May 30

First, we did a writing into the day about voice.  (See slide 38 on the PowerPoint.)

Then, we went over MLA formatting.  You need the following:

• Double space (make sure to check the box that says “Don’t add spacing between paragraphs of the same styles”).
• Times New Roman 12 pt font
• 1 inch margins (Note: Versions of MS Word that are newer than 2003 will default to 1 X 1.25 inch margins.  You need to go in an change it.)
• In the top margin of the page on the right, you need your last name and page number.  The header should be Times New Roman 12 pt font as well.
• At the top of the page on the right (not in the margin), you need a heading with the following information:
• Your name
• Instructor’s name (Megan Keaton)
• Course (ENG 111-08)
• The date the draft is due
• The date should be written with the day first, then month, then year.  (4 June 2013)
• Make sure to change the date on each draft
• The heading needs to be double-spaced.
• After the heading, hit enter once and write the title in the center.  The title should be Times New Roman 12 pt font.  It should not be bolded, italicized or underlined.
• After the title, hit enter once and begin writing the paper.

Your first page should look like this:

Paragraph taken from http://grammar.about.com/od/developingparagraphs/a/confessionsslob.htm

We got into three groups and read the introduction and conclusions of articles.  Each group was assigned one article.  In these groups, we talked about what kind of introduction and conclusion the authors used and what he/she seemed to be doing in the introduction and conclusion.

To begin thinking about audience, we wrote down three names of people in our lives that exist in different circles.  For example, someone might have written the name of their best friend, the name of a parent and the name of their boss.  Megan told a story that ended in a person needing to be bailed out of jail and in need of clothing.  The class had to write text message to each of the three people explaining that they need to be picked up from jail, given money and brought clothing.  For individual writing, we answered the questions on slide 41 of the PowerPoint.

Finally, we looked at an effective example of a daybook reflection post and talked about why it is effective.  This example is on Moodle.

Homework:

• Read “Responding – Really Responding – to Other Students’ Writing” (on Moodle)
• Post a daybook reflection to your blog before Monday’s class
• Start drafting your Definition Essay
• Bring handout (on Moodle) on Monday

May 29

First, we completed the writing into the day about “rules” for a thesis (see PowerPoint slide 31).

Together, we created a class list of “rules” on the board.

• Blunt
• Informative
• Descriptive
• Concise
• Persuasive
• Clear message
• Located in introduction
• Short, not long winded
• Often expressed in one or two sentences
• Usually some form of statement
• Affirmative
• It doesn’t always have to be in the beginning of the paper
• It has to be explained or proven in the rest of the paper
• It should be restated in the conclusion
• Expressed throughout the paper, but not necessarily explicit
• It needs a centralized idea/main topic
• It should be used if you are writing opinion
• It shouldn’t be used if you are doing personal writing
• Without typing it back to the beginning, it’s not a thesis

Do you always need a thesis for academic writing?

• Not all academic writing will use a thesis because it can be personal
• Yes, because it follows a specific format, which requires a thesis.
• The thesis is your point.

How are you defining academic writing?

• A narrative is academic writing if your teacher asks you to write it.
• Writing in school, no matter the type of paper.  If it’s graded, it’s academic.
• Academic writing is research writing.
• Academic writing is writing that circulates through academic communities.

We discussed how what we believe about a thesis affects the way we write.

Next, we got into small groups and discussed the questions on slide 32 of the PowerPoint. We read the sentence on slide 33 and took one minute to rewrite it in our own words.  We did the same with the sentence on slide 34.  Then, we talked about which sentence is better for academic writing.  Most students agreed that sentence two is better because it is clear.  Some students, thought, argued that the first sentence is better because it sounds more sophisticated.

After this, we discussed slide 32 in whole group:

• Colorful and descriptive vocabulary
• Intelligent, no slang
• You can one word to replace several (use livid instead of very, very mad)
• You can replace words that you use all the time (grab a thesaurus)
• It depends on the writer and what words he/she wants to use/change
• It’s personal.  It’s a feeling.  You change what you don’t think sounds good or doesn’t flow.
• You need complete sentences.
• Punctuate correctly.  It makes a difference in how you read it (Let’s eat grandma.)
• Avoid run on and fragments.
• It needs to read naturally.  It should be choppy. 

• I have done research so I sound like I know what I am talking about.
• Use resources like the Easy Writer book.
• I first draft everything.
• Read it to someone.
• Read it aloud.
• I have always hated writing.
• I have a difficult time writing something that doesn’t interest me.
• I need to emotion or passion to write. 

Finally, we discussed the questions on slide 36 about specificity.

• Most of the time they have a specific topic they want you to write about.
• Without it, it’s going to be vague. The reader won’t be able to follow your writing.
• It’s more interesting if it’s specific.
• You can be too specific.  You can give too many irrelevant details.
• You need to have enough specificity to get the point across but not drown them in detail.
• It depends on the writing.  If you write about the war, you need to be specific about the war.  You want to entice your reader.
• You can be vague if you want them to draw your own conclusion.
• If you are writing a persuasive essay, you can’t be vague.
• You need to give insight.  If you are giving them information but not persuading them – letting them make their own conclusion – you’re being vague.  So it can be effective.
• You can’t be vague in informative writing because if you are vague you aren’t informing them.
• You might be vague in the definition essay.  Would that be effective or not?

Homework:

• Read Anne Lamott's "Finding Your Voice" (on Moodle) 

May 28

For writing into the day, we responded to the weekend's reading.  Then, we talked about the structure of the five paragraph essay and wrote it on the board:

Introduction (3-4 sentences)

• Outline/purpose of essay
• Thesis

Paragraph 1 (6-8 sentences)

• Transition
• Main idea/position for point 1
• Supporting information/quotes/examples
• Mini-thesis/conclusion of thought

Paragraph 2 (6-8 sentences)

• Transition
• Main idea/position for point 2
• Supporting information/quotes/examples
• Mini-thesis/conclusion of thought

Paragraph 3 (6-8 sentences)

• Transition
• Main idea/position for point 3
• Supporting information/quotes/examples
• Mini-thesis/conclusion of thought

Conclusion (3-4 sentences)

• Summary of paper
• Restate thesis

In small groups, we discussed the questions on slide 28 of the PowerPoint.  In whole group, we had the following discussion:

• My experience with the five paragraph essay is in school.
• Our experiences with the outline we made on the board.
• My only experience is early high school.
• The department of education says that teachers have to use it.
• The five-paragraph essay is the building blocks.  It is the structure to expand off of.  Instead of a five-paragraph, you can move it into a five page.
• Teacher said: “The structure is used to review and ensure information retention.”
• It helps them to look at all the students’ papers and have a structure to grade it.  It makes it easier for them to look at.
• Small in class assignment and other assignments that aren’t important can use the five-paragraph essay.
• The five-paragraph essay helps organize your paper.
• It’s a structured way to write your thoughts and a structured way to write your essay.
• It’s a basic form.
• The five-paragraph essay is the structure that sticks with most students.
• You can’t boil it down passed a five-paragraph essay.  If you don’t introduce your topic and have your points in order, it’s going to be confusing and off topic.
• With the format, you might have two paragraphs on one topic.
• In speech class, if you use the five-paragraph essay, you have a pretty good speech.  It can generate a 3-5 minute speech.
• You can use it as a structure to start the drafts.  Then you don’t need to follow it with the second draft.
• You might not use it with a research paper.
• We wouldn’t be taught it if it was ineffective.
• It’s not effective for good academic writing in college.  It’s a good starting place.
• You still need to use the structure, you’re still use the structure.
• You might use more than five-paragraphs, it’s still the structure.
• It’s not broken; it’s just elementary.
• It’s what-not-to-do in college.
• You can’t go that much into detail with the five-paragraph essay.
• It’s more for learning the standard.  Then you have to throw it out the window.
• Using only five paragraph is early school.
• The structure works (introduction, body, conclusion).  Using only five paragraphs doesn’t always work.
• The introduction is always true (attention grabber, details that you’ll use in the paper, thesis).
• For personal narrative, you might not need a thesis.
• You can use this as an effective introduction:

1. Attention grabber
2. Motivator (why this matters to your audience)
3.  Establish your credibility
4. Present central idea
5. Preview of your main points

• I had a teacher who said he didn’t want “In conclusion” and a summary of your points.
• We summarize at the end for the repetition and they remember it.  It’s a connection between all of your points.  It’s tying it together.
• Some papers are long.  It refreshes the ideas in the paper.
• In a speech, they always sum it up.
• Whoever is reading your paper, the last thing they read will be the thing they remember.
• It’s what you want them to understand when they are done reading your paper.

We completed independent writing about the questions on slide 29 of the PowerPoint.  We concluded with the following discussion:

• The amount of information you know will affect the length.  You might have three paragraphs on one point.
• I organize my paper based on what the subject is.  I make an outline.
• I ask the professor what he/she wants.
• You move on when you have completed your thoughts; then you start a new paragraph.
• I usually start a new paragraph after 5-6 sentences.
• The point of each paragraph is to push an idea out.  If it doesn’t fit into the whole of the paper, it doesn’t belong.
• The outline is so important to your organization because you are deciding what goes in each section.
• Everything starts and ends with your outline.  When you have that done, detail by detail, all you have to do is transfer it and add words.
• Outline topics and subtopics.
• I wean out the stuff that isn’t entertaining because I want my writing to entertain.
• If you just start writing, you can generate something even if you don’t have an outline.
• You figure out what the subject is and what points you need to explain in order to get your ideas across.  If you are talking about baking a cake, the introduction will say that you are going to take about mixing the ingredients, preheating the oven, etc.  You can put it chronologically.
• I haven’t learned another way to brainstorm other than outlining.
• You have to start off writing it and then take out what needs to be taken out.
• How you write, when you end, etc will be determined by your audience.
• Revision helps you know if you have said enough or said too much.  You need to rewrite it.
• You can get a peer or teacher to read it and ask for when it should end.
• If I said what I need to say, you’ll feel comfortable.  You’ll know it needs to end.
• That’s why you need a narrower topic.

To think about how to organize and conclude a paper, we created a hypothetical paper on the board.  The paper is about three students taking the same three topics.  The paper follows each student through each subject and discusses the strengths and struggles each student has in each class.  First, we debated how the paper should be organized and what information should go in which paragraphs.  

Next, we decided on the purpose of the paper.  We said the purpose was to find out which strategies are most effective for learning.  With that purpose in mind, we thought about how to conclude the essay.  We said we could end it with analysis (explaining generally what worked or did not work.  In this kind of conclusion, we would assert things like, "Flashcards seem to be most effective for learning in math." We also said you could conclude by answering the question, "What is the point of this paper?"  In this case, we could write sentences like, "If flashcards are effective in math, we might also be able to use them in other subjects like english."

Homework:

The following readings can be found in Models for Writers:

• Read "Simplicity" on pages 176-179.
• Read "Map Your Organization" on pages 17-18.
• Read "Thesis" on pages 81-83.

*Note: The homework is different than what is listed in the daily syllabus.  I changed the homework based on what we accomplished in class.