Assignments for English 100/106

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Ransdell’s Essay Assignment Packet for English 101/107

General Tips for Writing Academic Papers

1) Create a unique, interesting thesis. The thesis is the purpose of your paper—the main thing you want to prove. A strong thesis needs to be debatable (not everyone agrees), innovative (fresh), and manageable (you don’t need to write a book, just an essay).

You want your readers to think: “Wow, I never thought about that!”

You also want them to think: “I am not sure I agree…. but I will read the rest of the essay to find out.”

2) Organize your essay in standard academic fashion (meaningful title, introduction with thesis/forecast, topic sentences followed by PIE paragraphs, conclusion).

2) Provide a road map of your essay by stating your thesis (main point) and forecasting important sections of your essay. Include this information at the end of your first paragraph unless you start with an anecdote or similar device. The forecast hints at how you will prove your thesis. Your intro should also include the subject of your essay and author (if applicable).

4) The key to writing a successful paper lies in the depth of your analysis. Discuss specifics and wrestle with them. Dig down under the surface and analyze details. Most body paragraphs (pars. aside from the intro and conclusion) should have PIE: point or topic sentence that states the main idea of your paragraph and shows a direct tie to the thesis or previous paragraph), illustration (an example or bit of proof), and explanation (your reasoning or analysis). In general, you should use one sentence to state your point, one or two to describe your proof, and several to explain how the proof proves your point. A basic body paragraph might look like this:

10% = point or topic sentence

20% = illustration (proof) or example

70% = explanation or analysis

Most of each body paragraph should be your analysis, not a quote from the text or research material.

5) Write in sets of paragraphs. Paragraphs don’t cost anything, so instead of stuffing all your ideas inside just one, spread out your points and give attention to each. Offer your information in small bits and connect the points. In high school you may have learned how to write a five-paragraph essay. That’s a good foundation, but now it’s time to let your imagination and creativity broaden your scope.

6) Your conclusion should balance the intro by summarizing your main points. It should also be a similar length. The conclusion is the one place where you have room to break form by adding extra information or sneaking in information that didn’t fit anywhere else. Try to leave your reader with a lasting impression that’s a natural progression from your writing.

7) When writing about a text, use the present tense: “Dewey explains that……”

8) Save drafts of your essay in different files and back them up to avoid losing them. When you submit your essay, include drafts, especially any I commented on.

9) Word process your drafts and final versions. Double-space your essays using one-inch margins and a twelve-point font. You must submit a hard copy of your essay in order to receive a grade for it. You must also upload your essay to d2l.

10) Create a title that makes us curious about your essay, not “Essay 1” or “Family” or the name of the text you’re analyzing. Use MLA format: capitalize words other than articles or prepositions or conjunctions unless they’re the first or last words. For example: Procrastination Is the Best Tool of All.

11) To avoid losing credit, compose your essay in Academic English. (That means: use standard punctuation and avoid grammar mistakes.) Editing is quite hard work, but it is very important. All writers need to go through this process, me included. If you turn in work with lots of small mistakes, your readers will assume that you are lazy. Not only will you lose credibility, but your readers won’t trust the content of your words. If you’re concerned about your editing skills, stop by my office hours with a sample text or essay draft that we can review together. Take the time to edit carefully, paying special attention to the items we reviewed in class.

12) Write first, edit last. Even though grammar and punctuation are important, save yourself time by focusing on content first rather than editing material you throw out later anyway. After you are satisfied with the content of your essay, edit your essay for grammar and style.

13) Be your own best editor. To edit successfully, first spend ample time trying to find easy mistakes yourself. Use your grammar text to help with punctuation and other rules. Then get some outside help. If English isn’t your first language, try to find a native speaker who can help you. Even if English IS your first language, try to find someone who is “good” at English to help with small details.

14) Make sure your essay corresponds to the assignment and satisfies its requirements. (A research paper must include research, for example.) Otherwise your paper won’t earn a passing grade.

15) Formatting: On your first page, include at the top: your name, my name, course number, type of essay, date. Number the subsequent pages. (You don’t need a title page.)

16) If you get stuck when you’re trying to write the introduction, write a different part of your essay first. Often writers don’t discover what they’re trying to say until they reach the conclusion and start working backwards.

17) A note on style: omit unnecessary information such as “I think” or “I liked this text.” Of course it’s what you think: It’s your essay! Of course you liked this text. Otherwise you would have chosen something else to write about!

18) For papers that include research, include a Works Cited page that follows MLA style. (If your major field of study uses APA, feel free to use that style instead, but use it consistently and correctly throughout your document.) You can get all the information you need from Writer’s Help (as accessed through d2l). You can also find information easily through: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/. (To double check your work, you might want to try Citation Machine.)

19) You must do your own original writing for every assignment in this class. Your peers and I will offer advice, but the ideas and writing must be your own. Often you will need to quote another’s work; be sure to give credit where it is due. Put quotation marks around borrowed words and give the citation in parenthesis: “Parrots don’t usually turn into human beings” (Barnes 45). Note that in most cases, your quotations shouldn’t be more than one sentence long. At other times you will want to paraphrase an author’s work. That’s fine too; simply put the reference in parenthesis: (Barnes 45).

20) Using sources means integrating them into your text, not cutting and pasting long blocks of text. Block quotes (three lines or longer) are generally effective. Avoid them.

21) Note that doing minimal amount of work usually earns a minimal grade. If you’ve barely made the minimum word count, for example, it’s unlikely that your essay will be strong enough to earn a stellar grade.

22) Make full use of workshopping sessions. Your peers will often have excellent suggestions. If your drafts don’t show changes, you won’t get credit for workshopping them.

23) Be aware of possible additional resources. The Writing Center offers 15-minute sessions. To make the most of your time, be prepared by bringing along the assignment and your laptop or tablet. (It’s too difficult for the tutors to read your essay from a cell phone.) The WSIP, The Writing Skills Improvement Program, offers free, hour-long tutoring sessions with professional tutors. To improve your writing as much as possible, sign up for these helpful weekly sessions.

24) To get full credit, you must submit your entire essay packet on time. You will need to turn in, in this order:

Final Draft (with Works Cited page if applicable)

A list of peers’ comments (worth five points)

Drafts 1A, 1B (5 points each) clearly labeled with peers’ names OR my conference draft

Drafts 2A, 2B (5 points each) clearly labeled with peers’ names

(Drafts 3A, 3B if applicable)

Any drafts I commented on

You will also need to upload your final essay to d2l by midnight on the day it’s due. (doc, docx, rtf only)

*Your essay is not submitted until I receive both versions.

In very rare cases and as a worse-case scenario, it is possible that your essay may be accepted in only one format; however, you will lose a letter grade.

THE WRITING PROCESS

Drafting: If you’ve read hundreds of books and penned thousands of words, you might be able to produce an A/B paper in a couple of drafts. If you’re not an avid reader and haven’t spent much time writing, you should plan on creating multiple drafts per essay and investing a lot of time to achieve a passing grade in this class.

Most writers do their best revising by concentrating on one area of writing per draft. One plan might be:

Draft 1: Just get it out.

Draft 2: Coordinate your thesis with your topic sentences.

Draft 3: Develop the analysis (add more examples and explanation).

Draft 4: Edit for grammar and style.

Note: The reason to do multiple drafts is that you can’t hope to improve any one draft by a thousand percent. Instead you need to improve on it a few steps at a time. Each workshopping session should help you get to the next level.

Don’t forget to edit your final draft. Note the famous words of Peter Elbow: “Not editing is like leaving your dirty socks around for someone else to find.” (Writing with Power, p. 234)

WORKSHOPPING: THE WRITER

For a couple of class periods before each essay is due, we’ll devote our time to workshopping. The point of workshopping is for you to gather enough information to go on to the next draft. Workshopping is an excellent way to find out how your writing is working and to learn about yourself as a writer. It might be frustrating to realize that your draft still needs work, but if you can make use of opportunities for revision, chances are that your writing will be more effective and earn you higher grades.

Your classmates will work hard to offer their best advice, but that’s not to say that they will always be right! Sometimes you need to reject advice rather than embrace it. The point is that by thinking carefully about the decisions you make in your writing, you’ll develop a better sense of what your writing is doing and what it still needs to do. Here’s the beauty of being the writer--you make the final decisions.

For each essay, you’ll have the opportunity to get feedback from your classmates. (When possible, we’ll take time for brainstorming as well.) Make the most of workshopping by preparing your best possible draft. Think about the information you need from your peers and ask them specific questions. Press them for an honest opinion about your work. If they gloss over your material and tell you it’s “really good” or “it really flows,” realize that they might not have spent enough time on your draft to give you a solid reading.

Note that for our first workshopping session, you are responsible for 1) providing your draft, 2) responding to classmates’ drafts with thoughtful, genuine comments, (not “good job, keep working”), 3) submitting a review of what you learned via workshopping.

For our second workshopping session, you are responsible for 1) providing a NEW AND IMPROVED draft, 2) responding to classmates’ drafts with thoughtful, genuine comments, 3) submitting a review of what you learned via workshopping.

Use the information you gather from one class period to bring a stronger draft to the next one. Recycled drafts will not earn credit.

WORKSHOPPING: THE READER

Giving your classmates feedback will help them think about their essays, help you become a more perceptive reader, and give you strategies for working through your own essays. There are two basic types of comments: suggestions or directives. Use suggestions when you’re not sure what’s wrong but want to offer possibilities: You might…. You could…. Use directives when you feel more confident about what the essay needs: Add a thesis. Find more proof.

You might also think of yourself as wearing different hats: coach, critic, and reader. As a coach, encourage your classmates by pointing out successful aspects of their essays. As a critic, gently point out areas they might want to reconsider and why. As a reader, which is your most important role, comment on their drafts as a piece of communication. Your classmates are sharing something important. Respond in kind.

Write comments about your classmates’ content on the margins of their drafts—at least one comment per paragraph—and a short summary of your advice at the end. Make “facilitative” comments to help the writers consider new lines of thought: What about...? Write “directive” comments when you feel confident that you know what’s wrong: Add more analysis.

If it’s handy, remember the acronym SAR: Suggest (make a few suggestions for improvements), Admire (point out successful areas that should not be changed), Respond (as a reader to something interesting about the content).

For all drafts:

* Respond to aspects you find particularly interesting. (I like this because....)

* Praise parts that seem especially effective (writers assume that everything is effective!)

* Warn writers about serious flaws (if you can’t find the thesis, say so)

* Give your overall impression about what the writer should do to create the next draft

Considerations for Day 1:

1) Does the essay start with an intersting title? If not, what would you suggest?

1) Does the intro state the text/author and/or topic? If not, what’s missing?

2) Is there a clear thesis and forecast? If not, how would you change it?

3) Does each body paragraph support the thesis? If not, what needs to change—the thesis, or the paragraph?

4) Does each paragraph have PIE? (point, illustration, explanation) If not, what’s missing?

5) Does the essay correspond to the assignment?

6) What points might be added to the next draft?

Note: Although Standard Written English is our goal, today is not the day to address it; editing is a final step.

Considerations for Day 2:

1) Does the author include an engaging hook? If not, what might you suggest?

2) Is the intro complete? (hook, topic, thesis, forecast) If not, what needs to be added?

3) Does the forecast give specific hints about important aspects of the essay? If not, what’s missing?

4) Does each TS (topic sentence) have a clear tie to the thesis or preceding paragraph? If not, what needs to change?

5) Do the paragraphs consist mostly of explanation? (PIE) (The E should be over half of the paragraph.) If not, which paragraphs need more content?

6) What extra proof would be helpful? Where might the writer find such proof?

7) Consider the essay’s organization. Which points are the strongest? What might be an alternate organization?

8) Does the conclusion provide closure for all the main points? If not, what needs to be added?

9) What editing suggestions do you have? What should the writer concentrate on the most when proofreading?

Considerations for Day 3 and/or Additional Drafting

1) Is the title clever and engaging? If not, what other titles would you suggest? Note that a play on words is often useful.

2) Is the intro complete and balanced? If not, what might change?

3) Does the essay cover everything thoroughly? If not, where might the writer add more analysis?

4) Do the intro and conclusion balance one another? (They should reflect one another without being worded exactly the same way, and they should be a similar length.) If not, what needs to shift?

5) Is the conclusion satisfying or does it present points that needed to be mentioned earlier? How could the writer leave readers with more food for thought?

6) What suggestions do you have in terms of style? Which phrases were repetitious or unnecessary?

For your end comment:

* Give your overall impression of the essay’s strengths and weaknesses.

* Point out especially noticeable problems. (“Your conclusion doesn’t match your thesis.”)

* Encourage your classmates by including positive comments.

* Respond as a reader--share some of your own views about the topic.

NOTE: If your responses on your classmates’ drafts are incomplete, you may lose points.

D.R.’s Grammar Highlights

If you use nonstandard punctuation or grammar, your readers may have to reread your sentence in order to understand it. That confuses them and makes them lose time. If this happens often, they’ll start to disagree with your opinions automatically! Instead, observe some simple rules to make your writing more effective to academic readers.

1) Add a comma after a long introductory phrase: Even though it was long after midnight, I wrote three more drafts of my English essay. This comma helps your readers find the subject of your sentence.

2) Add a comma after a conjunction ONLY when the phrase that follows is an independent clause (a complete sentence). I thought I had enough time to write my essay, but I had to work until dawn to finish my work. (Note the difference: I thought I had enough time to write my essay but had to work until dawn to finish my work. No subject= no comma.)

3) Use commas around non-restrictive (unnecessary) clauses: My roommate, who never turns off her alarm clock, drives me crazy. The sentence could simply read “My roommate drives me crazy.” (If you have two roommates, the information becomes necessary so that you can explain which roommate is the sleepyhead: My roommate who never turns off her alarm clock drives me crazy. My other roommate never bothers to set one.)

4) Divide sentences with a semi-colon; use a comma after words such as “however.” We went to a terrific party last night; however, the food tasted awful.

5) Avoid run-ons. In other words, don’t run two sentences together your readers will be irritated. See what I mean? Run-ons are frustrating for readers because they assume they have misread and have to go back and reread your sentence only to find out that YOU are the one who made the mistake. Instead write: Don’t run two sentences together. Your readers will be irritated. If you want the sentences to work closely together, you might use a semi-colon instead: Don’t run two sentences together; your readers will be irritated.

6) Avoid fragments unless they are clearly used on purpose. A fragment is a word or phrase masquerading as a sentence but that is incomplete in some way. Bad idea? Once in a while it makes sense to use a fragment stylistically, but you have to be careful that it doesn’t seem like a mistake. For example, “Bad idea” isn’t a full sentence, but it demonstrates my example.

7) Avoid “number” mistakes. Grammatically, “everyone” is singular, but “their” is plural. Therefore it’s awkward to write: Everyone should bring their syllabus. Instead make the phrase plural: Students should bring their syllabi. (You can also use the singular form, but it’s awkward too: Everyone should bring his or her syllabus.)

8) Use colons precisely. A colon means one of two things: a list is coming, or an example is coming. If you have an example or a direct quote coming, that example/quote might be a full sentence. Johnny told me a lot of things that night: “I’m not sure why I decided to sign up for college, but now that I did, I’m stuck.”

GRADING STANDARDS

Guidelines for essay types differ, but in general, when I evaluate your essay, I will consider your focus (thesis), analysis (how well you explain and decipher your points), organization (how the pieces fit together), strength of proof (persuasiveness), ingenuity (novelty of approach), rhetorical awareness (the effectiveness of your essay given its context), style (tone/word choice), and mechanics (grammar and spelling).

More specifically:

A C essay needs to have a title, an introduction, a conclusion, a discernible, debatable thesis, and a coherent structure. The body paragraphs need to have at least minimal discussion and examples. The essay needs to adhere to the assignment, meet the minimum length requirement, and demonstrate an adequate use of mechanics. If applicable, it needs to include research and a Works Cited or References page. If applicable, it needs to include basic visuals.

A B essay needs to have a title that reflects the thesis, an organized introduction that has a balanced length, a logical conclusion, a discernible, interesting, and manageable thesis, a forecasting statement, a purposeful structure that is easy for readers to follow, multiple examples and associated analysis (PIE paragraphs), appropriate tone and style, a fairly accurate use of mechanics, and a mix of sentence structures. It needs to show some creative thought and personal voice. The essay also needs to match the assignment and meet the medium length requirement. If applicable, it needs to include adequate, correctly cited research and a Works Cited or References page. If applicable, it needs to include ample and well-chosen visuals and a pleasing arrangement.

An A essay needs to have an unusual but logical title, a balanced and organized introduction that engages readers in your topic, an innovative thesis that is debatable and manageable, a forecasting statement, a purposeful structure that is crystal clear, in-depth analysis in the form of extended PIE paragraphs, a perfect or near-perfect use of mechanics, a mix of sentence structures, and accurate, college-level vocabulary. It needs to show extensive creative thinking and a unique and vibrant personal voice. Your essay also needs to match or stretch beyond the assignment and demonstrate a deliberate and appropriate use of tone and style. If applicable, it needs to include abundant, correctly cited research and a Works Cited or References page. If applicable, it needs to include interesting, personally created visuals that enhance the meaning of the project as well as a well-thought out arrangement of aesthetically chosen elements.

A D essay fails to satisfy one or more expectations for a C essay. An E essay misinterprets the assignment or the depth thereof or is riddled with errors.

A note about grammar: College writing requires the use of Standard Written English. If your essay contains multiple errors per page (commas or minor spelling mistakes), your essay may be marked down one-third of a letter grade. If your essay has several errors per paragraph, your essay may be marked down two-thirds of a letter grade. If your essay is riddled with mistakes in every paragraph of every page, especially mistakes such as run-ons and fragments that affect the readers’ comprehension, your essay may be lowered a complete letter grade. You will need to compose your essays in SWE (Standard Written English) to avoid losing credit in this course.

GRADED PAPERS

If I were to comment on all the things that you did well in your essays, your papers would be covered with ink, and I would be exhausted after reading each one! The nature of commenting, for the most part, is to mark things that aren’t working. Thus, most of the comments I make on your essays are designed to help you revise your work or otherwise strengthen your writing skills. If I think I understand what you’re trying to accomplish in your essay, my comments will mostly be directive: Add an example here; extend this line of thought; develop this paragraph. When I’m not sure of your goals for the essay, my comments will be mostly facilitative, designed to help you re-think key points: What’s your overall goal for this paper? How can you make these points add up? How else might you explain the author’s choices? What are some other aspects of the text that you noticed? I expect that you will receive higher grades as you progress through the semester and that your efforts will culminate in a strong portfolio.

Some abbreviations you might find on your paper:

E1= Essay 1

Th? = Where is your thesis? or, How does this tie to your thesis?

FC?= What’s your forecast?

TS?= What is your topic sentence?

PIE?= Where is your point, illustration, and explanation?

I?= Is this your illustration? Or, do you have an illustration?

E?= Is this your explanation? Or, can you elaborate on your explanation?

Squiggly line= a phrase that doesn’t work well or doesn’t make sense

Check marks= strong points

Underlining= strong points

ESSAY ASSIGNMENTS

Essay 1: Flow Narrative

Purpose: Write a narrative essay in which you describe and analyze a situation (or situations) in which you experience “flow.”

Audience: An educated, college audience.

Background Info

Flow: “The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times… The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.” Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi

General Characteristics:

1. Complete concentration on the task;

2. Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback;

3. Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down);

4. The experience is intrinsically rewarding;

5. Effortlessness and ease;

6. There is a balance between challenge and skills;

7. Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination;

8. There is a feeling of control over the task.

Useful websites:

https://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happiness/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/

and https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi-father-of-flow/

Useful videos:

Csikszentmihalyi’s Ted Talk

https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow?language=en

Csikszentmihalyi on Happiness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzPky5Xe1-s&t=696s

Maximilian Gotzler: How to Hack the Flow State (Biohacker Summit UK 2016)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAyWhTF3mYE

How To Get Into The Flow State | Steven Kotler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG_hNZ5T4nY

For a more complete explanation: Listen to: Flow By Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Study Notes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_89Ph4LrEfI

Important Notes:

1. To get started, consider the discussions, homework, and in-class writings we’ve done for this unit.

2. Since this is a narrative, you have more choices for organization. While you’ll want to compose the majority of your essay in a standard academic format, you might want to start with an anecdote before the introduction or you might want to describe the “flow” story before breaking it down for analysis.

3. While you’ll need to describe your version of “flow,” the majority of the essay should concentrate on the analysis, not the description.

4. Borrow narrative techniques including vivid description and the use of dialogue.

5. Write about something important to you, but something that you don’t mind sharing with me and your classmates. In general, the more important the story is to the writer, the easier it is to write well about.

6. To illustrate your points, refer to concrete, personal examples and spend ample time examining them.

7. Make full use of workshopping. Your peers will often have wise suggestions.

8. Compose your work in SWE and edit carefully.

Length: 1250-1750 words (5-7 typed pages). Don’t worry if your paper runs a bit longer. If your essay is too short, it won’t explain enough to be effective, so it won’t earn a passing grade.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Goal 1: Rhetorical Awareness

· 1A. identify the purposes of, intended audiences for, and arguments in a text, as situated within particular cultural, economic, and political contexts.

· 1C. read in ways that contribute to their rhetorical knowledge as writers.

Goal 2: Critical Thinking and Composing

· 2A. incorporate evidence, such as through summaries, paraphrases, quotations, and visuals.

· 2B. support ideas or positions with compelling discussion of evidence from multiple sources.

Goal 3: Conventions 

· 3A. follow appropriate conventions for grammar, punctuation, and spelling, through practice in composing and revising.

Goal 4: Reflection and Revision

· 4B. produce multiple revisions on global and local levels.

· 4C. suggest useful global and local revisions to other writers.

· 4E. evaluate and act on peer and instructor feedback to revise their texts.

· 3F. reflect on your progress as academic writers.

Essay 2: Genre Analysis

Purpose: Write an essay in which you analyze/compare/contrast aspects of the Hero’s Journey in a film or text of your choice to a personal journey of your own with the help of at least two additional sources.

Audience: An educated, college audience. To engage your classmates intellectually, you need to analyze your points in depth.

Background Info

The twelve steps of the Hero’s Journey:

The Call to Adventure

Refusal of the Call

Meeting the Mentor

Crossing the Threshold

Tests, Allies, Enemies

Approach to the Inmost Cave

The Ordeal

The Reward

The Road Back

Resurrection

Return with the Elixir

Important Notes:

1. Before you begin writing, reread or re-watch your chosen text carefully, looking for specific details. Consider your text’s rhetorical context, including the time period, genre, etc.

2. Either in the intro or in a short paragraph following the intro, fill in your readers by briefly summarizing your primary text. However, avoiding giving away the ending or describing the final plot points. Readers might be inspired to watch or read your text on their own.

3. To prove your points, refer to concrete personal and textual examples (specific moments or incidents) and spend ample time examining them. (In general, use PIE paragraphs.)

4. Balance your essay between personal and textual components. (50-50 or 40-60)

5. Organize your material purposefully. It often works best to zigzag between the text and your own experiences. (Alternatively, explain all about the text and then switch to your own story.) To prevent confusion, write about the text in one paragraph, yourself in another.

6. Cite at least two sources (besides your text) within your essay using MLA or APA format. (Dictionary definitions do not count as sources, but feel free to use them in addition to alternate sources.) Use these sources to broaden our understanding.

7. Include a Works Cited page (MLA) or References page (APA) at the end of your essay. You will need to have at least three entries.

8. Make full use of workshopping. Your peers will often have wise suggestions.

9. Avoid any problems you had in your previous essay.

10. Compose your work in SWE and edit carefully.

Length: 1500-2000 words (6-8 typed pages). Don’t worry if your paper runs a bit longer.

Student Learning Outcomes:Goal 1: Rhetorical Awareness

· 1A. identify the purposes of, intended audiences for, and arguments in a text, as situated within particular cultural, economic, and political contexts.

· 1B. analyze how genres shape reading and composing practices.

Goal 2: Critical Thinking and Composing

· 2A. incorporate evidence, such as through summaries, paraphrases, quotations, and visuals.

· 2B. support ideas or positions with compelling discussion of evidence from multiple sources.

Goal 3: Conventions 

· 3A. follow appropriate conventions for grammar, punctuation, and spelling, through practice in composing and revising.

· 3E. apply citation conventions systematically in their own work.

Goal 4: Reflection and Revision

· 4B. produce multiple revisions on global and local levels.

· 4C. suggest useful global and local revisions to other writers.

· 4D. identify the collaborative and social aspects of the writing processes.

· 4E. evaluate and act on peer and instructor feedback to revise their texts.

· 4F. reflect on your progress as academic writers.

Essay 3: Character Strengths and Virtues

Note: The most persuasive reason to study film or literature is to help you understand your own world. Use this assignment to explore something meaningful to you.

Purpose: Write an analytical essay comparing and/or contrasting the strengths and virtues displayed (or lacking) in a fictional character or characters to strengths and virtues you possess yourself. (For best results, limit yourself to analyzing one or two characters and one or two strengths/virtues.)

Audience: An educated, college audience.

Background Information:

Character Strengths and Virtues:

1. Wisdom and Knowledge: creativity, curiosity, judgment, love of learning, perspective

2. Courage:  bravery, perseverance, honesty, zest

3. Humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence

4. Justice: teamwork, fairness, leadership

5. Temperance: forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation

6. Transcendence: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality

--Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman

In Character Strengths and Virtues, Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman outlined a classification of strengths and virtues based on what they found to be universal values. The researchers wanted to focus on “what is right about people and specifically about the strengths of character that make the good life possible” (4). They disliked fellow researchers’ penchant for analyzing people through their diseases or weaknesses. Instead “[they] believe that character strengths are the bedrock of the human condition and that strength-congruent activity represents an important route to the psychological good life” (4). They made a list of strengths as a way to build on what they’d learned about people’s well-being and to allow them to proceed with further study. They grounded their classification in philosophical tradition (9). Their initial step has been to “unpack the notion of character” via individual differences (10).

“Virtues are the core characteristics valued by moral philosophers and religious thinkers: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence” (13). The authors argue that they are historical and universal. “We speculate that all these virtues must be present at above-threshold values for an individual to be deemed of good characters.” “Character strengths are the psychological ingredients—processes or mechanisms—that define the virtues” (13).

Classification of Character Strengths

1. Wisdom and knowledge—cognitive strengths that entail the acquisition and use of knowledge

Creativity [originality, ingenuity]: Thinking of novel and productive ways to conceptualize and do things; includes artistic achievement but is not limited to it

Curiosity [interest, novelty-seeking, openness to experience]: Taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake; finding subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and discovering

Open-mindedness [judgment, critical thinking]: Thinking things through and examining them from all sides; not jumping to conclusions; being able to change one’s mind in light of evidence; weighing all evidence fairly

Love of learning: Mastering new skills, topics, and bodies of knowledge, whether on one’s own or formally; obviously related to the strength of curiosity but goes beyond it to describe the tendency to add systematically to what one knows

Perspective [wisdom]: Being able to provide wise counsel to others; having ways of looking at the world that make sense to oneself and to other people

2. Courage—emotional strengths that involve the exercise of will to accomplish goals in the face of opposition, external or internal

Bravery [valor]: Not shrinking from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain; speaking up for what is right even if there is opposition; acting on convictions even if unpopular; includes physical bravery but is not limited to it

Persistence [perseverance, industriousness]: Finishing what one starts; persisting in a course of action in spite of obstacles; “getting it out the door”; taking pleasure in completing tasks

Integrity [authenticity, honesty]: Speaking the truth but more broadly presenting oneself in a genuine way and acting in a sincere way; being without pretense; taking responsibility for one’s feelings and actions

Vitality [zest, enthusiasm, vigor, energy]: Approaching life with excitement and energy; not doing things halfway or halfheartedly; living life as an adventure; feeling alive and activated

3. Humanity—interpersonal strengths that involve tending and befriending others

Love: Valuing close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated; being close to people

Kindness [generosity, nurturance, care, compassion, altruistic love, “niceness”]: Doing favors and good deeds for others; helping them; taking care of them

Social intelligence [emotional intelligence, personal intelligence]: Being aware of the motives and feelings of other people and oneself; knowing what to do to fit into different social situations; knowing what makes other people tick

(p. 29)

4. Justice—civic strengths that underlie healthy community life

Citizenship [social responsibility, loyalty, teamwork]: Working well as a member of a group or team; being loyal to the group, doing one’s share

Fairness: Treating all people the same according to notions of fairness and justice; not letting personal feelings bias decisions about others; giving everyone a fair chance

Leadership: Encouraging a group of which one is a member to get things done and at the same time maintain good relations within the group; organizing group activities and seeing that they happen

5. Temperance—strengths that protect against excess

Forgiveness and mercy: Forgiving those who have done wrong; accepting the shortcomings of others; giving people a second chance; not being vengeful

Humility/Modesty: Letting one’s accomplishments speak for themselves; not seeking the spotlight; not regarding oneself as more social than one is

Prudence: Being careful about one’s choices; not taking undue risks; not saying or doing things that might later be regretted

Self-regulation [self-control]: Regulating what one feels and does; being disciplined; controlling one’s appetites and emotions

6 Transcendence—strengths that forge connections to the larger universe and provide meaning

Appreciation of beauty and excellence [awe, wonder, elevation]: Noticing and appreciating beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in various domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience

Gratitude: Being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen; taking time to express thanks

Hope [optimism, future-mindedness, future orientation]: Expecting the best in the future and working to achieve it; believing that a good future is something that can be brought about

Humor [playfulness]: Liking to laugh and tease; bringing smiles to other people; seeing the light side; making (not necessarily telling) jokes

Spirituality [religiousness, faith, purpose]: Having coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe; knowing where one fits within the larger scheme; having beliefs about the meaning of life that shape conduct and provide comfort

(p. 30)

Criteria:

Criterion 1: A strength contributes to various fulfillments that constitute the good life, for oneself and for others. Although strengths and virtues determine how an individual copes with adversity, our focus is on how they fulfill an individual. (16)

Criterion 2: Although strengths can and do produce desirable outcomes, each strength is morally valued in its own right, even in the absence of obvious beneficial outcomes. (19)

Criterion 3: The display of a strength by one person does not diminish other people in the vicinity. (21)

Criterion 4: Being able to phrase the “opposite” of a putative strength in a felicitous way counts against regarding it as a character strength. (22) [i.e., flexibility might be good or bad…]

Criterion 5: A strength needs to be manifest in the range of an individual’s behavior—thoughts, feelings, and/or actions—in such a way that it can be assessed. It should be traitlike in the sense of having a degree of generality across situations and stability across time. (23)

Criterion 6: The strength is distinct from other positive traits in the classification and cannot be decomposed into them. (24)

Criterion 7: A character strength is embodied in consensual paragons. (24)

Criterion 8: We do not believe this feature can be applied to all strengths, but an additional criterion where sensible is the existence of prodigies with respect to the strength. (25) [i.e. child prodigies]

Criterion 9: Conversely, another criterion for a character strength is the existence of people who show—selectively—the total absence of a given strength. (26)

Criterion 10: As suggested by Erikson’s (1963) discussion of psychosocial stages and the virtues that result from their satisfactory resolutions, the larger society provides institutions and associated rituals for cultivating strengths and virtues and then for sustaining their practice. (27)

Peterson, Christopher, and Martin E. P. Seligman. Character Strengths and Virtues: A Handbook and Classification. Oxford UP: New York, 2003.

Important Notes:

1. Before you begin writing, reread or re-watch your chosen text carefully, looking for specific details. Consider your text’s rhetorical context, including the time period, genre, etc.

2. Either in the intro or in a short paragraph following the intro, fill in your readers by briefly summarizing your primary text. However, avoiding giving away the ending or describing the final plot points. Readers might be inspired to watch or read your text on their own.

3. To prove your points, refer to concrete personal and textual examples (specific moments or incidents) and spend ample time examining them. (In general, use PIE paragraphs.)

4. Balance your essay between personal and textual components. (50-50 or 40-60)

5. Organize your material purposefully. It often works best to zigzag between the text and your own experiences. (Alternatively, explain all about the text and then switch to your own story.) To prevent confusion, write about the text in one paragraph, yourself in another.

6. Cite sources within your essay using MLA or APA format.

7. Include a Works Cited page (MLA) or References page (APA) at the end of your essay.

8. Make full use of workshopping. Your peers will often have wise suggestions.

9. Avoid problems you had in earlier essays.

10. Compose your work in SWE and edit carefully.

Length: 1250-1750 words (5-7 typed and edited pages). Don’t worry if your paper runs a bit longer.

Goal 1: Rhetorical Awareness

· 1A. identify the purposes of, intended audiences for, and arguments in a text, as situated within particular cultural, economic, and political contexts.

· 1B. analyze how genres shape reading and composing practices.

Goal 2: Critical Thinking and Composing

· 2A. incorporate evidence, such as through summaries, paraphrases, quotations, and visuals.

· 2B. support ideas or positions with compelling discussion of evidence from multiple sources.

Goal 3: Conventions 

· 3A. follow appropriate conventions for grammar, punctuation, and spelling, through practice in composing and revising.

· 3B. apply citation conventions systematically in your own work.

Goal 4: Reflection and Revision

· 4B. produce multiple revisions on global and local levels.

· 4C. suggest useful global and local revisions to other writers.

· 4E. evaluate and act on peer and instructor feedback to revise their texts.

· 4F. reflect on your progress as academic writers.

Essay 4: Portfolio Reflection

Purpose: Detail your most important gains from this class by reflecting on your major essays and showing off some of your writing skills, your writing voice, and your creativity. The portfolio is a collection, a reflection, and the story of your learning.

Audience: An educated, college audience. To engage your classmates intellectually, you need to analyze your points in depth.

Background:

For your final portfolio, you’ll create a document to wrap up the semester and share your reflections about your major assignments. For multi-modal practice, you’ll submit your reflection using Adobe Sparks (or a similar website-building tool). Where appropriate, use vivid but appropriate language, humor, and visuals.

Note: Although some of the texts are not essays per se, you still need to organize your information using paragraphs and other cues such as standard punctuation to help your readers.

You need to complete the following steps:

Step 1: Create a visually pleasing website through Adobe Sparks or a similar tool with workable links.

Step 2: On the website, include the title and 5-10 visuals that help reflect your work.

Step 3: Include your Intro, Unit Reflections (all 3), Writing Pro, and Conclusion.

Step 4: In your d2l Assignments dropbox, share a link to your website that is open to email.arizona.edu.

Step 5: As an emergency backup, also upload your writing in a single Word file or pdf to the Assignments dropbox. (Intro, Reflections, Writing Pro, Conclusion)

*Note that you must complete all steps to receive a grade.

*Note too that in addition to the grading standards for Essays 1, 2, and 3, the portfolio will also be graded according to its presentation (aesthetics), effectiveness (how easy it is to find your materials), and deliberate visuals (colors and accompanying images). (If your links don’t work, you will lose credit.)

Title [something unique to your experience, with a touch of humor if applicable]

Introduction [to be written the next-to-last week of class, 1000-1500 words]

Choose one of the following prompts to introduce us to your portfolio reflection:

What did you learn about writing this semester?

OR: Now that you have completed the first semester of the composition sequence, what are some of your reflections on college writing?

OR: What did you learn about yourself through your and your classmates’ writing this semester?

OR: What did you learn about being a first-year college student this semester?

OR: An appropriate variation or combination.

Note that just as with any other piece of writing, your material needs to be organized. Hence, make sure to write in paragraphs with standard punctuation so that readers can follow you more easily. Include an explanation of some of the choices you made for your portfolio, including the visuals.

Unit 1 Reflection

For each category, address at least two questions. Concentrate on the items that are the most pertinent or illuminating. (500-1000 words) (Note that in general, more writing = higher grades.)

a/ Goals

What did you learn about the rhetorical situation through this unit? (the way authors deliberately use strategies to affect readers)

In what ways did this unit help you practice critical thinking?

What did you learn about voice or style? (Use specific examples.)

In what ways did our readings help you prepare for writing your essay?

What are some useful terms you learned during this unit? (Define them in your own words.)

b/ Preparation

What interesting discoveries did you make during this unit?

What did you learn through homework assignments?

What insights did you gain through in-class writing exercises?

What are you still curious about?

(If applicable) Who helped you with this unit outside of class and how? (i.e., discussing with a roommate, visiting the Writing Center, etc.)

(If applicable) What research did you perform for this unit? What did you find especially interesting?

(If applicable) What activities did you do outside of class to prepare for this unit? How did they help you?

c/ Drafting

How did you first gather ideas for your essay?

Which brainstorming or outlining techniques were useful?

How did you begin drafting?

What was your drafting process like?

What were some key changes you made from one draft to another? (give specific details)

Overall, what was easy and/or difficult about writing this essay?

What do you like the best about your essay and why?

What might still need work and why?

d/ Workshopping

What did you learn about your own draft through workshopping?

Which comments on your first draft were particularly useful and why?

Which comments on subsequent drafts were particularly useful and why?

What useful ideas came to you through reading your classmates’ drafts?

What are some aspects of your peers’ work that you emulated or admired?

What are some problems that you avoided thanks to your classmates’ struggles?

What are some editing issues you needed to work on or helped a peer work on? (be specific)

Unit 2 Reflection

For a more creative way to reflect on this unit, write this reflection in the form of a dialogue between you and a friend, relative, mentor, etc. For each category (goals, preparation, drafting, workshopping), address at least two questions. Concentrate on the items that are the most pertinent or illuminating.

For example, you might start:

Mike: Hi, Uncle Jerry! I finally finished my essay for English class.

Uncle Jerry: What did you write about?

At the end, briefly explain why you chose to talk to that person. (500-1000 words altogether).

Unit 3 Reflection

For a more creative way to reflect on this unit, write this reflection in the form of a letter between you and a friend, relative, mentor, etc. or to yourself. For each category (goals, preparation, drafting, workshopping), address at least two questions. Concentrate on the items that are the most pertinent or illuminating.

At the end, briefly explain why you chose to address that person. (500-1000 words altogether)

The Writing Pro

As you have noticed, the way to improve your writing is through slow, careful steps. Sometimes this includes recognizing ways how writing doesn’t meet expectations. At other times it includes recognizing how your writing does even more than you realized!

I spend a good deal of time analyzing your writing. So do your classmates. Reflect on specific comments you received on your drafts or final essays, positive and/or negative, and offer your own feedback. (1000-1500 words)

Conclusion [to be written the last week of class, 1000-1500 words or longer]

Now that you have finished a semester of college writing, it’s time to show off. Finish your semester by responding to one of the following scenarios:

1. Wowing Mom and Dad

You really want to go on an awesome vacation over Christmas, but you need a little more cash. However, you know your parents really appreciate strong writing. Compose a letter that proves to them that you have mastered many fine writing skills and that, after all your hard work this semester, you really do deserve a fine vacation that they help finance.

2. High School Madness

Your old high school teacher, whom you now detest/love for his/her good/bad teaching, begs you to return to your old high school to explain to the current high school seniors what college writing is really like. Prepare the speech you will give to the students or have a conversation with a few of them.

3. Netflix Needs You

Given your academic experiences this semester, write a pilot for a short mini-series. Explain the main plot lines, characters, scenes, complications., and target audience. Also include your first pages of dialogue.

Important Notes

1. This is our last project together—make it memorable (and, preferably, fun).

2. For flair, add personal visuals such as artwork, drawings, or photos. Play with fonts and color.

3. Where appropriate, add humor. For example, “The Painful Ups and Downs of a Writing Apprentice” is a better title than “My Writing This Semester.”

4. Organize your intro in a deliberate fashion.

5. Use specifics to make your points.

6. Make use of each workshopping session.

7. Remember to edit your essay to avoid careless mistakes.

8. Make all your hard work this semester pay off!

9. Make sure that your links work for all email.arizona.edu accounts.

10. Samples from former students:

Dave

https://spark.adobe.com/page/dUjImeHNfMq5p/

Jake

https://spark.adobe.com/page/fLhCiS1bB2wVF/

Kaitlin

https://spark.adobe.com/page/Yc46imGTMpPyL/

*Remember that, in general, more writing = more thinking = higher grades! 😊

Student Learning Outcomes:

Goal 2: Critical Thinking and Composing

· 2C. incorporate evidence, such as through summaries, paraphrases, quotations, and visuals.

Goal 3: Conventions 

· 3A. follow appropriate conventions for grammar, punctuation, and spelling, through practice in composing and revising.

Goal 4: Reflection and Revision

· 4B. produce multiple revisions on global and local levels.

· 4C. suggest useful global and local revisions to other writers.

· 4E. evaluate and act on peer and instructor feedback to revise their texts.

· 4F. reflect on their progress as academic writers.

Typical Academic Essay Format

Title: Something catchy that helps readers understand your focus right away. Have fun with this!

Intro: Introduce your topic. Lead us in. (We’d rather watch Netflix than read your essay.) List any texts/authors. Near the end of your intro, state your thesis (purpose). Also give a forecast (the main ways you will prove your thesis).

Body Paragraphs: (usually 4-8)

Point (topic sentence, the main idea of your paragraph) (10%)

Illustration (example/quote) (20%)

Explanation (explain about the illustration; your interpretation will necessarily differ from everyone else’s; readers can’t read your mind, so you have to pull them along with you) This is the heart of your essay—and what most often separates good essays from great ones. 70%

Repeat body paragraphs as needed,

Conclusion: Sum up your points and leave us some food for thought. We read your essay…. Now give us something provocative or interesting to think about.

Works Cited or References page (if needed)

Peer Review Sheet

Your name ____________________

Essay title _____________________

Draft 1

1A ________________________

Peer’s advice:

Your solution:

Tips you picked up from reading peer’s essay:

1B ________________________

Peer’s advice:

Your solution:

Tips you picked up from reading peer’s essay:

Draft 2

2A ________________________

Peer’s advice:

Your solution:

Tips you picked up from reading peer’s essay:

2B ________________________

Peer’s advice:

Your solution:

Tips you picked up from reading peer’s essay:

Draft 3

3A ________________________

Peer’s advice:

Your solution:

Tips you picked up from reading peer’s essay:

3B ________________________

Peer’s advice:

Your solution:

Tips you picked up from reading peer’s essay:

Peer Review Sheet

Your name ____________________

Essay title _____________________

Essay type _____________________

Date

Reader’s Name

Their Advice/Your Solution

What You Learned through Their Draft

1A

1B

2B

2B

3A

3B

D.R.

drr 200823