WEEK 5English 21

Review Prompt Carefully

Review: Narrative Writing• a story or account of events, experiences, etc, whether true or fictitious.

• Narratives convey action and detail. • Narratives are a detailed account, not a brief sketch. • Makes the reader feel like he or she is THERE in the scene, experiencing along with the author. • Contains conflict/tension

Narration and Reflection

Reflection is where the author takes a step back

from the narrative elements in the piece to think

about their significance.

- what they meant for his or her life

- how they might connect to other experiences or

subjects

- how they relate to the outside world.

- The “Camera Lens” metaphor—Zoom In, Zoom Out

Review: Using Description

• Use descriptive writing. (See p. 371-3)• Use sensory details that appeal to the five senses. • Smell, Sight, Hearing, Taste, and Touch

• Ask “the reporter’s questions”• Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How

• Constantly ask yourself, “What would someone who wasn’t there need to know?” • Think about the attitude or feeling you want to get across in each part of your narrative and choose words and pieces of description that support that feeling.

Review: Importance of Transitions

• However you choose to arrange the details and events in your essay, you will need transitions to guide your reader from one idea to the next. –Transitions tell your reader how each new section or detail connects with what came before. –Transitions help your readers to understand the order of events. –See lists of common transitions for different purposes on pages 376 and 379.

Review: Advice on Your Essay• Some friendly advice: –Make sure that you are partly telling a story about a significant event/thing that you experienced and not just sharing information about a culture. – Identify the most interesting parts of your story and spend the most time on those parts.

Reading: The Secret Latina

Discussing “The Secret Latina”• This essay deals with a lot of cultural issues, and the author,

Veronica Chambers, discusses how her cultural heritage impacted her identity in a variety of ways.

• One of the cultural issues this reading deals with is being bi-cultural. • What does it mean to be bi-cultural? Do you or anyone you know have

experience with being bi-cultural?

• Chambers discusses how she only constructed her cultural identity in one way as a child/teen, and that is was not until later that she embraced the other side of her heritage. • Does what we choose to acknowledge or embrace as our culture have

the most impact on our identity? Or does our neglected cultural heritage continue to affect us in spite of what we outwardly acknowledge?

Discussing “The Secret Latina”

• In this essay, Veronica Chambers takes a trip where she is introduced, or rather reintroduced, to the other side of her cultural heritage.

• What are the details she includes when she shares this trip with us?

• How do these details make us feel or think?• What do they help us understand?

• If we were going to think about this essay in connection with our writing assignment, who would you say were Veronica Chambers “cultural brokers” during her visit to Panama?

GRAMMAR TIME

Run On Sentences• This chapter starts on p. 124 of your Pathways textbook. • A RUN-ON occurs when two (or more) independent clauses are in the same sentence without any punctuation separating them from each other. • You can recognize run-ons by…•Reading a sentence aloud and listening for the places where you pause naturally. Is there proper punctuation where you paused? (See p. 125-6 to test this skill.)• Identifying independent clauses and checking for proper punctuation.•Checking long sentences. (Not all long sentences are run-ons, but they often are.)

How to Fix a Run-on• Turn the run-on into two separate sentences with a period and a capital letter.• I passed my driving test it was easy.• I passed my driving test. It was easy.

• Use a semicolon (;) to separate the two independent clauses. • I like action movies she likes comedies.• I like action movies; she likes comedies.– This method usually works best when there is a close, clear

relationship between the two independent clauses.

More Ways to Fix Run-Ons

•Use a comma AND a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS) to separate the independent clauses. • See p. 129 for a list of coordinating conjunctions and their meanings. • We wanted to play baseball outside it rained all afternoon. • We wanted to play baseball outside, but it rained all afternoon.

The Final Way to Fix a Run-on…

• Make one of the independent clauses into a subordinate (dependent) clause. • I like to go to the zoo we go two or three times every year. • Because I like to go to the zoo, we go two or three times

every year. • Remember the comma rules for independent and

dependant clauses: • Dependant clause first = need a comma• Independent clause first = no comma

• We go to the zoo two or three times a year because I like to go.

Comma Splices

• A Comma Splice occurs when two independent clauses are joined only by a comma. Comma Splices are incorrect. • I didn’t know how to bake chocolate chip cookies, I called my mom and asked her. • Notice that this is a comma splice because only a comma

separates the two independent clauses.

• Comma splices can be fixed in the same four ways as run-on sentences.

Grammar Practice: Run-Ons and Comma Splices

• About Run-On Sentences and how to recognize them:• Page 125-126

• Recognizing Comma Splices• Page 135

• Identify the Run-On Sentences: Do Exercise 5-1 on page 127

• Correct the Comma Splices: Do Exercise 5-7 on page 136

The Basic Elements of Writing an Essay

Step 1: Know what is required of you. • Read and re-read your prompt

until you understand fully what is being asked of you. • If you don’t understand, ask your professor to

clarify EARLY ON. If you ask the day before the essay is due, IT IS ALREADY TOO LATE.

• Know the minimum requirements and take them seriously. • These include: page length or word count,

format, works cited/research required. ALL DUE DATES.

•Step 2: Brainstorm and Freewrite.

• Write down everything you know or think you might know about the topic. • Then, write down questions you have about the topic.• Then, write down your ideas about how to make the prompt/topic personal to you.• Freewrite• Do idea bubbles• Lists/Outlines

Step 3: Write a Rough Draft•Don’t leave your writing until the last minute. • Even if your teacher does not require you to turn in a rough draft like I do, it is always a good idea to write a rough draft.

•Here is the truth about writing assignments: • no matter what, you will write a rough draft. • The question is: will you be turning that draft as your final product, or will you have time to make it better?

Formatting in Academic Writing• Use an accepted font. If you don’t know what fonts your teacher accepts, Times New Roman is almost always a safe choice• Font size: Unless your professor says otherwise, always use size 12.• Spacing: Always double space, unless you are told otherwise. Remove automatic formatting that adds extra spaces between paragraphs (each time you hit “enter”) [Show how to change] • Margins: Always 1 inch on all sides, unless otherwise specified. [Show how to check margins]

Don’t Forget! Basic Things to Do or Include

• Type and print all of your essay assignments• Always include assignment information (heading) on the

left hand side!• Your Name: Firstname Lastname• Class: English 21• Professor: Lawson (last name only is ok)• Assignment and Draft: Essay 1 Final Draft• Date: Day/Month/Year

• A Quick Guide to My Marks:• Check mark means: good, well done• Circle means: typo, mistake here• +5 or other number means this was a full credit or 0 assignment• ?/20 or other number means this was a graded assignment

The Basic Parts of an Essay

•First Paragraph: Introduction• The purpose of an introduction is to set your reader up for the rest of the essay:• Catch your reader’s attention, and get them interested in the topic. • Give the some BREIF background on the topic if they need it to understand your main idea.• Give them your main idea (thesis) that you will be expanding on and supporting in the rest of the essay.

Body Paragraphs

• This is the main part of your essay. • This is where you expand on your topic and support you thesis with vivid description, background and explanations, and reflection on the significance of the events you are describing. • Organize your body paragraphs so that each body paragraph has a main point that connects to the main point (thesis) of your entire essay. • Make sure that the paragraphs are organized in a logical manner. Remember: you can move your paragraphs around!

Conclusion

• The purpose of a conclusion is to conclude your essay in a way that lets your reader understand in a BREIF FORM what they have just read.

Imagine it this way: You have just taken your reader on a journey in your essay. The purpose of the intro is to give your reader a mental "map" or preview of where you are going to take them.

The purpose of the conclusion is to show them where they have been, yes, but also to emphasize the basic essential points you want them to walk away with. What do you really want them to remember and think about AFTER they are finished reading? THAT is the purpose of a conclusion.

Brainstorming and Discussing your Rough Drafts

• Get together in group of three and discuss the notes, ideas, and brainstorming for Essay 1 that you have done so far. • Discuss the prompt together, and the different ideas you have on what to write based on the prompt. • Help each other follow the prompt and stay on-topic, yet

also express your own individual ideas.

Working on Your Rough Drafts• Now, take the brainstorming you have done, and actually start work on your rough drafts together. • You may talk quietly, but only about the essay and your

ideas• Please be aware that students are writing and

concentrating around you, so if your group does talk during the writing time, please do so quietly.

Next Week:• Week 6 – Tuesday, October 1In Class: Peer Review of Rough Draft Essay #1. Discussing Essay Organization and Development

•Due: • Rough Draft of Essay #1 (typed, three copies)

• *Achieve mastery in the “Essay Organization” section of “Essay Development” module of MySkillsLab