English Composition Jonathan Watts

Welcome back to class! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! Today we will talk about Essay Development –Pg

Quote of the day! No one is an artist unless he carries his picture in his head before painting it, and is sure of his method and composition. –Claude Monet

Last week... We talked about your Midterm Essay as well as the Four Basis for Revising an essay. What are the four bases? Unity Support Coherence Sentence Skills

Introduction to Essay Development For the remainder of the semester, we will be covering several different patterns of essay development. –Essay division has been written out for you on page 163. –Description –Narration –Exposition Examples-Comparison and Contrast Process-Definition Cause and Effect-Division and Classification Argumentation(Final Essay)

Description A verbal picture of a person, place or thing –Take minutes and write a short essay on your family and your hometown. (About 1 paragraph) Remember to 'paint a picture' with your words. –You want to make me feel like I am there. (This is only practice) –Use as many descriptive words as you can!!!

Narration Narration is when a writer tells a story. –(Often times, if you are watching a play and someone is 'speaking to the audience members' they are called a narrator. They tell a story) –Take 15 minutes and write a narrative story about your most embarrassing moment. –Again, you want me to feel like I am there. (This is practice) –Use specific details and descriptive words to express how you felt.

Exposition This is when a writer writes about a specific subject. –Examples –Process –Cause and Effect –Comparison and Contrast –Definition –Division and Classification We will have a lot of time to practice these this semester.

Argumentation This is when the writer argues a point of view that supports something controversial or defends something they believe in. These things always have two sides –Ex: Noodles are better than Rice –Ex: Boys are better students than girls This is actually what your final essay will be about, so we will talk about this in more detail on another day.

Understanding the Nature and Length of an Assignment Generally, you would not start writing a paper until you know all of the requirements for the paper. –What kind of paper is this? Look at the questions they ask on page 165. –Know how long the paper should be! Ex: I will never ask you to write a paper more than 3 pages. Both of your major essays in my class only need to be 2-3 pages in length. My rule is words. 500 words is about 2.10 pages and 700 words is about 2.90 pages.

Knowing Your Subject As the book says, try to write about something that interests you. –I usually ask you to write about things that are open, giving you the opportunity to think freely and write about things you care about. (It is MUCH easier to write about something that you have interest in.) If you receive a topic to write about that you don't know anything about, do your research! Do not be tempted to copy other peoples work. –This is an opportunity for you to learn about something new. Take this opportunity and educate yourself. It is said, when you teach something (like in writing), you learn it better.

Knowing Your Purpose and Audience Three most common purposes of writing: –Inform As the writer, you are the 'teacher', providing your readers with information about a specific subject. –Persuade You want people to believe you and be persuaded to change the way they think or they way they act. –Entertain If a paper is boring to read, people wont want to read it. You want to use interesting, thought provoking information that keeps your reader wanting more.

Determining Your Point of View First Person (I, me, mine, we, our, us) (Ex. Pg 166) –Talk about your own experiences –A lot of evidence presented comes from personal observation Second Person (You, your) –Talking directly to the reader –Used for giving direct instructions and explanations –Only in a 'Process' essay. –As a rule, don't use the word you in your essays Third Person (He, she, it) (Ex. Pg 167) –Most common point of view in writing –From an outside point of view, looking in –Use information you have from observation, thinking or reading

Using Peer Review In this class, you will have two main audience members –Me, the teacher –Your peers, or classmates We will always do Peer Review in this class. It is a fantastic way to help you improve in your writing abilities. For example, next week, we will focus on your midterm paper. You will have a lot of help from many different classmates. Next week we will use the techniques on pages

Doing a Personal Review After our peer reviews, I expect you to revise and edit your essays, asking yourself: –Is it unified? –Is there enough support? –Is it organized? Look over the past few weeks of lessons when you are writing to help yourself revise your essays.

Writing the Conclusion A good conclusion should: –stress the importance of the thesis statement –give the essay a sense of completeness –leave a final impression on the reader

Types of Conclusions Echo: If you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario as proof that your essay was helpful in creating a new understanding. Challenge: by challenging your readers you are helping them to redirect the information in the paper, and they may apply it to their own lives.

Types of Conclusions Looking to the future: can emphasize the importance of your paper or redirect the readers' thought process. It may help them apply the new information to their lives or see things more globally. Posing questions: this may help your readers gain a new perspective on the topic, which they may not have held before reading your conclusion. It may also bring your main ideas together to create a new meaning.

Revising Use this time to start working on your essay conclusion. How will you end your paper? If you have already written your conclusion, begin revising it. After you have written and revised your essay, have your classmates look at your essay body. Try reading your essay out loud, and they can help you.

While you are working... I am going to come around and check to see your typed body. When you see me, show me your essay so I can give you homework credit.

Homework Bring in a full copy (DRAFT) of your essay next week. –Introduction –Body –Conclusion We will work on your essay (rough draft) next week in class. (No lecture) –This gives me an opportunity to help you on a more individual basis –You can help your classmates edit their work. Your midterm Comparison & Contrast Essay is due in two weeks. (Week 10)