이번 주는 2006년 CST 라이팅에서 4점 만점을 받은 7학년 학생의 글을 살펴보도록 하겠습니다.

그 해에 7학년 학생들에게 출제된 지문은 ‘펜스의 양면’(Both Sides of the Fence)이라는 짧은 글을 읽고 이에 대해 글을 쓰는 것이었습니다. 일종의 짧은 독후감(response to literature)이라고 할 수 있겠습니다.

독후감에 있어 가장 중요한 것은 글의 주제(theme), 즉 작가가 말하고자 하는 바를 정확하게 간파하고 이에 대해 글을 풀어 가는 것이라 할 수 있겠습니다. 그러나 사실 한 권의 책을 읽고 주제를 파악하기란 책을 좋아하고 책을 많이 읽은 학생들에게도 쉬운 일은 아닙니다. 결국 어려서부터 책을 무조건 다독하는 것뿐 아니라 책을 읽은 후에 작가가 말하고자 하는 바가 무엇인지를 논리적으로 판단하고 인지하는 훈련을 하는 것이 중요하다고 할 수 있겠습니다.

이외에도 글의 구성과 플롯, 캐릭터를 파악하는 훈련 역시 어려서부터 해야 커서까지 그 습관이 책을 읽으면서 자연스럽게 체득될 수 있다는 사실도 명심하셔야 합니다.

4점을 받은 학생의 글은 다음과 같습니다. 다음 주엔 이 학생의 글이 좋은 점수를 받을 수 있었던 이유에 대해 알아보도록 하겠습니다.

◆Prompt
In “Both Sides of the Fence,” the character of Alberto changes dramatically. Use details from the narrative to explain what lesson Alberto learns and how he learns it.

◆Student Paper
“It bears the finest blossoms and the finest apples. That makes me the finest man in the pueblo.” This is what the greedy Alberto brags to his respectful neighbor Juan about every day. In the beginning of the story, Alberto is stuck-up and overly proud about his lovely apple tree. His neighbor Juan teaches Alberto to appreciate the things people do for him instead of being selfish about his tree. Alberto learns this important lesson when Juan bakes him a cake made of apples.

Alberto is a very greedy and rude neighbor. In the spring, he fenced up his apple tree so that no other people could see it but him. Soon after he built the fence, Alberto found a branch poking into Juan’s yard. This angered Alberto so much that he wanted to take Juan to court. Alberto should thank Juan for all of the good deeds he had done for him.

Unlike Alberto, Juan is a kind and respectful man. He has very little to offer, and he does the best he can to feed his family. When he finds the tree in his yard, Juan starts to cherish it. The branch gives him shade in the Summer and beautiful blossoms in Spring. Juan even bakes a cake made of apples for Alberto, and Alberto thinks he is teasing him.

The character Alberto changes in many ways throughout the story. He is foolish to think Juan would tease him with an apple cake in the beginning of the story. When he is trying to make his statement for court, Alberto starts to realize that Juan might have actually done something kind for him. Alberto heads next door and Juan explains how much he appreciated the branch. As soon as Juan finished his speech, Alberto learned how much of a monster he had been to Juan.
The lesson that Alberto learned was an important and life-changing one. Juan showed him that greed and selfishness does not make a good man. At the beginning of the story, Alberto did not appreciate anything Juan did for him, and after Juan baked him a cake and told him the story of the branch, Alberto learned that there are people who appreciate the things you do for them. In the end, Alberto had forgotten everything that had happened and joined the poor family during dinner giving them his finest apples from the finest apple tree in the pueblo.


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