Wednesday

 Please work on your next essay - process analysis. I will be making comments/grading (if the essay is done) your narration. You will have a quiz on the "Survival" chapter next week. 

Monday January 26th

 Please work on essays. If you have finished narration, please begin process analysis. 

Thursday/Friday

  Finish English narration essays and read chapter 8 of the Riverside Reader.

Wednesday

 Today you have time to finish your narration essay and begin Process Analysis or read Riverside Reader.

Between now and next week you need to do two things:

1) Finish Narration essay

2) Read chapter on "Survival"

Tuesday

 Today, we will go over the definition essay (chapter 5 page 291) and look at a 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. 

   Responsibility in Actions

   The one thing that we can control in our lives is our personal reactions to the events occurring around us. Do we stand up and speak up about abuse, or sit back as our best friend turns down an offer of a lifetime? We are responsible for our actions. We must take control and stand up for what we believe to be morally right. All throughout history there have been incidents of leaders taking initiative and standing up for what they believe in. Conversely, there have also been moments of weakness; cowards whom don’t speak up, passer-bys who don’t stop to report a crime, or help a victim. These moments do not define the person at fault, but rather emphasize the importance of the brave ones who do stay with the victim, who do call 911, who take a stand.
               One Significant Transcendentalist Philosopher, Henry David Thoreau,  showed responsibility when he denied support of a war that was, in his mind, immoral. Thoreau was asked to pay a poll tax that supported the Mexican American War, but because the war was a ploy to gain territory in the South, allowing slavery to thrive, Thoreau refused.  This is a classic example of responsibility. It was Thoreau’s moral obligation to refuse to pay the poll tax because he did not believe in what it supported. If he had paid the poll tax because the government told him to then this would be an example of cowardice.
   Another instance of responsibility can be seen in Eugene V. Debs’s speech against World War I. Although he knew that he would be arrested due to the Sedition Act. He believed that it was his moral duty to speak up about the injustice of the World War. He advocated for the common people to have the right to declare war or peace. Although Debs went to prison for his speech he was responsible in doing so because he took action against his suppressor.  In fact he was able to run for presidency while he was in prison.
               While there are many situations where people show their responsibility and maturity, there are also plenty of cowardice moments in history. Everyone has a flaw, even the people in the Bible. Pontius Pilate’s weakness in the face of a rioting mob calling for Jesus' death, even though he knew of his innocence is the ultimate show of cowardice. Although Pilate had the power to set Jesus free, his fear of insurrection prevented him from making the right moral choice. Cowardice appears to be one of the main themes of many pieces of literature, and society. So maybe the human race as a whole are guilty of it? And if we are all guilty of cowardice, then we must all be guilty of responsibility at times as well because you cannot have one without the other.
               With such chaos going on in our lives, we should control the one thing we have authority over: our actions. The way we respond and learn can define your life. You learn from your and others’ mistakes, however, so cowardice is essential in developing responsibility and bravery in society.
    
   - Al Weber

    

   
    

   

   
   

   
   

    

Friday

 Today you have time to work on your narrations. 

On Monday we will look at an overview of "Definition" essay.

Today we are going to discuss ideas for your PROJECT, look at some previous examples, and read from the "Narration" chapter in the river reader.

 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 process

Thursday

 Today we are going to go over "Division and Classification" essay and then continue with the narration essay.