CM107 UNIT 3 SEMINAR Instructor: Emily Lundin

REVIEW OF UNITS 1-2 What can YOU do to make sure your QUEST for WRITING EXCELLENCE is successful? How can AMULETS and ELIXIRS help you along the way? Who are your HELPERS?

C OURSE N AVIGATION

UNIT 3 Unit 3 Project is due by the end of this unit Focus on Paragraphing Basics of APA formatting

UNIT 3 PROJECT F IELD T RIP Go to classroom and open the SAMPLE UNIT 3 PROJECT. As you read consider the following: THESIS: What is the writer’s main point? How/where is it established? DEVELOPMENT: How does the writer DEVELOP the main point? Are the details relevant to the thesis? How does the writer make sure to avoid IRRELEVANT BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION? PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE: How does the writer use TOPIC SENTENCES to establish the topic of each paragraph? How does the writer CONNECT ideas in the paragraphs? FORMAT: What do you notice about the format of this project? How can you make sure you format your paper correctly? Is there anything in the project that you think could be written BETTER? What CONSTRUCTIVE ADVICE would you give the author?

YOUR UNIT 3 PROJECT What questions or problems are you having with YOUR unit 3 project? Spend time offering CONSTRUCTIVE advice to classmates who are having challenges with this project. What RESOURCES are available to help?

W RITING P ROCESS Three separate steps: DRAFTING REVISING EDITING

DRAFTING THE UNIT 3 PROJECT Drafting allows you to make mistakes. Do not revise or edit as you draft. Simply allow the ideas to flow. Allow mistakes to happen. Stopping the flow of ideas during the drafting process can be counter productive. WHAT IS YOUR PLAN FOR DRAFTING? What strategies do you use? How can you ensure that you have enough time to draft without being interrupted?

REVISING THE UNIT 3 PROJECT Revising is “re-seeing” your project. Once you draft, give yourself a break away from the writing. Then, when you come back to it, first read the assignment again and review the PROJECT RUBRIC. Then, read your draft out loud and see what you have done that meets those expectations. Ask yourself what changes you need to make. Everyone will have some changes. Perhaps you included details about the person that are not relevant to the issue of courage, for example. That is not a problem. Just remove it. Do you need to add more details to explain how the person overcame a threshold? Remember to think about your AUDIENCE. They probably do not know this person, so do you provide them with RELEVANT details? If not, add them, always thinking about the audience. Don’t worry if you have to revise more than once. Expert writers have to do it several times. WHAT IS YOUR PLAN FOR REVISING? What strategies do you use? Will reading your draft out loud or having someone else to read and respond to your draft help?

EDITING THE UNIT 3 PROJECT EDITING is different from REVISING and should be done separately. Editing is looking at grammar and spelling rather than ideas. EDITING STRATEGIES: Yes, use Spell Check. BUT, don’t stop there. Spell Check is helpful but it does not edit. What are some EDITING concerns to look for? How can your PAST WRITING help you to edit better? If you have received feedback on a paper in the past, look at the errors that have been highlighted. They may show up again, in this project. Review Writing Center information on these concerns and focus on them when you do edit. Don’t forget the power of reading out loud. LISTEN to what is actually there, not what you THINK is there.

FORMATTING: APA FORMAT TITLE PAGE 12 point Times New Roman font Double spaced One inch margins Inserted header/page number APA VIDEO Questions about APA?

PARAGRAPHING Your unit 3 project will probably have 3 paragraphs, which means that having STRONG, ORGANIZED and WELL-DEVELOPED paragraphs will help you to have a strong project. WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH? WHY is a TOPIC SENTENCE important? WHY are SUPPORTING SENTENCES necessary? WHY is the AUDIENCE important to what is and is not included in the supporting sentences?

PARAGRAPH EXERCISE How would you develop the following paragraph topic sentence? The families of terminally ill patients are physically affected by their loved one's illness. What information would the AUDIENCE need to be shown in order for the SUPPORTING SENTENCES to clarify this idea for them?

P ARAGRAPHS CAN BE DEVELOPED BY Giving an explanation Giving an example Telling a story Stating the cause or the effect Defining terms Offering research evidence Making a prediction Making a suggestion

PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT The families of terminally ill patients are physically affected by their loved one's illness. Caring for a loved one who is terminally ill can be exhausting and extremely stressful. The reason for this is that family members must give constant attention and care to terminally ill patients, who are unable to care for themselves. They must spend time with them, bathe, and feed them. If the patient can't move, they must lift them. As a result of these physical demands, family members often end up experiencing stress- related illnesses, such as anxiety, tension headaches, and digestive disorders, among others. Are all the details relevant to the topic sentence? Do the supporting details CLARIFY for the audience that point that is being made? Are other details necessary?

YOUR PARAGRAPHS Share a TOPIC SENTENCE from your Unit 3 project and receive CONSTRUCTIVE ADVICE. What other resources are available to help you with your paragraphs?

QUESTIONS? Keep working hard this week and you’ll be finished with your first major project- hooray!

REVIEW THE PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS For the Unit 3 Project, your goal is to communicate to a general audience a definition of courage in order to motivate them to want to cross their own thresholds. If you know someone who has overcome adversity in some way, you can help people in similar situations to also cross their own threshold through sharing this person’s act of courage with them. To do that, select a person you know and who you think is courageous. Then, write a 3-paragraph informative piece that helps your audience understand your definition of courage and shows that audience exactly how this person is in fact courageous, so they may also see a way through the adversity they are also facing. Be sure to explain exactly how this person crossed a threshold and explain how this person overcame adversity with specific examples and details to illustrate your point.

Instructions, continued You might consider structuring these 3 paragraphs using this organizational plan: 1 st paragraph-introduce the subject by providing your specific definition of courage. Do not rely on a definition from a source like the dictionary. Be sure that you introduce the person who has demonstrated this courage and establish a thesis that says why this person is courageous. 2 nd paragraph-select an appropriate event in this person’s life that best exemplifies how this person has displayed courage. 3 rd paragraph-analyze exactly why this event demonstrates courage and explore what adversity the person faced and how this demonstrates crossing a threshold. Make sure this paragraph ends with a clear conclusion. Your project should be between words and should have a clear main point that is well-developed. This is not a research project and should rely instead on your own experience and observation, but note that you do not need to nor should you use first person. You will be learning to locate and use research information in the upcoming units, but for now, rely on what you know.

RHETORICAL SITUATION What is the Unit 3 Project asking you to do? Who is your audience and what is your purpose? How will this affect the way you write? How will it affect the language and information used?

WRITING PROCESS PREWRITING- Here, you want to begin OFF the computer, in your own head, in fact. The time you spend thinking about the project and establishing your writing goals will be time well spent. BRAINSTORM possible topics. Consider using a piece of paper rather than the computer screen to create a list of possible subjects. Who do you know -- friends, family members, co- workers -- who have experienced a difficult, challenging situation and who have shown courage in responding to this situation? THINK about the list. Which one do you know the MOST about? Which one would BEST help your audience to see the definition of courage? Which one could BEST help motivate your audience?

WRITING PROCESS, Continued SELECT ONE person you want to write about. Remember that this is not a research project. The information must come from you and your knowledge of and observation of this person. CONTINUE to BRAINSTORM. Jot down details about this person. What did the person experience? Why did it require courage? How did the person RESPOND to and demonstrate courage in THIS instance? How did this person cross the THRESHOLD?

WRITING PROCESS, Continued Once you have chosen a subject and brainstormed ideas, you can create a THESIS which will help you to keep focused on your WRITING GOAL when you write. Once you do that, you can move forward and begin OUTLINING your ideas and DRAFTING the ideas, so that you can be ready to REVISE and EDIT next week.

THESIS CREATION First, think about what a thesis is/does. It limits the focus of any piece of writing and establishes the main point about a subject. Thesis statements should be specific and clear and should avoid general statements. They should not be questions nor should they be confused with titles. At least for this class, they should not include first person (I) and should not announce (this paper will…)

Thesis creation, continued To create a thesis, begin by establishing the QUESTION you want your paper to answer. This question could be Why is X courageous, in the case of the unit 3 project; or if your goal in writing a paper is to explore the causes of a particular event, then the question literally would be What causes X? When you begin the writing process, you may have many questions to ask, but if you can focus on the MOST important question you are trying answer in your paper, that will help you to create a thesis. The ANSWER to your question is literally your thesis. If you can state the answer in 1-2 sentences, you have a focused, specific thesis.

Thesis creation, continued Are these STRONG THESIS statements? 1. This essay will define courage. 2. Thomas Smith, a man of courage. 3. Thomas Smith was courageous. 4. Thomas Smith demonstrated courage by willingly risking his life to save others.

YOUR TURN Share your SUBJECT. Then test out a possible preliminary THESIS. Try your best to state WHO and WHY this person is courageous. When your classmates share their thesis statements, offer constructive advice.

AMULETS AND ELIXIRS What are they and how do they relate to your journey towards WRITING EXCELLENCE?