Thursday, November 5, 2009

Class #10

Grammar practice Everyday Writer Sec. 37. Do Ex. 37.1 and 37.2 in your journal.

We look at responding to "Teach Diversity -- with a Smile." (Read the response on page 165 and see how it compares with your own.)

Then we discuss Tannen's article and two responses to it on pages 208-212 in Reid. We look at the answers to questions 2-5 on page 213.

We look at pages 374-381 to help with critical reading of informative writing. See also below the homework the questions from the comment sheets you'll fill out about the first draft next Tuesday.

If there's time, we'll discuss the Five Paragraph Essay. Here's one example , and another.

Homework:
1. Create the first draft of your Summary/Response essay. In order to do this you must read, understand, analyze and decide what you think about your article. Then summarize the main points of the article (describing it so that someone who has never read it would have a clear idea of what it contains and how it is presented) and explain your analysis and opinion of it.

2. Please email me with questions. You must bring a draft that has attempted BOTH summary and response on Thursday to get credit for the first draft.

3. In your journal, finish Ex. 37.1 and 37.2 in The Everyday Writer.

4.Two words.

NOTE: HERE IS THE TEXT OF THE COMMENT SHEET FOR YOUR FIRST DRAFT --

Peer Revision: Summary and Response Draft #1
Name Title of Draft

Read the entire draft. As you reread, answer these questions:

1. Consider the introduction. Does it attract your attention effectively?
Does it explain the writer's thesis? What is the thesis?
Does it cite the text clearly?

2. Consider the summary. Does it give you a clear idea of the main ideas of
the text? Suggestions?

Is it written in clear language that you can follow? Do you have any confusion about sources of information? Suggestions for improvement:

Are there regular author tags (at least every few sentences in the summary) to remind the reader where the ideas are coming from?

Are quotes and paraphrases used clearly and smoothly? Specific problems:

3. Consider the response.

Does this response analyze the effectiveness of the text? Could it do more in this area? How?

Does this response agree/disagree with the text? Is this done effectively?

Does this response interpret or reflect on the text? Does it refer back to the text frequently?

Does the response maintain its focus on the text?

4. Answer the writer's questions in No. 3 in the writer's page:

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Class #9

Hand in your Remembering papers.

We discuss writing about readings.

We read "Teach Diversity -- with a Smile" by Barbara Ehrenreich, page 158.

You write about this article.

Grammar exercise.

Homework

1. Use pages 162-164 to help you write a paragraph of response to "Teach Diversity" in your journal.

2. Read in Reid pages 361-367, an essay by Debra Tannen called "How Male and Female Students Use Language Differently."

3. Look at the article choices below for your next writing assignment, the Summary/Response paper. You must choose which article you will write about; if you want me to print out a copy of an online article, you must send me an email before class Thursday with your request. Otherwise, you will need to make your own copy to work with.
(Make sure that you print out ALL the pages of the article. There will be a minimum of six pages, usually more.) If you dislike all these choices, you may choose another article from the New Yorker archives, and ask for my approval by email.

4. Finish the grammar assignment.

5. Two vocabulary words.

THE ARTICLE CHOICES:

In Reid, "The Homeless and Their Children" by J. Kozol, pages 304 to 311.

In Reid, "Miss Clairol's Does She or Doesn't She?: How to Market a Dangerous Product" by J. Twitchell, pages 245-250.

Link to "What Helen Keller Saw" by Cynthia Ozick.

Link to "The Naked Face" by Malcolm Gladwell. (Can we read minds?)

Link to "How David Beats Goliath" by Malcolm Gladwell. (How can underdogs win?)

Link to "Hellhole" by Atul Gawande. (Solitary confinement)

Link to "Troublemakers" by Malcolm Gladwell. (Pit bulls and more)

Link to "Crimson Tide" by Atul Gawande. (The science of blushing)