Monday

 Today we are going to look at the Cause and Effect essay - on page 342. 

 

Friday

Today, you have time to work on Definition essays. I will be going over your classification and division essays. 

DEFINITION Points to Remember 

1. Remember that you are obligated to define key terms that you use in your writing— such as Marxism, alternative medicine, nontraditional student. 
2. Understand your purpose in defining: to explain, to entertain, to persuade, to set boundaries, or to establish a standard. 
3. Understand how writers construct an argument from a definition. For example, by defining the good life or good government, they argue for that kind of life or government. 
4. Know the several ways of defining: giving examples, analyzing qualities, attributing characteristics, defining negatively, using analogies, and showing function. 
5. Learn to use definition in combination with other strategies, as a basis on which to build an argument, or as supporting evidence. 

 Today, we will go over the definition essay (chapter 5 page 291) and look at two sample "definition" essays by professional writers.

DEFINITION Points to Remember 

1. Remember that you are obligated to define key terms that you use in your writing— such as Marxism, alternative medicine, nontraditional student. 
2. Understand your purpose in defining: to explain, to entertain, to persuade, to set boundaries, or to establish a standard. 
3. Understand how writers construct an argument from a definition. For example, by defining the good life or good government, they argue for that kind of life or government. 
4. Know the several ways of defining: giving examples, analyzing qualities, attributing characteristics, defining negatively, using analogies, and showing function. 
5. Learn to use definition in combination with other strategies, as a basis on which to build an argument, or as supporting evidence. 
   
   

Friday

 Today you have time to work on your division and classification essay. It is due on Tuesday.

Compare and Contrast essays are due. Please if you are using sources add a works cited page in MLA format. 

Division and Classification essays are due next week.

Division and Classification (draft) due 2/16

Definition (draft) due 2/23

Cause and Effect due 3/2

Persuasion (draft) due 3/9

FINAL drafts (all revisions done) due 3/16

 

DIVISION AND CLASSIFICATION

 Points to Remember

1. Determine whether you want to (a) explain an existing system of classification of (b) create your own system.
2. Divide your subject into smaller categories by applying the same principle of selection to each category.
3. Make sure that your division is complete by establishing separate and consistent types of categories.
4. Arrange your categories (and the examples you use to illustrate each category) in a logical and emphatic sequence.
5. Demonstrate the significance of your system by calling your readers’ attention to its significance.

 

 

Wednesday

Compare and Contrast essays are due. Please if you are using sources add a works cited page in MLA format. Today we will look at "The Truth about Lying"

Division and Classification essays are due next week.

Division and Classification (draft) due 2/16

Definition (draft) due 2/23

Cause and Effect due 3/2

Persuasion (draft) due 3/9

FINAL drafts (all revisions done) due 3/16

 

DIVISION AND CLASSIFICATION

 Points to Remember

1. Determine whether you want to (a) explain an existing system of classification of (b) create your own system.
2. Divide your subject into smaller categories by applying the same principle of selection to each category.
3. Make sure that your division is complete by establishing separate and consistent types of categories.
4. Arrange your categories (and the examples you use to illustrate each category) in a logical and emphatic sequence.
5. Demonstrate the significance of your system by calling your readers’ attention to its significance.

 

 

Monday

 Compare and Contrast essays are due tomorrow.

Division and Classification essays are due next week.

Division and Classification (draft) due 2/16

Definition (draft) due 2/23

Cause and Effect due 3/2

Persuasion (draft) due 3/9

FINAL drafts (all revisions done) due 3/16

 

DIVISION AND CLASSIFICATION

 Points to Remember

1. Determine whether you want to (a) explain an existing system of classification of (b) create your own system.
2. Divide your subject into smaller categories by applying the same principle of selection to each category.
3. Make sure that your division is complete by establishing separate and consistent types of categories.
4. Arrange your categories (and the examples you use to illustrate each category) in a logical and emphatic sequence.
5. Demonstrate the significance of your system by calling your readers’ attention to its significance.

 

 

Friday 2/6

 You should be working on your Compare and Contrast essay. It is due in 1-week.

COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
Points to Remember

1. Decide whether you want the pattern of your comparison to focus on the complete units (divided) or specific features (alternating).

2. Consider the possibility of combining the two patterns.

3. Determine which subject should be placed in the first position and why.

4. Arrange the points of your comparison in a logical balanced, and dramatic sequence.

5. Make sure you introduce and clarify the reasons for making your comparison. 

 Al Weber's "Compare and Contrast" essay.

A Balanced Diet

 “3 cups of flour” my mom uttered to herself as she began setting the ingredients out for the apple pie. The first use of flour was 30,000 years ago and today most meals still use it as a thickening agent. However, lately, there has been gluten free craze traveling around the world. Should we actually avoid all gluten though? There is a stark difference in the health benefits and withdrawals between different types of flour, and it is our responsibility to be educated on what we decide to put into our body.

            During Christmas vacation I traveled to Florida to visit my gluten free family and found it unnaturally difficult to cook meals for all of my kin.  None of them were actually allergic to gluten, but rather felt that it was healthier to avoid wheat altogether. Countless people like my family in Florida argue that white flour, being processed, is not healthy for consumption. While they are accurate that the handling of white flour removes much of its nutrients it also has some benefits and has a history of successful use. White flour contains only the starchy endosperm of the grain which makes it easy to digest if one has a compromised digestive system. Numerous cultures have survived on high diets in starch and their populations have been extremely healthy. Like the Okinawans, who traditionally obtained 85% of their calories from starch. or the Tukisenta in Papua New Guinea who consumed 94.6% starchy carbohydrates in the 1960s. Cultures like these were shown to have exceptionally long lifespans and a virtual non-existence of modern illness such as heart disease. Furthermore, white flour can be kept for a very long time which makes it more economical. The issues with processed flour, however, is that it contains chemical residue left over from the bleaching of it to turn it stark white. Certain proteins in the flour produce an oxidizing chemical reaction with the chlorine gas which forms a very toxic byproduct known as Alloxan. Alloxan has been used to induce diabetes in lab rats. With these scary names of chemicals and diseases surrounding white flour in an enigma many people attempt to avoid it altogether. It should not be this difficult to have family reunions due to dinner time, white flour in moderation can be consumed without extreme worry for your health.

            When I was five I asked my dad for “real” bread on my grilled cheese. By this, I meant that white fluffy goodness that comes in white flour bread loaf. My father, instantly grew defensive over his healthy and nutritious wheat bread that I snubbed. In contrast with the high-risk white flour, wheat flour has many more benefits in nutrition and health. In fact, The 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that at least half of your daily grain intake come from whole grains. One of the primary nutritional differences between whole-wheat and white flour is the food’s fiber content. Dietary fiber has a number of health benefits -- it prevents constipation, lowers blood cholesterol and might help you lose weight, according to Colorado State University. The refining process associated with making white flour separates the fiber-rich brain from the rest of the grain, so white flour typically contains less fiber than its whole-grain counterpart. For example, 1/2 cup of white flour contains 1.3 grams of fiber, while an equal serving of whole-wheat flour contains 6.4 grams. As a result, selecting foods that contain wheat flour helps you reach your dietary fiber intake goal -- 28 grams daily if you follow a 2,000-calorie diet, according to Colorado State University. Numerous other benefits include reduced risk of stroke, asthma, colorectal cancer, and healthier blood pressure level.

            The gluten free craze is just that, a craze. By watching what we put into our bodies we can successfully remain healthy while still enjoying the food that we eat. If your grandma makes you chocolate chip cookies, feel free to take one or maybe even three. You are required, however, for the health of your body, to keep a well balanced diet and minimize the toxins that you put in it.

 

 PROJECT OVERVIEW

1)   Student will read “Resources for Writing” (Thematic Unit – Survival) in their Riverside Reader pages 493 – 563.

 

The purpose of this aspect of the assignment is to further their understanding of seven different rhetorical modes of development and to show them a model for the writing project that they will be doing.  Reading the selections, which are all on the same topic, but which utilize the various “modes of development”.

2)    

Read an additional essay of their choice of each mode and write a précis (posted on their blog) for each.  These readings should come from The Riverside Reader.  While students are doing this aspect of the project the class will be studying and working with various modes in class.

3)   Write six papers on the same topic, each in a different mode. 

 

Each paper should clearly demonstrate the distinct characteristics of the mode.  Before writing the student should review the different chapters for tips on purpose, audience, strategies, and in some cases, potential pitfalls.  Especially important will be the “Points to Remember” charts handed out during the writing.

Students will choose a topic that is well known and interesting to them and broad enough that they can readily adapt it to six different treatments:  1) narration, 2) analysis, 3) compare and contrast, 4) classification, 5) definition, 6) cause and effect and 7) persuasion

 

Topics that have be suggested include: shopping, a favorite sport, school, friends, teenagers, grades, parents, teacher, TV, movies, reading, dating, music, holidays, fashion, presidential elections, politics, religion, vegetarianism, health, food or cooking, nature,  etc.

Each paper should be approximately 500-1000 words, labeled with the mode of development, double-spaced, typed, have a creative title, and a word count at the end.

Total project should be approximately 3500-6000 words.

Each paper will go through at least two drafts and maybe work shopped.

PROJECT will be due at SPRING BREAK.  

Other Due dates: Thematic Unit read ("Survival") by 1/20.  Quiz on 1/21.

Narration Essay (draft) due 1/26

Process Analysis (draft) due 2/2

Compare and Contrast (draft) due 2/9

Division and Classification (draft) due 2/16

Definition (draft) due 2/23

Cause and Effect due 3/2

Persuasion (draft) due 3/9

FINAL drafts (all revisions done) due 3/16

 

 1st TWO ESSAYS - overview:

 

NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION Points to Remember

1. Focus your narrative on the “story” in your story— that is, focus on the conflict that defines the plot.
2. Vary the pace of your narrative so that you can summarize some events quickly and render others as fully realized scenes.
3. Supply evocative details to help your readers experience the dramatic development of your narrative.
4. Establish a consistent point of view so that your readers know how you have positioned yourself in you story.
5. Represent the events in you narrative so that you story makes its point.


PROCESS ANALYSIS

Points to Remember

1. Arrange the steps in your process in an orderly sequence.
2. Identify and explain the purpose of each of the steps in the process.
3. Describe the special tools, terms, and tasks needed to complete the process.
4. Provide warnings, where appropriate, about the consequences of omitting, reversing, or overlooking certain steps.
5. Supply illustrations and personal anecdotes to help clarify aspects of the proces