Asia Jones

January 25, 2018

First Period: 7A

Lyddie’s Decision

Imagine that you are a girl that works so hard everyday in bad working conditions

and gets paid hardly anything. In Katherine Paterson’s novel Lyddie, Lyddie is the main

character and she moves to the Lowell from her family farm, as she works in a place

that does not pay well, has bad working conditions, and the work she does is too hard.

However, she can make it better if she signs the petition. If she signs the petition that's

been going around then the factory, work would get better. Lyddie should sign the

petition because they get paid less than what they should, the work conditions are bad,

and the work she does is too hard.

Lyddie should sign the petition because the work conditions are bad. In chapter

13, Lyddie was working in the spinning room, when the loom fell apart and injured her.

“Before she could think she was on the floor, blood pouring through the hair near her

right temple … the shuttle, that blasted shuttle.”(102) This shows that Lyddie the

conditions in the factory are now impacting Lyddie’s health and safety. Lyddie should

sign the petition because it is possible that she get hurt again, or someone else can get

hurt.

Lyddie should sign the petition because her and the other factory girls get paid

less than what they work for. Lyddie has been working on at least four looms and is still

not getting the right amount of money. In Chapter 12 it states, “Our wages have gone

down more often than they’ve gone up.”( 92) This show that their wages are lower than

what they are supposed to and they keep going down. Lyddie show sign the petition

because her hard work is being taken advantage of. Lyddie is one of the best workers at

the factory, and does not get enough money to show she is cared for.
 Lyddie should sign the petition because the work is too hard. The girls work

thirteen hours and when they get home they are worn out by the work. In Chapter 12 it

states, “ When I started in the spinning room, I could do a thirteen-hour day and to

spare. But in those days I had a hundred thirty spindles to tend. Now I’ve twice that

many at a speed that would make the devil curse.”(page 91) This shows that at once

the work that the girls were doing was manageable and they were able to work with a

good amount of spindles. But now they have a lot of spindles and they can not handle it.

She must sign the petition for better conditions if she plans on staying alive and healthy

to provide for her family.

Although some people think Lyddie should not sign the petition I think that she

should sign the petition. People might think she should not sign the petition because

she will get blacklisted ad she will be dismissed. But her health and quality of life are

more important that het just taking care of her sister and family. Lyddie should sign the

petition because they get paid less, the work conditions are bad, and the work she does

is too hard.
 7th Grade Argument Writing Rubric TOTAL SCORE: 15.70/ 16

Criteria 4 3
CLAIM AND - clearly introduce the text
and the claim in a manner
REASONS: that is compelling and
the extent to which the follows logically
essay conveys - claim and reasons
complex ideas and demonstrate insightful
information clearly and analysis of the text(s)
accurately in - acknowledges
order to logically counterclaim(s) skillfully and
support the author’s smoothly 3.9
claim.
- develop
COMMAND OF
the claim with relevant, well-
EVIDENCE: chosen facts, concrete
the extent to which details, quotations, or
examples from the text(s)
the essay presents
- sustain the use of varied,
evidence from the
relevant evidence
provided texts to
- skillfully explain how
support argument evidence supports ideas 3.9
COHERENCE, exhibit clear organization, with
the skillful use of appropriate
ORGANIZATION, and varied transitions to create
AND STYLE: the a unified/ enhance meaning.
extent to which the establish/maintain a formal style,
using grade-appropriate,
essay logically
stylistically sophisticated
organizes complex language and domain-specific
ideas, concepts, vocabulary.
and information provide a concluding statement
or section that is compelling and
using formal style follows clearly from the claim
and precise and reasons presented 4
language
CONTROL OF demonstrate grade-
appropriate command of
CONVENTIONS: the conventions, with few errors
extent to which the essay
demonstrates command 3.9
of capitalization,
punctuation, and spelling
Asia, I hope you are able to acknowledge how deep your analysis now are once you dug deep into the importance, and
relevance of selecting your evidence! Some of your evidence requires a more in- depth context for a reader to understand, but
overall you have produced a high quality yet again. So proud of all of your hard work, and commitment to the writing process.
clearly introduce the text
and the claim in a
manner that follows from
the task and purpose
- claim and reasons
demonstrate grade-
appropriate analysis of
the text(s)
- acknowledges
counterclaim(s)
appropriately
- develop the claim with
relevant facts, details,
quotations, or other
examples from the text(s)
- sustain the use of
relevant evidence, with
some lack of variety
- logically explain how
evidence supports ideas
exhibit clear organization,
with the use of appropriate
transitions to create a
unified whole
establish and maintain a
formal style using precise
language and domain-
specific vocabulary
provide a concluding
statement or section that
follows from the claim and
reasons presented
demonstrate grade-
appropriate command
of conventions, with
occasional errors that do
not hinder
comprehension
2 1
- introduce the text and
the claim in a manner that
follows generally from the
task and purpose
- claim and reasons
demonstrate a literal
comprehension of the
text(s)
- acknowledges
counterclaim(s) awkwardly
- partially develop the
claim of the essay with the
use of some textual
evidence, some of which
may be irrelevant
- use relevant evidence
inconsistently
sometimes logically explain
how evidence supports
ideas
exhibit some attempt at
organization, with
inconsistent use of transitions
establish but fail to maintain
a formal style, with
inconsistent use of language
and domain-specific
vocabulary
provide a concluding
statement or section that
follows generally the claim
and reasons presented
demonstrate emerging
command of conventions,
with some errors that may
hinder comprehension
- introduce the text and the
claim in a manner that does
not logically follow from the
task and purpose
- claim and reasons
demonstrate little
understanding of the text(s)
- does not acknowledge
counterclaim(s)
- demonstrate an attempt to
use evidence, but only
develop ideas with minimal,
occasional evidence that is
generally invalid or irrelevant
- attempt to explain how
evidence supports ideas
exhibit little attempt at
organization, or attempts to
organize are irrelevant to the
task
lack a formal style, using
language that is imprecise or
inappropriate for the text(s) and
task
provide a concluding statement
or section that is illogical or
unrelated to the claim and
reasons presented
demonstrate a lack of
command of conventions,
with frequent errors that hinder
comprehension
0
- claim and reasons
demonstrate a lack of
comprehension of the
text(s) or task
- provide no evidence
or provide evidence
that is completely
irrelevant
- does not explain how
evidence supports
ideas
exhibit no evidence of
organization
use language that is
predominantly
incoherent or copied
directly from the text(s)
do not provide a
concluding statement or
section
are minimal, making
assessment of
conventions unreliable