ELI 084 Academic Writing

1.  Finish your surveys if you have not done so.  Read the compare/contrast essay assignment at the right.  Begin to organize your survey results and think about how you will compare them with the situation in your country.  For Tuesday, make a brief outline for your essay that shows what you will cover in each body paragraph.  Also write an introduction for the essay following the instructions in the assignment.  Review the sample essays if necessary.

2.  Read pp. 135-138.  Be prepared to explain your choice in Practice 4.  

3.  Read pp. 111-117.  Do Practice 2.A and B on paper.  Try to use a different comparison signal word for each sentence.

4.  Post journal entry #5.  You may write about anything; if you can’t think of a topic, read some of your classmates’ entries to get ideas.  Please comment on your classmates’ posts.  Journal entry #5 could also be a summary of your survey results or a rough draft of your survey essay. 

Revisions of Essay 2 are due Nov. 1.

1.  You have already paraphrased the passages on pp. 132-133.  Continue with last two passages (p. 134).  Please TYPE all four passages.  You may be required to show your passages to your classmates and explain your grammar and vocabulary choices.

2.  Read pp. 135-138.  Be prepard to explain your choice in Practice 4. 

3.  Finish your surveys (minimum 15) and bring the results to class.

0. Remember to post a journal entry every week.  Write about whatever you want, and feel free to read and respond to your classmates’ journals. 

1.  Do Step 7 of the Compare/contrast Survey Essay assignment.  Interview at least 8 Americans by Tuesday.

2.  Review Chapter 14 for a test on adjective clauses.

3.  Read the sample Survey Essays at the right.  These are students’ essays that will give you an idea of what you will be writing for Essay 3.

4.  Write paraphrases of the first two passages in Practice 2, pp. 132-133.  Follow the instructions.

1.  Do steps 5 and 6 of the survey assignment.  Revise your survey questions if necessary.  I recommend having someone at the Writing Center or another native speaker take a look at them to make sure they are understandable.  “Test” your questions by interviewing one or two American students to make sure that you are getting the type information you want.  You may find that you need to add or revise questions.

2.  Bring any questions you have about the article related to your survey topic.

3.  Revisions of Essay 2 are due October 30.  Identify areas you have questions about and have access to an electronic version on Thursday; I will give you time to work on it and ask questions. 

1. As a class we have chosen three possible topics for our next essay (Survey Essay). First read the survey assignment. Then choose one of the topics below and read the article. These articles are just for background, but eventually you will be asked to cite information from them in your essay.

Click on the topics below to read the articles…

alcohol use among college students

students’ views on adoption

students’ views on smoking

After you have read the article, do step 3 of the survey assignment (brainstorm a list of questions). Give me your list on Tuesday.

2. Read pp. 243-248. In the book, do Practices 6.A & B, 7.A & B, and “Editing Practice” pp. 248-249.

3. Read pp. 127-130. Be prepared to answer the questions on p. 128, and do Practice 1 (Passages 2 and 3)

1.  Review pp. 26-31 and p. 169 for another quiz on transitions.

2.  Read pp. 236-242.  Do Practice 3.A & B, 4.A & B, and 5.A & B in the book.

3.  Here is a list of possible topics for your next essay, in which you will survey at least 15 Americans, write about the results of your survey, and compare those results with the situation in your country:

censorship on the Internet, adoption, homelessness, smoking, sex-change operations, campus lifestyles, gambling, giving to charities, abortion, campus safety, recycling

Choose two topics that you might like to use for your survey.  We will vote for the top three topics on Thursday.

If you have not posted your third journal, please do so.

1.  From now on, I expect you to post a journal entry (at least one long paragraph) every week.  You may write about anything!  If you can not think of a topic, I will try to give you ideas.  Here’s one:  Which essay was more difficult to write: Essay 1 or Essay 2?  Explain why. 

Please check out what your classmates have written, and comment if you like!

2.  Your cause/effect essay is due on Tuesday the 9th.  Remember to put all previous drafts, peer feedback, and any Writing Center forms together with your final draft.   Please put your final draft on top to avoid confusion.

3.  Read pp. 230-234.  Do Practice 1 and 2.A, B in the book.

Work on your cause/effect essay.  Remember to go to your blog and post your cause/effect essay by 5:00 PM Wednesday.   During the 24 hours between 5:00 Wednesday and class on Thursday, read the two essays I have assigned to you.  Fill out the “Cause/effect essay peer review” handout for both essays.  You will need to put your answers for one essay on the back or on a separate piece of paper.   In class on Thursday, you will get together with your partner and compare your answers.

I would like you to post your paper as a page.  To do so, go to “Write Page” under “Write” in your dashboard.   Type “Cause/effect Essay” as the title, and paste your essay into the text box.   Before publishing, go to “Page Parent” on the right and select “Main Page.”  When you go to read your classmates’ essays, you will find them under “Pages.”

Email me if you have questions.  Have access to an electronic copy of your own essay on Thursday; we will use remaining class time to work on it.  You may also begin revising your Logical Division essay.  Revisions are due by Thursday, October 11.

1.  For those of you who have revised your paragraphs, please revise once more if you did not receive a “+”.

2.  If you have not responded to your classmates’ recent journal entries, please do so.  Please respond to at least two.  Some comments are not showing up on some blogs; make sure that your blog allows comments.  Go to “Discussion” under “Otions” to allow comments.

3.  Read the Cause/effect Essay Assignment under “Pages” to the right.  Write a rough draft of your cause/effect essay.  Have access to an electronic copy so that you can work on it in class.  I want to see at least an introduction and two body paragraphs.  Many of you are writing on the same topics; feel free to get together and brainstorm.

4.  Read pp. 101-103.  Do Practices 3 and 4 in the book.

1.  Review chapter 10 and pp. 27-31 for a quiz.

2.  Answer the questions about the “wolf” essay pp. 108-109.

3.  Read your classmates’ journal entry #2 (cause/effect).  Think about whether their topics will be suitable for an 800-word essay.  Leave comments or questions on at least two blogs.