07 Jan • Include an APA title

Unit 1 discussion

Introductions

Welcome to English 110! . Since we are not available to chat face-to-face, you can introduce yourself in this first discussion board about the concept of home..

Pico Iyer gave a TED Talk about this concept called Where is Home. Please watch the video. He makes the argument that people now travel and may have many homes. Home for Iyer has become more of a feeling than necessarily a specific place.

Watch Video

Pico Iyer: Where is home?

User: n/a – Added: 7/17/13

YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m6dV7Xo3Vc

For your initial post-

In one paragraph please answer this question: What is one place that you have travelled to that has felt like home for you? Please describe that place using the senses. Including what you see, what you hear, what something feels like (physical touch), what something smells like, and what something tastes like.

In a second paragraph please share a story with the class of an experience you had in this place. Try to also use description and the five senses to make this story come alive for your classmates.

When you write using the senses to describe a place or an experience, you are using descriptive writing. This is the first writing style that we are exploring in this course. We will examine this style in more detail in Unit 2.

For your peer responses-

Consider the places that your classmates described and their stories. Did you feel like you were there with your classmates at this place? Could any details have been added to the description? Did you want any more sensory description in their posts?

Unit 2 discussion

Object Description

One key component of descriptive writing is showing the reader something rather than telling the reader. For example, I could tell you that I was cold. Or, I could show you: I shivered, rubbing my hands together. Tiny flakes of snow fell from the sky, landing on my already red, wet nose. When you describe something, the key is to remember to use as many of the five senses as possible.

For this post, you will be describing a household object for the class. The object should be something that you use everyday either in the kitchen or living room. In one paragraph, show the class what that object is using the five senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste). Please do not state specifically what the object is in your paragraph. The point of this exercise is for the class to be able to figure out the object through your description.

In your two response posts, first state what object you think the person is describing. How effective was the writer in describing the object? What additional details would you like to see added to the description?

Unit 3 discussion

Evaluating Movies

Sometimes when you evaluate something, you will have to also compare and contrast different aspects of what you are evaluating. You can compare/contrast by either using point-by-point format (by topic) or block format (by overall subject). For this discussion board, we are going to focus on point-by-point organization to evaluate two movies.

In point-by-point format you organize the essay with paragraphs focused on one topic. You then compare/contrast the two movies according to one topic per paragraph. For example:

Topic One

Movie 1

Movie 2

Topic Two

Movie 1

Movie 2

Many movies have been remade or a new franchise has been started with the movies again. For example, consider how many different versions of Batman have been created. In this discussion, you will create two paragraphs that compare and contrast either an original movie and a remake OR an older movie and a newer movie. Evaluate the movies by selecting two specific topics to answer the question: Which of the two movies was better?

Organization/Plot

Acting

Dialogue

Theme/Meaning

Setting

Music/Audio

In your responses to your classmates, let them know if you were convinced by them of which movie was better. Why or why not?

The following document will help you understand effective organization for your comparison and contrast writing in this discussion. You should focus on the first two sections of the resource, Compare and Contrast and Organization Method. The other sections, Thesis Statement and Audience can be referred to in the future if you are asked to write a compare and contrast essay in other courses.

Unit 4 discussion

Paraphrasing

In the previous unit, you worked on direct quoting. In this discussion board, you willl continue to practice writing objectively by bringing in evidence from an outside source to support your point. You will support that point with facts from the below video. Do not include a direct quote from the video. You need to put the information into your own words (paraphrase) and then include an in-text citation for that information.

Unit 3 had you considering the author’s purpose in writing an article you will be evaluating in this unit. In this discussion, we will consider something that you do every day: having a conversation with other people. Many of the rules of having a conversation can also be applied to writing. An essay is in many ways a conversation between the writer and the reader.

Watch Video

10 ways to have a better conversation | Celeste Headlee

User: n/a – Added: 3/8/16

YouTube URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1vskiVDwl4

Based on the information in the video, answer the following question by supporting your answer with information from the video in one paragraph:

Which of the ten rules of conversation that Celeste Headly describes in the video do you find to be the most necessary when having a conversation with people? Please note that you cannot answer this question without paraphrasing the video, so make sure to include an in-text citation after the paraphrase.

Paste the following APA-formatted reference at the end of your post. Headlee, C. (2016, March). 10 ways to have a better conversation. . TedxTalks. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1vskiVDwl4

In your responses to classmates’ posts, state how well the paraphrase with in-text citation is presented and formatted within their paragraphs. How well did your classmate paraphrase information from the video? Provide feedback to your classmates to help them use paraphrasing more effectively.

Unit 5 discussion

The Pros and Cons of Your Argument

In this discussion board, you will begin writing your Argumentative Writing Assignment by submitting the introduction to your essay. Your Argumentative Writing Assignment must answer one of the questions below:

Competitive Sports

Why or why not should children participate in competitive sports?

Technology Dependency

Why or why not has American society become too dependent on technology?

Standardized Testing

How effective is standardized testing in predicting how well students will do in school?

The introduction is literally the opening of your essay. Imagine that you are watching a really good movie. Why was it so good? Chances are that the movie hooked you from the beginning. You also want to hook your reader from the start of your essay. Pay special attention to the first sentence you use in your essay. Try to engage the readers with that sentence. Then, set up what your essay will be focusing on. Briefly explain your topics and anything else the reader needs to know before he or she moves into the rest of your essay. Finally, end the introduction with a thesis statement that illustrates your argument as well as your topics.

For your peer response posts-

Please respond to at least two of your peers’ introduction. How engaged were you from the start of the introduction? Were you hooked by what your classmate wrote? What parts can be expanded upon? What areas in the introduction were not clear? What did you find particularly effective about the introduction?

Unit 6 discussion

Credible Sources

Throughout the research process, you will be finding sources to support your argument for your Argumentative Writing Assignment. Reviewing these sources for bias and credibility is very important.

So, how do you find a reliable, academic, and scholarly source? Please review this short explanation of scholarly sources:

Finding Scholarly Sources (pp. 33-34)

For your initial post, find one source that would support your position for the topic you have selected to write about for the Argumentative Writing Assignment. The source should be scholarly and academic in nature. Write a one paragraph summary of the source, and include an in-text citation, and reference. Refer back to the Citing Sources pdf resource in Unit 3 for information on summarizing. You might also want to review the information on credible sources in the Critiquing a Source pdf in Unit 4 and the Researching chapter listed in Unit 5.

For your two responses, read through your peers’ initial posts and answer the following:

What is the main idea in the source?

Is the source credible? Why or why not?

Is the source biased? Why or why not?

Unit 7 discussion

Revision and Writing Advice

You should be in the middle of revising your essay to hand in at the end of this unit. The idea behind revision is to create a polished piece of work. All writers have to revise their work at some point, and most writers have developed their own method for revision. “‘My Pencils Outlast Their Erasers’: Great Writers on the Art of Revision” is an article in The Atlantic that features quotes from famous writers on revision.

For your initial post-

Describe in one paragraph which quote resonated with you the most. How does the quote reflect your own revision process? Make sure to include proper citations with a corresponding reference for any direct quote.

In a second paragraph, consider what you plan to revise within your own essay. What do you think you need to revise in your essay? Why do you need to revise it? What is your plan for that revision?

For your two response posts, please answer the following-

What was your reaction to the quote your classmate selected from the article?

What advice would you give your classmate as he or she works on the essay revision?

Unit 8 discussion

Writing Journey Reflection

You have completed your writing journey for this course, so now is the time to take a look back at your experience. Discuss how your writing has evolved over the course of this class. What is the most challenging thing you have encountered in this class? How did you deal with and overcome that challenge? Finally, ask the class at least one question about writing you still have.

In your two classmate responses answer the question your classmate asked about writing.

Unit 2 Assignment- Descriptive Writing

Due: by 11:59pm on Sunday of Unit 2.

In this assignment, you will describe one experience that you have had with ONE of the topics below. Select a topic that you may be interested in exploring further. The topic you choose for this assignment can be further explored in the Evaluative and Argumentative Writing Assignments if you choose to do so.

Here are the topics and some questions you can consider when crafting your assignment. Please remember that you do not have to answer these questions. You can just use them as a starting off point on the topic. The main goal here is to describe an experience associated with one of these topics:

1. Competitive Sports

• When you were a child, did you play competitive sports? Do you think that your experience playing sports affected how you approach life? How important is it that sports be competitive?

2. Technology Dependency

• What forms of technology do you currently use? How dependent on technology would you consider yourself to be? Can you describe one specific experience that showed why or why not you are dependent on technology?

3. Standardized Testing

• What was your experience like taking a standardized test? How did you prepare for the test? Did you find that the results from the test were accurate?

Assignment Requirements

The assignment revolves around you using descriptive phrasing to explain your experience. The more descriptive you can be with specific sensory details, the more relatable it will be to the reader. Think about what you saw, what you heard, what you tasted, what you smelled, and what you felt as you went through this experience.

• This assignment should be a total of one to two double-spaced pages. You also should include an APA-style title page and headers. You should use 12 point Times New Roman font. .

• In most APA-style assignments, you should not use the word “I.” In this assignment, however, we want you to think subjectively about your own experiences, so you will need to use “I” and discuss your own life.

ENG110 – College Writing

Descriptive Writing Assignment

• Include the followingo

An introduction that sets up the experience for the reader. End the introduction with the main idea that lets the reader know the focus of the paper. What did the experience teach you?

o A body section with at least one paragraph that explains the experience to the reader.

o A concluding paragraph that wraps up the experience. How did the experience end? Has the experience changed you in any way?

• This assignment does not require use of outside sources. If you use outside sources, please realize you must include in-text citations and references.

• Details should be placed in a logical order and content of the paper fully follows the descriptive prompts and includes all major descriptive details. Your writing should be free of punctuation, spelling, and grammar errors and contain appropriate word choice for an academic setting with clear sentence structure.

Unit 4 Assignment- Evaluative Writing

In this evaluation, you will be considering an advertisement that pertains to one

of the subjects below:

1. Competitive Sports

o Nike. (2016, October 25). Come out of nowhere. . Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOZxIpy6Gm4

2. Technology Dependency

o Apple. (2016, September 29). iPhone 7 – balloons. . Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR6JtMIdMuU

3. Standardized Testing

o Kaplan SAT & ACT Prep. (2017, April 4). Do students who ace AP

courses have the advantage in college admissions? .

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGQYOgTvOZ4

The advertisement should be cited in your essay in proper APA format with in-text

citations and a reference. Then, you will need to evaluate the advertisement for these

categories:

• Portrayal of Subject

o How effectively is the subject portrayed? How realistic is that portrayal?

• Design Elements

o How well designed was the advertisement? Consider the graphics used on the advertisement. Why or why not do those graphics interest the viewer?

• Message

o What message specifically was the advertisement created to give? Why or why not does it deliver that message effectively? Finally, how well does

ENG110 – College Writing

Evaluative Writing Assignment

the advertisement sell the product to the audience?

Essay Requirements

• You are writing an evaluation, not an argument essay. The purpose of an evaluation is to objectively evaluate the subject. In the evaluation, you should begin with an introduction that sets up the subject you are evaluating. A thesis statement that highlights your overall evaluation should be placed at the end of the introduction.

• The body of your essay should be 2-3 pages in length. You should also include a title page and a reference page. The whole essay (with the title and reference page) should be 4-5 pages in total.

• Make sure that you consider all aspects of the evaluation in the body paragraphs, specifically portrayal of the subject, design elements, and the overall message.

• If you directly quote from the video, follow this formatting: (Company, year, time).

• To remain objective, “I” should not be used in this assignment. Each section should be one full paragraph. Keep in mind that if you are referencing the article, you will need an in-text citation and a reference page.

Unit 6 Assignment- Argumentative Writing Assignment – Outline

For the Descriptive and Evaluative Writing Assignments you submitted in Unit 2 and 4,

you selected one of the topics below and described your personal experience with it.

Then, you evaluated an advertisement dealing with one of these topics. Now, you will

create an outline for your Argumentative Writing Assignment.

The outline must include your plan for answering the research question associated with

the topic you select below:

1. Competitive Sports

a. Why or why not should children participate in competitive sports?

2. Technology Dependency

a. Why or why not has American society become too dependent on

technology?

3. Standardized Testing

a. How effective is standardized testing in predicting how well students will

do in school?

This assignment is designed to demonstrate your plan for your Argumentative Writing

Assignment. Your outline should include:

Thesis Question and Answer

Begin with the question you selected above. Then, answer the question with a working

thesis statement that features the specific topics of your outline.

Outline of Supporting Paragraphs

Please do not include full paragraphs here. Rather, outline the body paragraphs. In your

outline, include at least two points that support your thesis statement as well as one

point that will address the counterargument (the other side of your argument).

In the outline, include the names of the three scholarly and academic articles that you

will be using in your essay and indicate where they will appear in your supporting

paragraphs. You should also include a reference page with an entry for each article.

Utilize the library resources to find sources for your essay.

ENG110 – College Writing

Argumentative Writing Assignment- Outline

Sample Outline Format

You may use this as a guide to formatting the outline. Please keep in mind that you will

have to fully explain each of the areas highlighted below in your outline.

Thesis Question

Thesis Statement

Outline of Supporting Paragraphs

A. Supporting Paragraph Topic 1

a. Explanation of Topic

b. Evidence

B. Supporting Paragraph Topic 2

a. Explanation of Topic

b. Discussion of Countargument

c. Evidence

C. Supporting Paragraph Topic 3

a. Explanation of Topic

b. Evidence

References page

Additional Guidlines

Follow these additional guidelines when completing this assignment:

• Include a minimum of three APA in-text citations for the three sources you plan to

use in the outline

• Include an APA reference page with a minimum of three entries

• Include an APA title page

• Include a running head

• Be objective and avoid using “I,” “me,” “you,” “we,” or “us.”

• Be sure to use the Writing Tips page to help with your APA formatting and other

resources provided in previous units of this course.

• Use your sources to support your thesis statement and argument, but make sure

to show the reader the other side of your argument to avoid being biased.

Unit 7 Assignment- Argumentative Writing

For the first part of the Argumentative Writing Assignment you submitted in Unit 6, you

selected one of the questions below to develop into an outline. In this second part of the

Argumentative Writing Assignment, you will need to continue with that topic.

1. Competitive Sports

a. Why or why not should children participate in competitive sports?

2. Technology Dependency

a. Why or why not has American society become too dependent on

technology?

3. Standardized Testing

a. How effective is standardized testing in predicting how well students will

do in school?

The Argumentative Writing Assignment requires that you form an argument in favor of a

specific position on one of the topics above. In the assignment, you will be using three

academic and scholarly sources; two articles should be in favor of your position and one

article should feature the counterargument.

Thesis Statement and Argument

After careful thought, you will be transforming your chosen topic into an arguable thesis.

The assignment will show a clear argument that is outlined in your thesis statement.

This research paper must present an original thesis that is strongly supported

throughout your whole essay.

Body Paragraphs and Evidence

The overall essay will be three to four pages long and employ APA format. You should

also include a title page. Within your essay, use at least three academic and scholarly

sources to support your claim. All researched information must be accurately cited

according to APA format. You will need to include at least three parenthetical, in-text

citations and three references for the sources used in your essay. A references page

should be placed at the end of the paper. Please use the Library’s Academic Journal

resources to find your sources.

ENG110 – College Writing

Argumentative Writing Assignment

Introduction and Conclusion

The introduction should set up the essay for the reader. What information is necessary

for the reader to have at the start of the essay so that the rest of the essay makes

sense? You should end the introduction with your arguable thesis statement. The

conclusion ends the essay. In the conclusion, you want to wrap up your ideas. You

should bring up the thesis statement, but you do not have to restate it. Your conclusion

should leave the reader with your final impression of the subject. The introduction and

conclusion should be tied together but they should not be exact replicas of each other.

Additional Guidelines

Follow these guidelines to write your Argumentative Writing Assignment:

• Include a minimum of three APA in-text citations

• Include an APA reference page with a minimum of three entries

• Include an APA title page and a running head

• The essay (not including the title page and references page) should be 3-4 pages in

length

• Be objective and avoid using “I,” “me,” “you,” “we,” or “us.”

• Be sure to use the Writing Tips page to help with your APA formatting.

• Use your sources to support your thesis statement and argument, but make sure to

show the reader the other side of your argument to avoid being biased.