1. Reading and Interpreting
Part 1 of Essay Assignment 1

2. Informal Writing (AKA Social Writing)
What types of informal writing do you engage in on a daily basis?
Texting, IM, Facebook, Twitter,
Others?
Who is your audience for this writing? Is audience important? Is tone important? Spelling? Grammar?

3. The Audience Matters
Even in informal writing, the audience matters. Your tone/voice/grammar/spelling, etc. all factor in to who you’re talking to, right?
Does your boyfriend/girlfriend care if you misspell a word in a text? Probably not.
Does your mom care? Maybe.
What about your boss? Hmm…probably.
Ever sent a text to the wrong person?

4. Formal Writing (AKA Academic Writing)
Though you are a skilled informal writer, you have to step it up in an academic environment.
The audience matters, of course. The tone, subject, style, purpose/goal…these are all important factors to consider when writing in an academic environment.
Why does your style change for academic writing?

5. Positioning Yourself as an Academic Writer
First, establish authority.
Assume your opinions count and that your audience expects you to present them in a well-reasoned manner.
Draw conclusions based on what you’ve heard, observed, and read.
Cite works of others—texts from class, your instructor, your classmates, etc.

6. Positioning Yourself as an Academic Writer, continued:
Next, be direct.
State your main point early and clearly.
Don’t overqualify your statements. Don’t write I think the facts reveal, just come right out and say The facts reveal.
Your anecdotes and examples should directly relate to your point. Use concrete examples. Be specific!
Use transitions between ideas and paragraphs.

7. Become an Engaged Reader
When you read a text, note the name of the author or creator, the date, and the place of publication; these items can give you clues about purpose, audience, and context.
You should understand the overall content of the piece and be able to summarize it in your own words.
Formulate informed and critical questions about the text, and bring those questions up in class.
Look out for repeated themes and images.
What are the author’s attitudes and assumptions about the text? What is the author’s stance vs. how he/she reports on the stance of others?
How is the text organized? Is there a pattern? What kinds of sources does the author use?

8. How Would You Define Good College Writing?
Make a list of characteristics you would attribute to good college writing.
Make another list of what you think your instructors’ expectations are for good college writing.
Are the lists alike? Different?

9. Essay Project 1: Part One, Writing a Summary
We have read several texts now, and we have written about and/or discussed each text. For part one of your first essay project, I want to test your ability to summarize a piece of writing.
Choose one of our texts from Unit 1 (Dr. King, Wendell Berry, George Orwell, or Barbara Ehrenreich).
Write a summary of the text in which you touch on the most important points made by the writer. Do not mention anything that is NOT in the actual document. Do not bring an any extra sources or information outside the text itself. Focus only on the text.

10. Some Basic Information
12 point, times new roman font, double spaced, 1” margins
About a page in length (This is a summary, so it should be significantly shorter than the original.)
Pretend you are telling your friend (also in this class) what the text is about. Keep it short and sweet.
NO OPINION in this. What you think, assume, presume, or feel about the text or writer is not important.
This assignment will accompany a second essay (part two).

11. Questions?