HW for 4/4

Essay 3 is due. No extra reading homework. Bring Essay 3, printed, formatted correctly.

Also, bring:

• Essay 1 and 2, both the draft I graded and a clean draft (you may have worked on the essay, and that is great). 

• What's a "clean draft"?  Simply, a new draft, printed off, with no pen or pencil marks on it.

Midtern on Wed., 3/30, & Blackboard Essay 3 HW

1. Your in-class Midterm Exam (which you will get to revise as part of portfolio) will be on Wednesday. You will want to create an outline/revise from Monday's class, and you will want to focus your review on:

• organizational pattern: creating a definition
• PRE
• Thesis statement handout (from start of semester)
• Review in-class exam strategies (Rules for Writers)

2. Upload one of your body paragraphs for Essay 3 as a Word file (.doc or .docx). The topic sentence should clarify one of the steps (or rules) for surviving in your culture (or place).

• Use specific language: descriptive, contextual details.
• Support your point with reasons and examples.
• Again, use PRE to help you structure the paragraph.
• The paragraph should be 6-8 sentences, with sentence variety.
• Edit your work, at least with regard to commas and run-ons.

Reading inspiration for Midterm

"How People Learn to Become Resilient" will help us understand a necessary goal for any community college student: to become...resilient.

This reading will also help you brainstorm the timed, expanded definition essay you will write in class on Wednesday.

For help with writing "expanded definitions," we will review one of our very first lessons from early February: Organizational Patterns: Definition.

What should my Essay 3 outline have?

*Because you are writing about 2-3 steps, use transitional phrases in your topic sentences that provide order, or that reference these steps/rules.

* Vocabulary: words like rules, steps, actions, beliefs, cultural norms, and other ones should be within your main ideas. Why?

I. Intro:

• A hook: on the culture/place or the advice (hook and context)
• A brief description of the culture (context)
• Two or three steps/rules introduced?  (subtopics)
• Thesis: biggest piece of advice for doing well in the culture/place (should connect in language to the two to three steps)

II. Body

A. Topic Sentence 1 (one step/rule):

• Reason this step/rule is valid/important?
• Example of the step in play, in the culture? 

B. Topic Sentence 2 (a second step/rule):

• Reason this step/rule is valid/important?
• Example of the step in play, in the culture? 

C.  Topic Sentence 3 (a third step/rule):

• Reason this step/rule is valid/important?
• Example of the step in play, in the culture?

III. Conclusion

A. Topic Sentence: Summary of advice and steps
B. Larger relevance of advice (see the Conclusions lesson from earlier this semester)


Starting a body paragraph from the outline:

•  When a writer outlines their ideas, she gives herself the paragraph's largest PRE structure. Instead of thinking of an idea while writing the paragraph, you start with the idea and know exactly which reasons and which examples you want to include in the paragraph. 
• Having direction: 
• Helps development
• Helps unity & coherence
• Gives the writer time to focus on grammar and sentence variety, because the outline helps them with organization. In short, you can think about HOW to write a sentence to the best that you can rather than just trying to come up with an idea "in that moment."

• One strategy I like to do before I write a paragraph from an outline is to create a word bank of words that go along with my main point and the subject matter. 

• I brainstorm a bunch of synonyms of words that are in my topic sentences, and
• I brainstorm words that deal with the subject matter I am covering: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs.
• sensory filled words
• words that describe people, places, things
• names of people, places, things (that are in that culture/place) 

• For instance, a student wrote a poem about "Severna Park cross country girls." The city name is there, as is the sport and the gender. Language is specific as possible. 

 ...now, let's write a draft for one of our Essay 3 body paragraphs, following our outlines after first creating a word bank of 15-20 words...

HW for 3/28

1. Submit on Blackboard your Essay 3 outline (thesis, 2-3 topic sentences) and a fully written conclusion paragraph.

2. Bring your packet of Rules for Place from Blackboard.

HW for 3/23

1. Actively read the packet, Rules for a Place.

2. Choose one of the poems or the short story and do the discussion board under Unit 3 on Blackboard. Make sure to select Create Thread to start your post.

3. Make sure you come to Wednesday's class having chosen your subject culture for Essay 3. You must decide on your text (your culture/place) because we are starting the paper on Wednesday (and we have no time for trifling or indecision).

Using PRE & Linking Exercise Practices

I. Intro

• Thesis: US citizens born into low-income families in poor neighborhoods have less of a chance at the American Dream , so we need to create Federal laws that invest in these communities in ways that don't hurt other citizens' chances.

II.  Body

A. TS 1 (P):  One way America can start to equalize opportunities for those living below the poverty line is to require a Federal minimum wage that meets cost of living.

Revised TS 1 (gets rid of linking verb "is"):  Having a Federal minimum wage that meets cost of living signifies one way America can start to equalize opportunities for those living below the poverty line. 

• One Reason: The minimum wage was created to make sure working citizens can survive without having to work two to three jobs just to get by. 

• Example:

B. TS 2: