One Page Assignments Nice, Quick and Easy

The Quick 1-2 pages Formal in tone Focused Thoughtful (not obvious) No outside research required (but you can…) Uses the text to bring your point to life

How to Focus Narrow down to one thing Come to a thesis Tone, metaphor, plot, flow, sentence structure, symbolism, real-world connection, current article connection, answer to asked question Come to a thesis Reference specifics Don’t dilly-dally Quotes help! Especially when writing about poetry.

Format Open with one good sentence (this is your thesis, your point). It serves as your intro and your point. Write two good paragraphs. Focus on your topic sentences, how will you break down your “thesis” into two smaller pieces for me to understand? Conclude with one good sentence. It should not repeat your thesis, but restate and close your findings.

Intro/Thesis (try for one sentence, two if needed) Two solid paragraphs of evidence. Focus on Topic Sentences, bring in evidence, prove your point. Conclude: don’t SUM, push the argument forward.

Read this…and tell me what it means… Sally first tried setting loose a team of gophers. The plan backfired when a dog chased them away. She then entertained a group of teenagers and was delighted when they brought their motorcycles. Unfortunately, she failed to find a Peeping Tom listed in the Yellow Pages. Furthermore, her stereo system was not loud enough. The crabgrass might have worked, but she didn’t have a fan that was sufficiently powerful. The obscene phone calls gave her hope until the number was changed. She thought about calling a door-to-door salesman but decided to hang up a clothesline instead. It was the installation of blinking lights across the street that did the trick. She eventually framed the ad from the classified section.

Sally had a group of annoying neighbors she was desperate to get rid of. It was missing it’s Topic Sentence! Go back and look again…see how important they are? Use them! Practice them!

The Nice I’ll assign points based on difficulty of the pieces you are writing about/question asked There will be many, so don’t stress about each one The first ones will be hard then it will get easier and easier

Don’t Worry! They get easier as you get used to them. You’ll be doing them in your sleep soon!