Women Writers and the Contemporary Short Story
Douglas von Hollen
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Assessment throughout the unit needs to be an ongoing process. As mentioned, the very first activity should be an assessment of students’ prior knowledge. Student comprehension needs to be carefully monitored. Much like a math class, if the students do not grasp the essential components, then they will be severely disadvantaged when the instructor moves on to the more complex components of the short story. Ongoing assessment should be balanced between: 1) Careful review of written homework by the instructor. If students are expected to write a diagram of the plot showing specific example of each stage from the story, it is the teacher’s responsibility to check for that understanding in the written homework. 2) Quizzes on the meanings of specific terms should be given at the end or during each sub-section of the unit to ensure technical understanding of the words they have been asked to learn. 3) Students’ journal responses and verbal responses to questions in discussion need to be monitored and noted. If a student is noticeably confused, they need special attention or the aid of a peer tutor to ensure that they will not be left in the wake of a quickly moving class. At the end of the unit, a comprehensive assessment should be employed. This will require students to produce their own short stories accompanied by a detailed description of their specific use of the components and techniques. This will be further explained in the “Lessons and Class Activities” section of the unit.