ASSESSMENT AND SUPPORT
Embedding and contextualising evidence
Assessment Criteria and What A Good One Looks Like
Below you will find the Skill Check assessment criteria for this skill, and underneath you will find two examples of what a good one looks like, with a brief explanation of how each one fits the criteria.
Assessment Criteria for Embedding and contextualising evidence
minus
any of these things
Basic task instructions have not been followed (e.g. the student tries to analyse the evidence)
No attempt to provide context or to embed the quotation
Uses the phrase “it says” to introduce quotation
equals
all of these things
Some valid context provided for the quotation(s)
Attempts made to embed the quotation(s), though perhaps not entirely successfully
plus
all of these things
Clear context provided for the quotation(s), using the present tense
Quotation(s) are successfully embedded in into the context, though not necessarily seamlessly
star
all of these things
Precise context provided for the quotation(s) — thorough but not waffle — using the present tense
Quotation(s) are seamlessly embedded, with grammatical agreement, with square brackets used, if required
What a good one looks like — one quote
Example task
In this extract from chapter 3 of ‘Lord of the Flies’, Jack is hunting for a pig.
There was only the faintest indication of a trail here; a cracked twig and what might be the impression of one side of a hoof. He lowered his chin and stared at the traces as though he would force them to speak to him. Then dog-like, uncomfortably on all fours yet unheeding his discomfort, he stole forward five yards and stopped.
Write the evidence part of a PEA paragraph which contextualises this section of the text, using the underlined section as a quotation which is embedded into the context.
Example response
When Jack goes out hunting alone at the start of chapter 3, he finds the tracks of a pig and squats on all-fours, “dog-like”, as he follows the tracks.
Notes on this response
It is only the evidence part of a PEA paragraph (e.g. it doesn’t try to analyse the quotation)
It provides precise context for the quotation (i.e. what is going on in the story at this time) without unnecessary waffle
It’s written in the present tense
The quotation is embedded seamlessly into the sentence, with correct grammar and punctuation
What a good one looks like — multiple quotes
Example task
The following extract comes from the start of Stave 2 of A Christmas Carol when the Ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge into his own past.
The Spirit gazed upon him mildly. Its gentle touch, though it had been light and instantaneous, appeared still present to the old man’s sense of feeling. He was conscious of a thousand odours floating in the air, each one connected with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long, forgotten!
Write the evidence part of a PEA paragraph which contextualises this section of the text, using the underlined sections as quotations which are embedded into the context.
Example response
When Scrooge is first taken back into his own childhood in Stave 2, he quickly becomes “conscious of a thousand odours floating in the air” and each of these odours brings with it “a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long, forgotten!”
Notes on this response
It is only the evidence part of a PEA paragraph (e.g. it doesn’t try to analyse the quotation)
It provides precise context for the quotation (e.g. “his own childhood”) without unnecessary waffle
It’s written in the present tense, and the past tense part of the quotation (“was”) has been left out as it’s at the very start of the quotation — this is perfectly fine to do.
The two quotations are seamlessly embedded in the sentence in such a way that they make sense to the reader; if you read this aloud you wouldn’t be able to tell which parts were quotations