Literary Analysis Guided Drafts Rubric: Explanation Lesson

In a literary analysis essay, strong explanation

points out what your readers should notice about your evidence and
explains how the evidence supports your topic sentence.

If you don’t make the connection between your evidence and your topic sentence clear, your readers might not understand your analysis.

Topic Sentence: The witty nicknames of the characters at Camp Green Lake often reveal hidden parts of their histories.

Evidence: For example, readers learn the true origin of Zero’s nickname when Zero tells Stanley, "My real name is Hector. . . . Hector Zeroni" (Sachar 119).

Explanation Connects Evidence to Topic Sentence

In disclosing Zero’s last name for the first time, Sachar lets readers know that Zero is related to Madame Zeroni, the wise old woman who cursed Stanley’s great-great-grandfather.

This explanation clarifies how Zero’s nickname reveals a hidden aspect of his history, therefore supporting the topic sentence.

Explanation Doesn’t Show Readers What to Notice

Zero is a descendant of the wise old woman who cursed Stanley’s great-great-grandfather.

Here, the writer has not clearly identified what part of the evidence lets readers know that Zero is related to Madame Zeroni.

Explanation Doesn’t Explain Evidence

The revelation of Zero’s full name shows that his nickname is simply a shortened version of his last name and has nothing to do with his personality.

This explanation does not connect the evidence to the idea that this name reveals a hidden part of Zero’s history.

Sachar, Louis. Holes. Kindle ed., Random House Children’s Books, 2011.