevant details, examples, quotes, facts, and/or definitions
Vague reference to the text using some details, examples, quotes, facts, and/or definitions
Insufficient, little or no reference to the text.
Not complete or not enough complete to provide a grade
Transitions
Skillful use of transitions to link ideas
Appropriate use of transitions to link ideas
Inconsistent use of transitions to link ideas
Few, if any, transitions to like ideas
Not complete or not enough complete
Precise Language
Effective use of precise language and vocabulary drawn from the text to explain topic
Appropriate use of precise language and vocabulary drawn from the text to explain topic
Inconsistent use of precise language and vocabulary
Little to no use of precise language and vocabulary
Not complete or not enough complete to grade
Mechanics
No or very few grammatical, spelling or punctuation e
ors.
Some grammatical, spelling or punctuation e
ors
Several E
ors grammatical spelling, or punctuation e
ors.
Very many grammatical, spelling, or punctuation e
ors.
Not complete or not enough complete to provide grade
POEM BEING USED FOR ESSAY
“The Hill We Climb”
Amanda Gorman
When day comes we ask ourselves,
Where can we find light in this never-ending shade?
The loss we ca
y,
A sea we must wade
We’ve
aved the belly of the beast
We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace
And the norms and notions
Of what just is
Isn’t always justice
And yet the dawn is ours
Before we knew it
Somehow we do it
Somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed
A nation that isn’t
oken
But simply unfinished
We the successors of a country and time
Where a skinny Black girl
Descended from slaves and raised by a single mothe
Can dream of becoming President
Only to find herself reciting for one
And yes we are far from polished
Far from pristine
But that doesn’t mean we are
Striving to form a union that is perfect
We are striving to forge a union with purpose
To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters
And conditions of man
And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us
But what stands before us
We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,
We must first put our differences aside
We lay down our arms
So we can reach out our arms
To one anothe
We seek harm to none and harmony for all
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew
That even as we hurt, we hoped
That even as we tired, we tried
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious
Not because we will never again know defeat
But because we will never again sow division
Scripture tells us to envision
That everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree
And no one shall make them afraid
If we’re to live up to our own time
Then victory won’t lie in the blade
But in all the
idges we’ve made
This is the promised glade
The hill we clim
If only we dare
It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit
It’s the past we step into
And how we repair it
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation
Rather than share it
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy
And this effort very nearly succeeded
But while democracy can be periodically delayed
It can never be permanently defeated
In this truth
In this faith we trust
For while we have our eyes on the future
History has its eyes on us
This is the era of just redemption
We feared at its inception
We did not feel prepared to be the heirs
Of such a te
ifying hou
But within it we found the powe
To author a new chapte
To offer hope and laughter to ourselves
So while once we asked
How could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?
Now we assert
How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?
We will not march back to what was
But move to what shall be
A country that is
uised, but whole
Benevolent but bold
Fierce and free
We will not be turned around
Or inte
upted by intimidation
Because we know our inaction and inertia
Will be the inheritance of the next generation
Our blunders become their burdens
But one thing is certain:
If we merge mercy with might,
And might with right,
Then love becomes our legacy
And change our children’s birthright
So let us leave behind a country
Better than the one we were left with
Every
eath from my
onze-pounded chest
We will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one
We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west
We will rise from the windswept northeast
Where our forefathers first realized revolution
We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states
We will rise from the sunbaked south
We will rebuild, reconcile and recove
And every known nook of our nation and
Every corner called our country
Our people diverse and beautiful will emerge
Battered and beautiful
When day comes we step out of the shade
Aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light
If only we’re
ave enough to see it
If only we’re
ave enough to be it