Novel Study: Coraline Quality Guide
This guide describes an analytical essay about Coraline for a reader who knows the novel and expects an argument. It is formative: use it to plan, self-check, and give peer feedback. It contains no scores, bands, levels, or confidential marking material.
How to use this guide. Read the whole guide before you draft. Choose one criterion to work on in each revision pass. A useful self-check names a specific sentence or choice, not a general feeling.
1. An arguable thesis
What strong work does. The essay makes a claim that a reasonable reader could challenge. It is specific to the novel, not a general statement about childhood or courage.
Ask your draft. What would someone who disagrees with me say?
Revision move. Rewrite the thesis as a “Although …, the novel suggests …” sentence.
2. Evidence chosen for a reason
What strong work does. Quotations and details are short, accurate, and selected because they prove the claim. They are embedded in the argument.
Ask your draft. What does this detail do that another detail would not?
Revision move. Cut one quotation and replace it with a shorter phrase that carries more weight.
3. Explanation of effect
What strong work does. The essay explains how language, structure, or imagery shapes the reader’s understanding. It does not stop at naming a technique.
Ask your draft. What does this image make the reader notice or fear?
Revision move. Add a sentence beginning “This makes the reader … because …”.
4. Pattern across the novel
What strong work does. The essay connects a moment to a pattern elsewhere in the text, showing development or repetition.
Ask your draft. Where else does this pattern appear, and how is it different there?
Revision move. Add one later echo and explain what changed.
5. Structure and cohesion
What strong work does. Paragraphs build the argument in a deliberate order. Transitions show the relationship between ideas.
Ask your draft. What does each paragraph add that the previous one could not?
Revision move. Reorder two body paragraphs and see which order makes the argument stronger.
6. Control of language
What strong work does. Expression is precise, varied, and proofread. Quotations are punctuated accurately.
Ask your draft. Have I explained every quotation I have used?
Revision move. Read aloud and fix the three sentences that lose you.
Peer feedback protocol
- Read or view the whole draft once without writing anything.
- Name one strength using the language of the guide: “The … works because …”.
- Ask one genuine question about a choice you could not follow.
- Offer one specific next move that the maker can complete in the next lesson.
Do not give a score, a band, or a level. The purpose is to help the maker see their own draft more clearly.
Draft checklist
- My thesis is one arguable sentence.
- Every body paragraph has a claim, evidence, and explanation of effect.
- I have connected at least one moment to a pattern elsewhere.
- I have explained every quotation.
- My conclusion says something new about the argument, not just repeats it.
Teacher note
Use this guide formatively. Select two criteria for a feedback lesson rather than all of them. Model the difference between a general comment (“make it better”) and a specific one (“the second paragraph names a technique but does not say what it makes the reader notice”).
This page is not an assessment instrument. It contains no scores, bands, or confidential marking material.