Essay Assignment Sheet #1
English 1A, Fall 2004, Sections #30023 and #30025 with Professor Decker
Essay #1 is due
Thursday, September 2, 2004. Note
that you must bring a draft to class on August 31, 2004, to get credit for the
peer-evaluation form.
The highest possible
score for this essay is 105. This
essay is worth 10 points of the final grade. To determine how many points
towards the final grade you have earned, multiple your grade by .1; this is
the number of points you have earned. Please note the following bonus and penalties apply.
Please note the following bonus and penalties apply:
+5 points if the essay is turned in any time between 8 a.m.,
August 26, and 5:30 p.m., September 1.
-5 points if the essay is turned in any time after the start
of class on September 2 up to 5:30 p.m. of September 9.
-5 if the essay is less than 750 words or more than 1,250
words.
-5 if the essay does not follow MLA-style
-5 if the draft is missing
-5 if the peer-evaluation form done in class on August 31 is
missing
-5 if there is no writing-center tutor sheet for a tutorial
session on the draft of the essay
-5 if the postscript exercise is incomplete or missing
-50 if the essay is not typed or is not on the assigned
topic
Read pages 80 to 93 and pages 130 to 141. Decide if you want to write an "observing" essay or a "remembering" essay. Your assignment is to write a 750 to 950-word essay that observes or remembers. Please note that you must use the genre of essay and cannot write a journal entry, letter, or Internet posting as is suggested on page 80, nor can you use the form of a letter that is suggested on page 130. Note also that because you are using the essay form, you will need a title. Whether you decide to observe or remember, the advice about titles on pages 88 and 89 will be helpful. In addition, the important tip about not showing your work to others too early in the writing process on page 90 is also good advice no matter what type of essay you are writing.
Before you select your specific topic, carefully reread the "Note" on page 131. To enjoy the experience of taking this 1A class, consider carefully if your topic is likely to make you more unhappy than happy. In addition, I want you to realize that no matter what type of audience you select, you have me as your real reader in reality. The more your essay's audience resembles me, the more likely your paper is to be successful in reaching the "audience." In addition, common sense suggests that you avoid writing to audiences that are impossible, extremely difficult, or offensive for me to attempt to become. For example, do not write to an audience of felons, pedophiles, or any group that advocates killing people because of their race, religion, sex, or political beliefs. In essays #2 and #3, I will require you to use me or people like me as the audience, so this is an opportunity to write for a different group. It might be helpful to consider "people like yourself" as a good target audience. As you select your topic, you can focus in more clearly. The textbook's suggestion to model your essay on a magazine audience is a good one. Just make sure the magazine is one that you would not mind giving to your loved ones, your religious leaders, or your political heroes. If you would be embarrassed to be seen walking in public caring that magazine, do not use it as a model.
The textbook has many useful ideas for collecting information on your topic in the two sections "Collecting" on pages 81 to 83 and 131 to 132. You may have had success with a different prewriting strategy in the past and may want to use that instead or in addition to the recommended prewriting techniques. Whatever prewriting technique you use, it is extremely important that you turn off any critical part of yourself. Consider everything you write at this stage in the most positive, enthusiastic way possible. In trying to generate ideas, it is important that you accept everything and do not limit yourself. There is likely nothing that prevents creativity more than negative self-talk.
As you begin to shape your essay, keep the 750 to 950-word length in mind. Note carefully there is a penalty for being under 750 words or over 1,250 words. Use a word processor to draft your essay: every major word processing program allows you to do a word count. Ideally, as you shape your essay, you should use only one of the recommended patterns. For observing essays, pick spatial order, chronological order, comparison/contrast, classification, or definition (see pages 84 to 87 on each of these). Please note that you will want to incorporate short similes, metaphors, and analogies into any of these larger "shapes." For remembering essays, reread the suggestions on pages 133 to 137 to learn about potential shapes for your writing like the flashback or how to use voice, tone, and/or persona in your essay.
At this point you may want to outline further or to simply start your draft. Try to keep the creation stage and the revision stage of writing separate. When you are trying to create and draft, it is helpful to think of yourself as an excellent writer with excellent ideas. Love all your words. Then when you have a complete draft, you can take a break and change from "everything-I-write-is-wonderful" to being a critic. It is important to give yourself time to make this mental break. One of the reasons that it is so hard to write a paper the night before it is due is that you don't have time to fully experience each of these two basic stages of writing.
Make a neat, clean, typed, and proofread copy of your paper for peer-evaluation on August 31. You can take your draft (typed and proofread) to the Writing Center before or after the peer evaluation that we will do in class. You will need to visit the Writing Center with a typed draft before the due date of the paper.
Using the suggestions of your peer evaluator, the Writing Center tutor, and the textbook section on "Revising" (pages 90 to 93 for "observing"; pages 140-141 for "remembering"), further revise the draft. You can also come see me at my office hours with a draft for personal one-on-one tutoring. Then do the appropriate "Postscript" exercise (page 93 for "observing" or page 141 for "remembering"). Please note if you are observing, instead of placing brackets around a paragraph on your final draft, please just tell me which number paragraph on which page. For example, you might write, "My most vivid paragraph is the second paragraph on page 2 of my essay." If you are remembering, please add the asterisks in with a pencil or blue pen in one consistent margin:either the right or left margin.
Either staple together or place all of the following items in a folder:
(1) final version of essay;
(2) draft of essay with writing of peer evaluator, writing center tutor, or myself on
it;
(3) peer evaluation form done in class on August 31;
(4) tutor sheet from a writing-center tutorial on a draft of the essay;
(5) typed or handwritten answers to the questions of the appropriate "Postscript"
exercise (page 93 for "observing" or page 141 for "remembering").
Please staple or place the items in the folder in the order listed above.
The Grading Process and Criteria for Essay #1
I will grade your essay and return it to you within two weeks of the date I receive it. If for any reason, I will not be able to return your essay within this period, I will inform you as soon as possible and explain the cause of the problem. The official grading standards of the Chaffey College English department will be used to grade your paper. Please see these at http://www.chaffey.edu/english/handbook/grade.htm on the Internet.
Essay Assignment Sheet #2
English 1A, Fall 2004, Sections #30023 and #30025 with Professor Decker
Essay #2 is due
Thursday, September 16, 2004. Note
that you must bring a draft to class on September 14, 2004, to get credit for
the peer-evaluation form.
The highest possible
score for this essay is 105. This
essay is worth 10 points of the final grade. To determine how many points
towards the final grade you have earned, multiple your grade by .1; this is
the number of points you have earned. Please note the following bonus and penalties apply.
Please note the following bonus and penalties apply:
+5 points if the essay is turned in any time between 8 a.m.,
September 9, and 5:30 p.m., September 15.
-5 points if the essay is turned in any time after the start
of class on September 16 up to 5:30 p.m. of September 23.
-5 if the essay is less than 750 words or more than 1,250
words
-5 if the essay does not follow MLA-style
-5 if the draft is missing
-5 if the peer-evaluation form done in class on September 14
is missing
-5 if there is no writing-center tutor sheet for a tutorial
session on the draft of the essay
-5 if the postscript exercise is incomplete or missing
-5 if the "Works Cited" page is missing
-5 for each source outside of the textbook that you have
paraphrased, summarized, or cited, and have not turned in a photocopy or print
out of the relevant passages/sections of the source
-50 if the essay is not typed or is not on the assigned
topic
Read pages 188 to 202 and pages 540 to 552. Decide if you want to write a "summary and response" essay or a "responding to literature" essay (an "interpretation" is another way to say "responding to literature" essay). Follow the directions in the textbook for choosing a subject, but please read the special instructions that follow carefully. Follow the textbook's suggestions for collecting ideas, shaping your ideas into an outline, drafting, and revising as best as my special direction allow you to. You might also want to read over the general advice I gave on the assignment sheet for Essay #1.
Make a neat, clean, typed, and proofread copy of your paper for peer-evaluation on September 14. You can take your draft (typed and proofread) to the Writing Center before or after the peer evaluation that we will do in class. You will need to visit the Writing Center with a typed draft before the due date of the paper. Using the suggestions of your peer evaluator, the Writing Center tutor, and the textbook section on "Revising" (pages 200-201 for "summary and response"; pages 545-546 for an interpretation), further revise the draft. You can also come see me at my office hours with a draft for personal one-on-one tutoring. Don't forget to do the postscript exercise to turn in with the final version.
Special Instructions for "Summary and Response" Essay
For the "summary and response" essay, please summarize and respond to one of the following essays: (1) Margaret Talbot's "Les Trs Riches Heures de Martha Stewart" on pages 284-294; (2) Pico Iyer's "the Global Village Finally Arrives" on pages 295-299; or (3) Deborah Tannen's "How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently" on pages 301-306. Obviously, the first thing you need to do is look over these three essays and determine which one you want to write about. Once you have chosen the essay, read it carefully. You will probably need to use a dictionary and the Internet to fully understand these essays, all of which use sophisticated vocabularies and refer to many public figures or cultural events or phenomena that you must have some basic knowledge of in order to comprehend the essay. I recommend http://www.m-w.com/ for your online dictionary and http://www.google.com/ to search for basic information on unfamiliar people or events. You can use the Internet at the writing center. In addition I will be handing out and posting on my website reading guides to each of these essays. These reading guides should help you understand the essays. Keep track of any source you paraphrase, summarize, or cite. Carefully print out or make a copy of these sources if they are not part of our textbook; turn in these copies with your final version.
Each of these three essays is followed by "Questions for Writing and Discussion." These sets of questions can provide many ideas for your essay. Read the questions for the essay you have chosen to help you decide what sort of response you are going to make to the essay. Please note you may not use the form of a letter to an editor as recommended on page 188.
I would like you to write to me for your audience: a highly educated, well-read, Democratic, liberal, Unitarian Universalist, feminist, DINC, middle-class, middle-aged woman. You can look at my website (http://hal.ucr.edu/~cathy) to find out more about your audience, or you can come talk to me in my office during office hours. Please do not write your essay as a letter to me, however. Since I know many women who are similar to myself, your audience should be written more for the type of woman that I am, rather than to me the individual. Ideally, I should be so impressed with your essay that I ask permission to send a copy to my friends who would enjoy it. Remember that you do not have to share the philosophy or embrace the beliefs of your audience; you are simply being aware of the reader(s) and considering the biases and knowledge base of the audience.
The goal of your essay is to show me that you (1) have read and understood the essay; (2) can write a good, clear summary; (3) have thought deeply about the essay and done any research needed to understand it, and (4) have determined how you feel about the essay's structure, presentation, argument, and style. Your response should definitely include your response to the author's thesis or argument (do you agree or disagree and why). It may also focus on one or more of these aspects of the essay (structure, presentation, or style).
What I hope to see in each paper is a quick, accurate summary that refreshes my memory about the essay and a thoughtful response that shows me how another mind feels about this topic. I am hoping that my own understanding of these essays will be improved and enriched by learning how so many other people respond to them.
Connecting the essay to your own unique experiences is a sort of thing I am looking for:how do you, your family, and your friends feel about Martha Stewart, the "global village," or the use of language in the classroom? (Interestingly, according to Tannen, this use of personal anecdote is a typical female method of communicating.) Note however that the paper is to be 3 pages or about 750 to 900 words, so make sure plan your paper for this length. The summary section of the paper should be no longer than 300 words. Don't forget to do the postscript exercise.
For the "interpretation," please interpret one of the following short stories: Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" on pages 516-518; or (2) Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path" on pages 524-532. If you did not attend the class session of September 7th during which these stories were discussed and analyzed, I do not recommend that you write on either story. Please reread very carefully the "Note" on page 545 about one common way to fail the interpretation essay. A simple review of the plot is not an interpretation and will receive a grade of F. The reading guides on these two short stories that I will handout and make available on the Internet should help you with this paper.
Use the recommended audience on page 540 as your audience. Follow the advise of the textbook on page 542 to "Investigate the biographical, social, historical, or geographical content of the story. Locate a biography of the author [. . . .] Look at maps or descriptions of the setting for the story." I recommend that you use http://www.google.com/ as your search engine to locate this information. Be aware that the Google image search can also enrich your understanding of each short story. Carefully keep track of any sources that you plan to paraphrase, summarize, or cite. Print out or photocopy any source outside of the textbook that you paraphrase, summarize, or cite; turn in these copies with your final version.
Select one of the suggested shapes for your interpretation: explaining relationships, evaluating, arguing, or investigating changes in interpretation (see pages 543-545). Do not attempt to combine these strategies.
If you choose "explaining relationships," try to focus on relating an aspect of the story to either the theme or the major character. Obviously, relating the theme and the major character is a good choice. Be careful to distinguish theme from plot. The theme of a story is the general comment it offers on human existence.
If you choose "evaluating," make sure that the criteria you select are criteria that are fairly universal and appropriate for evaluating the story you have select. Do not select criteria that are idiosyncratic or not relevant or appropriate to the short stories we are working with, such as "all good short stories are based on historical events" or "the best short stories are about gun battles."
If you choose "arguing,"
you will need to cite sources for the opposite side of the argument. You can cite a class discussion or lecture
in addition to written sources. If you are not sure how to document in MLA-style
a class lecture or discussion, please consult me during my office hours.
Remember that you need to make a photocopy or print out of any written
source that you paraphrase, summarize, or cite.
Neatly label these copies
Before you write your final draft, I suggest rereading the "Guideline for Revisions" on page 546. These are also directions for how to write the interpretation as well as guides to revising an interpretation. Don't forget to do the postscript exercise.
Place all of the following items in a folder:
(1) final version of essay including an MLA-style "Works Cited" page;
(2) draft of essay with writing of peer evaluator, writing center tutor, or myself on
it;
(3) peer evaluation form done in class on September 14;
(4) tutor sheet from a writing-center tutorial on a draft of the essay;
(5) the photocopies or print outs of the sources you have paraphrase, summarized,
or cited (except for my reading guide or any text in the textbook);
(6) typed or handwritten answers to the questions of the appropriate "Postscript"
exercise (page 202 for "summary and response" or pages 546-547 for an
interpretation).
Please place the items in the folder in the order listed above.
I will grade your essay and return it to you within two weeks of the date I receive it. If for any reason, I will not be able to return your essay within this period, I will inform you as soon as possible and explain the cause of the problem. I will use the official grading standards of the Chaffey College English department.
Please see these on the Internet at http://www.chaffey.edu/english/handbook/grade.htm
Essay Assignment Sheet #3
English 1A, Fall 2004, Sections #30023 and #30025 with Professor Decker
Essay #3 is due
Tuesday, October 5, 2004. Note
that you must bring a draft to class on September 30, 2004, to get credit for
the peer-evaluation form.
The highest possible
score for this essay is 105. This
essay is worth 10 points of the final grade. To determine how many points
towards the final grade you have earned, multiple your grade by .1; this is
the number of points you have earned. Please note the following bonus and penalties apply.
Please note the following bonus and penalties apply:
+5 points if the essay is turned in any time between 8 a.m.,
September 28, and 5:30 p.m., October 4.
-5 points if the essay is turned in any time after the start
of class on October 5 up to 5:30 p.m. of October 12.
-5 if the essay is less than 750 words.
-5 if the essay does not follow MLA-style
-5 if the draft is missing
-5 if the peer-evaluation form done in class on September 30
is missing
-5 if there is no writing-center tutor sheet for a tutorial
session on the draft of the essay
-5 if the postscript exercise is incomplete or missing
-5 if the "Works Cited" page is missing
-5 if you used a questionnaire and did not turn in a copy of
it
-5 for each source outside of the textbook that you have
paraphrase, summarized, or cited, and have not turned in a photocopy or print
out of the relevant passages/sections of the source
-50 if the essay is not typed or is not on the assigned
topic
Read pages 244 to 258 and pages 307 to 321. Decide if you want to write an "investigating" essay or an "explaining" essay. If you decide to do an "explaining" essay, reread pages 276 to 282 to help you decide if you are going to explain what, explain how, or explain why.
Once again, as with Essay #2 (unless you chose the interpretation essay), I would like you to write to me (or rather to people like me) for your audience: highly educated, well read, Democratic, liberal, feminist, pro-choice, middle-class, middle-aged people who take a pluralist approach to religion or are highly tolerant and sensitive to the vast diversity of world religions. Again, please remember that you do not need to personally or promote any of the values or beliefs of this audience; your goal to present your investigation or explanation to such an audience in the most effective and compelling way.
Also, awareness of this audience
should guide you in choosing your topic. You must use the essay genre, so
do not write a pamphlet, website, letter, or Internet posting as suggested
on pages 244 and 308. Since the purpose of your paper is to investigate or
Whether you choose to write an "investigating" essay or an "explaining" essay, you need to carefully read pages 247 to 252, "Drafting" on page 256, and the blue box "Research Tips" on page 311. The directions for the "explaining" essay assume that students know the important information covered on pages 247 to 252 about using the library and source material, conducting interviews, or creating surveys. The "Drafting" section warns you about a "primary danger" in writing papers that you will want to avoid.
Once you have chosen a topic and done some collecting of information on that topic, it is time to shape the material and draft up the essay. Use the suggestions for shaping and outlining your essay in the textbook. There are also helpful tips to follow as you begin to draft your essay. It is useful to reread the tips for revision before you start drafting since these also give you good ideas about what makes a good essay.
Make a neat, clean, typed, and proofread copy of your paper for peer-evaluation on September 30. You can take your draft (typed and proofread) to the Writing Center before or after the peer evaluation that we will do in class. You will need to visit the Writing Center with a typed draft before the due date of the paper. Using the suggestions of your peer evaluator, the Writing Center tutor, and the textbook section on "Revising" (page 258 for "investigating"; pages 320 to 321 for "explaining"), further revise the draft. You can also come see me at my office hours with a draft for personal one-on-one tutoring.
Revise your draft and prepare the final version as explained below. Don't forget to do the postscript exercise.
Place all of the following items in a folder:
(1) final version of essay with an MLA-style "Works Cited" page;
(2) draft of essay with writing of peer evaluator, writing center tutor, or myself on
it;
(3) peer-evaluation form done in class on September 30;
(4) tutor sheet from a writing-center tutorial on a draft of the essay;
(5) copies of any survey used
and/or each source outside of the
textbook that you
have paraphrased, summarized, or cited;
and
(6) typed or handwritten answers to the questions of the appropriate "Postscript"
exercise (page 258 for "investigating" or page 321 for "explaining").
Please place the items in the folder in the order listed above.
I will grade your essay and return it to you within two weeks of the date I receive it. If for any reason, I will not be able to return your essay within this period, I will inform you as soon as possible and explain the cause of the problem. The official grading standards of the Chaffey College English department will be used to grade your paper. Please see these at http://www.chaffey.edu/english/handbook/grade.htm.
Essay Assignment Sheet #4
English 1A, Fall 2004, Sections #30023 and #30025 with Professor Decker
Essay #4 is due
Thursday, October 21, 2004. Note
that you must bring a draft to class on October 19, 2004, to get credit for the
peer evaluation form.
The highest possible
score for this essay is 105. This
essay is worth 10 points of the final grade. To determine how many points
towards the final grade you have earned, multiple your grade by .1; this is
the number of points you have earned. Please note the following bonus and penalties apply.
Please note the following bonus and penalties apply:
+5 points if the essay is turned in any time between 8 a.m.,
October 14, and 5:30 p.m., October 20.
-5 points if the essay is turned in any time after the start
of class on October 21 up to 5:30 p.m. of October 28.
-5 if the essay is less than 750 words.
-5 if the essay does not follow MLA-style
-5 if the draft is missing
-5 if the peer evaluation form done in class on October 19
is missing
-5 if there is no writing center tutor sheet for a tutorial
session on the draft of the essay
-5 if you used a questionnaire and did not turn in a copy of
it
-5 for each source outside of the textbook that you have
paraphrase, summarized, or cited, and have not turned in a photocopy or print
out of the relevant passages/sections of the source
-5 if the postscript exercise is incomplete or missing
-5 if the "Works Cited" page is missing
-50 if the essay is not typed or is not on the assigned
topic
Read pages 366 to 375 and pages 415 to 426. Decide if you want to write an "evaluating" essay or a "problem-solving" essay. Follow the directions in the textbook for choosing a subject, collecting ideas, shaping your ideas into an outline, drafting, and revising. You need to select your own audience for your evaluation or problem-solving paper; read the helpful suggestions on audience and purpose in your textbook.
As you collect information and source material, make sure to get all the information you will need to put in your "Works Cited" page. Note carefully what information you need to write citations for movies, music, menus (treat menus and/or brochures as pamphlets), interviews, etc. If you are going to summarize, paraphrase, or cite a published source, make a photocopy or print out to turn in with your final version. If you use a survey or questionnaire, make sure to turn in a copy of it. Please note the "research tip" on page 372, which discusses evaluating your sources for an evaluation. Even if you are writing the problem-solving essay, this is important information: not all sources are equally valuable, convincing, or reliable. It is important to qualify or limit some of your sources. If you are writing the problem-solving essay, it is important to also follow the suggestions of the "Research Tip" on page 420. By interviewing experts first, you can save yourself a lot of time and money (by not photocopying or printing sources you will not need).
Both the evaluating paper and the problem-solving paper will require you to come up with criteria (see pages 369 371 and 423). Follow the textbook's advice and commonsense in selecting your criteria; your topic, audience, and purpose will shape your choice of criteria.
Make a neat, clean, typed, and proofread copy of your paper for peer-evaluation on October 28. You can take your draft (typed and proofread) to the Writing Center before or after the peer evaluation that we will do in class. You will need to visit the Writing Center with a typed draft before the due date of the paper. Using the suggestions of your peer evaluator, the Writing Center tutor, and the textbook section on "Revising" (pages 372 to 374 for "evaluating"; pages 424 to 426 for "problem solving"), further revise the draft. You can also come see me at my office hours with a draft for personal one-on-one tutoring.
Finally, don't forget to do the postscript exercise (pages 374-375 for "evaluating" or page 426 for "problem solving"). This does not have to be typed.
Either staple together or place all of the following items in a folder:
(1) final version of essay;
(2) draft of essay with writing of peer evaluator, writing center tutor, or myself on
it;
(3) peer evaluation form done in class on August 31;
(4) tutor sheet from a writing-center tutorial on a draft of the essay;
(5) typed or handwritten answers to the questions of the appropriate "Postscript"
exercise (pages 374-375 for "evaluating" or page 426 for "problem
solving").
Please staple or place the items in the folder in the order listed above.
I will grade your essay and return it to you within two weeks of the date I receive it. If for any reason, I will not be able to return your essay within this period, I will inform you as soon as possible and explain the cause of the problem. The official grading standards of the Chaffey College English department will be used to grade your paper. Please see these at http://www.chaffey.edu/english/handbook/grade.htm.