BJ Novak Short Stories – Summative Analytical Paragraph Assessment (Differentiated, 9th-10th)

End your Novak unit with confidence—students choose their story and the level of challenge, while you get a ready-to-use, scaffolded analytical writing assessment.

This print + digital (Google Docs) resource provides a ready-to-use summative analytical paragraph assessment for B.J. Novak’s One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories.

What's Inside:

1. 3-level differentiated prompts
2. Prewriting organizers + sentence, and paragraph-frames
3. Peer Review worksheet
4. Analytical Paragraph rubric
5. Print + Google Doc formats

How it Works:

Students choose from differentiated prompts (levels 1–3) that guide them to analyze characterization, irony, and language devices (repetition, hyperbole, diction) in Novak’s short stories:

• The Rematch
• The Beautiful Girl in the Bookstore
• All You Have to Do + Missed Connection
• The Impatient Bilionaire and the Mirror for Earth
• I Never Want to Walk on the Moon

Why Teachers Love It:

• ✅ Scaffolded + Differentiated – three tiers of prompts to meet students where they are, from character analysis to theme and irony to more advanced literary device analysis.
• ✅ Graphic Organizers & Sentence Frames – step-by-step support for claims, evidence, reasoning, and full paragraph structure.
• ✅ Built-in Choice – students pick their story and prompt, making the assessment more engaging.
• ✅ Printable PDF + Editable Google Docs – ready to assign in any classroom setting.
• ✅ Rubric + Peer Review Worksheet included for easy grading and peer feedback.

This summative assessment is designed for Grades 8–10 ELA, but it works flexibly across high school English classrooms.

Perfect for:

• An end-of-unit assessment after reading Novak’s stories
• A summative writing task in a short story unit
• A practice literary analysis assignment to prep for high-stakes assessments

What's Not Included?

Please note that this assessment references selected stories from the collection, One More Thing by BJ Novak, but I do not own the rights to distribute the stories themselves.

You will need a copy of the story.

I recommend purchasing a copy of the text to use for yourself, previewing the text here, or borrowing from the library.