AMERICAN
STUDIES Individual and National Identity Project
Uncle
Sam Trial
Name ________________
____ Pre-trial
Preparation (Individual performance)
60 __ You
researched and presented information in writing that will help your group’s case in the trial
__ Your information is from a minimum of three sources
__ You provided an annotated bibliography of
your sources in the proper format
__ You fully participated each day that
your group met to plan the trial, sharing your information and
helping
to create questions and answers for each of your witnesses
__ You turned in detailed notes of all of the
questions you will ask, all of the points you will make in
answer to those
questions, and your written statements of your opening and closing arguments
__ Your notes show an awareness of the opposing
side, including arguments that
would serve to refute those opposing arguments
__ Your notes are logically organized
____ The Trial
(Individual and group
performance)
50 __ Your group maintained a clear focus on
arguing your side of the assigned issue
__ Your group’s side in the trial lasted 18-20
minutes
__ You evenly divided duties among your group
members
__ All of your witnesses were clearly distinct
in their viewpoints
__ After the opposing side has testified, you
asked one strong question of one of their witnesses that
could
damage their case
__ Your lawyer(s) presented clear opening and
closing statements, as well as intelligent questions to
promote
your side of the issue
__ You provided clear, intelligent answers to
your questions from the perspective of one or two
important historical political figures and an average
person personally impacted by the
event
__ You individually demonstrated understanding
of the issues, were well prepared, articulated your
points clearly, and responded with strong
elaboration and detail (i.e., you performed your
role with style and substance)
____ Audience Notes
10 __ You turned
in thorough, intelligent notes from all of the other group’s trials, to be
used in writing
your in-class essay
__ Your notes include specific references to the
various trials, showing clearly that you were listening
during each trial
____ In-Class Essay
50 (see separate
scoring rubric)
____ Total Score
170
AMERICAN
STUDIES Individual and National Identity Project
In-Class
Essay
Name
_________________
____ Ideas and Development
25 __ You wrote approximately 400-500 words on
the assigned topic
__ Clear, concise thesis statement on the guilt
or innocence of Uncle Sam in one of the
other group’s
trials
__ Abundant specific details and reasons to
support your viewpoint
__ Your supporting details come directly from
the information provided in the trials, not from thin air
__ You showed good judgment in your choice of
details
__ Clear focus on the given topic
____ Organization
10 __ Clear,
appropriate introduction dealing with the trial you will be discussing
__ Logical paragraphing to help your reader (one
topic per paragraph)
__ Body paragraphs have enough detail to explain
each point
__ Clear, effective transitions between
paragraphs
__ Effective conclusion that ties up discussion
of the trial, along with providing some sort of
summary statement of your view of our national
identity based on what you have learned
____ Sentence Fluency and Voice
5 __ Your sentences are of varied length and
structure
__ Your word choice shows you are committed to
your viewpoint
____ Conventions
10 __ Neat and legible (in ink)
__ Spelling, punctuation, and usage errors were
minimal to nonexistent
__ Sentence structure errors (fragments,
run-ons, and comma splices) were avoided like the black
plague
____ Total Score
50