ENGL 100 Essay III, Fall 2005
This page includes the assignment sheet for the third critical essay. My goal is to make this page as useful to you as possible, so let me know if it can be improved. If anything is badly worded, unclear, or missing, please contact me with constructive criticisms and suggestions. Thanks.
Assignment Sheet
Due: DRAFT--two copies in class on Wednesday, October 26, 2005; FINAL--in class on Wednesday, November 2, 2005 (be sure to turn in original draft, along with final draft and another brief note on your revision process and how it differed from the previous ones).
Format: 4-6 pages as described in the options below, double spaced, with reasonable fonts, font sizes, and margins (be warned that barely getting on to the third sheet of paper does not a three-page paper make!); title that indicates main argument of paper; heading that includes your name, the course name or number, and the date; format, bibliography, and citations in MLA style (see the links page for explanations and examples of MLA style; proper quotation format in body of paper.
Criteria for Evaluation: Your grade for this essay will be determined by the coherence and validity of the paper's arguments, the effectiveness of the paper's structure in conveying your ideas and convincing your audience, and the quality of the paper's prose (including grammar, syntax, punctuation, and formatting). See the "Essay III Discussion Forum" on the course Blackboard site's Discussion Board for specific criteria for each option listed below.
Audience: Varies; see the options, listed below.
Draft Policy: I would be happy to offer brief comments on your drafts, so long as you get me them by the Friday before the final version is due.
Rewrite Policy: I will not grade rewrites of the final version of the third essay, although I will give comments on any rewrite(s) you choose to do (which will improve your preparation/participation/team work grade).
Options: Here are your options for the third essay. In each of these options, your job is to come up with an argument that you are trying to support by using evidence to persuade your readers of your position's validity. You will not have the option of choosing your own topic/question for this essay; instead, you must choose one of the following topics and use the readings, research, and discussions from the third section of Unit I in developing your response to it.
If you choose this option, your job is to imagine you've been invited to contribute a short essay that will be collected in an anthology of Fredonia undergraduate writing which will be sent to area high schools (as well as your own if it's out of the area) and distributed to the Fredonia Class of 2006. You've been given 4-6 pages to write an extended advice column on college writing: how it compares to writing in high school, how to prepare yourself to do well in it, how to approach the writing process, how to deal with everything from deadlines to writer's block, and so on--most generally, what prospective and new college students should shoot for and watch out for in college writing.
Think carefully about what advice you want to give and how you want to present it, and look over the ways in which writers from Section III have handled these issues in their writings that we've read in the course. When brainstorming and drafting for this option, try out different voices, tones, kinds of advice, and modes of writing; be willing to experiment until you've found a combination of style, structure, and substance that feels right to you. As you begin revising the draft, evaluate what you're doing in terms of the quality of the advice you're offering (will it actually help your audience and will they be likely to follow it?) and the quality of the presentation (will it interest, engage, and motivate your audience to do what you advise them to do?).
Try to come up with a complete draft to bring to the peer revision workshop (two copies, please) on W 10/26. Use your partner as a sounding board by asking questions about how he or she reacted to what you wrote. By 10 pm F 10/28 you'll receive from (and have written to) your partner an email that lays out the strengths and weaknesses of the draft and offers suggestions for revision (that include but go beyond editing to take on such topics as quality of thesis/support, structure/organization, and sentence-level prose/overall formatting). Use both the feedback from your partner and the experience of giving feedback to your partner to help guide your final revisions for the essay, which is due in class on W 11/2. Please turn in the original draft, along with the final draft and another brief note on your revision process for this essay and how it differed from the previous ones.
Even though almost everyone in higher education believes writing is crucial to the teaching and learning process, there is a wide range of actual practices when it comes to assigning college writing, which vary not only by discipline but also by professor. Many universities still assume that it's the primary responsibility of faculty in English and in writing programs and of professionals and peers in learning and writing centers to teach writing in colleges and universities. Your job if you choose this option is to write a 4-to-6-page essay in which you try to convince professors at Fredonia outside these areas to use a range of writing assignments to enhance their students' learning and discovery process. In this proposal, you'll offer some concrete ideas for incorporating writing into courses where it's missing, some good reasons to do so, and some solid answers to possible objections to them.
Think carefully about what proposals you want to give and how you want to present them, and look over the ways in which writings from Section III might be used to help you generate and develop your ideas on these issues. When brainstorming and drafting for this option, try out different voices, tones, ideas, and modes of writing; be willing to experiment until you've found a combination of style, structure, and substance that feels right to you. As you begin revising the draft, evaluate what you're doing in terms of the quality of the proposals you're making (will they actually help your audience and will they be likely to follow it?) and the quality of the presentation (will it interest, engage, and motivate your audience to implement your proposals?).
Try to come up with a complete draft to bring to the peer revision workshop (two copies, please) on W 10/26. Use your partner as a sounding board by asking questions about how he or she reacted to what you wrote. By 10 pm F 10/28 you'll receive from (and have written to) your partner an email that lays out the strengths and weaknesses of the draft and offers suggestions for revision (that include but go beyond editing to take on such topics as quality of thesis/support, structure/organization, and sentence-level prose/overall formatting). Use both the feedback from your partner and the experience of giving feedback to your partner to help guide your final revisions for the essay, which is due in class on W 11/2. Please turn in the original draft, along with the final draft and another brief note on your revision process for this essay and how it differed from the previous ones.
Reflecting on the meaning and significance of writing in your life (including but not limited to your academic life) is not just of personal interest. Writing up your reflections can help others consider or reconsider their attitudes toward or use of writing. Your job if you choose this option is to write a 4-to-6-page reflection on the meaning and significance of writing in your life that will be of interest and use to your readers.
Think carefully about what reflections you want to make and how you want to present them, and look over the ways in which writers from Section III have handled these issues in their writings that we've read in the course. When brainstorming and drafting for this option, try out different voices, tones, ideas, and modes of writing; be willing to experiment until you've found a combination of style, structure, and substance that feels right to you. As you begin revising the draft, evaluate what you're doing in terms of the quality of the reflections (will they actually help your audience gain a new perspective on the meaning and significance of writing or reevaluate their own attitudes toward writing?) and the quality of the presentation (will it interest, engage, and motivate your audience to engage in similar self-reflection?).
Try to come up with a complete draft to bring to the peer revision workshop (two copies, please) on W 10/26. Use your partner as a sounding board by asking questions about how he or she reacted to what you wrote. By 10 pm F 10/28 you'll receive from (and have written to) your partner an email that lays out the strengths and weaknesses of the draft and offers suggestions for revision (that include but go beyond editing to take on such topics as quality of thesis/support, structure/organization, and sentence-level prose/overall formatting). Use both the feedback from your partner and the experience of giving feedback to your partner to help guide your final revisions for the essay, which is due in class on W 11/2. Please turn in the original draft, along with the final draft and another brief note on your revision process for this essay and how it differed from the previous ones.