Congratulations to the winners of the essay contest! The winning second-year essays were titled The Value of Life, Nursing Care, and Building School in Cambodia (sic) . These essays won the first, second, and third place prizes this year. These essays are not yet available to read, but will be published in the Essay Contest booklet soon.
Unfortunately, none of the essays from our class won the top three prizes. However, we have 5 essays in the Honorable Mention (or runners-up) category. These essays are Attitude and Gratitude (by yA), To Realize Small Happiness (by tK), Behind the Surface (by sM), Seeing is Believing (by aM), and Salmon, Pineapple, and Milk Tea (by rS). Congratulations to these five! I think you wrote very good essays, and I think we chose 6 really excellent essays to submit to the contest. I am sure that the winning essays are wonderful, too. These five essays will be published (I think) in the booklet, but before then, they can all be read here on this site.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
December 11 Class Notes
It's a cold and wet winter day.
Have you done a Chat Lounge report yet this semester? Have you met anyone new in the Chat Lounge? Please "write it up" and hand it in to me if you have. You can also get the same extra credit by writing blog posts using a PC or even from an iPhone or regular cell-phone. (I think it's very slow to type on a cellphone, though.)
Today I am picking up your homework, a Cause-and-Effect Essay. You have been writing it for two weeks. Last week, you should have got some help editing it and some time to work on it in class. Please hand in this second draft.
I am also returning a first draft or rough draft of the Compare-and-Contrast essay project. As you should recall, we began with brainstorming and choosing something (two things, usually) to compare, and then making a table or chart (probably in Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer). Some people then developed the table into a paragraph. The next step is to develop it into an essay. (Some people developed the table directly into an essay already, so they are working on their second draft of the essay. That's great.) Please keep these documents together, as I will evaluate the whole project and process of your writing. Today I am meeting with you individually and giving you an editing sheet. You can find a pdf of the editing sheet in the folder at My Computer, Network Drive, Lecture (L:) or L:\brinkman
For next week, December 18, please develop the the Compare-and-Contrast essay into your second draft and be prepared to hand it in together with the table and other documents that belong to that writing project.
Have you done a Chat Lounge report yet this semester? Have you met anyone new in the Chat Lounge? Please "write it up" and hand it in to me if you have. You can also get the same extra credit by writing blog posts using a PC or even from an iPhone or regular cell-phone. (I think it's very slow to type on a cellphone, though.)
Today I am picking up your homework, a Cause-and-Effect Essay. You have been writing it for two weeks. Last week, you should have got some help editing it and some time to work on it in class. Please hand in this second draft.
I am also returning a first draft or rough draft of the Compare-and-Contrast essay project. As you should recall, we began with brainstorming and choosing something (two things, usually) to compare, and then making a table or chart (probably in Microsoft Word or OpenOffice Writer). Some people then developed the table into a paragraph. The next step is to develop it into an essay. (Some people developed the table directly into an essay already, so they are working on their second draft of the essay. That's great.) Please keep these documents together, as I will evaluate the whole project and process of your writing. Today I am meeting with you individually and giving you an editing sheet. You can find a pdf of the editing sheet in the folder at My Computer, Network Drive, Lecture (L:) or L:\brinkman
For next week, December 18, please develop the the Compare-and-Contrast essay into your second draft and be prepared to hand it in together with the table and other documents that belong to that writing project.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Assignment
Prepare the second draft of your cause-and-effect essay for next week, December 11.
Have you made a Chat Lounge Report?
Are you doing any blogging? It's good writing practice!
Have you made a Chat Lounge Report?
Are you doing any blogging? It's good writing practice!
An example of reference, cohesion, and using different words for the same thing (not repeating pronouns or nouns)
The Dalai Lama has welcomed a call by U.S. President Barack Obama for the resumption of talks between Tibetan and Chinese envoys.
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader made the comments Tuesday to the Italian news agency ANSA, on a trip to northern Italy.
Hours earlier, Mr. Obama held talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing, where he said Washington recognizes that Tibet is part of China. The U.S. leader said he supports a resumption of talks between envoys for Beijing and the Dalai Lama.
In Italy, the Dalai Lama said he knows the U.S. interest in Tibet is strong, but he understands there are limits to what the White House can say to China. He said he appreciates President Obama's words.
Mr. Obama declined to meet the Dalai Lama when the Buddhist leader visited Washington last month. The White House says the two will meet after Mr. Obama's trip to China. Critics say the White House delayed the meeting to avoid upsetting Beijing before his visit.
The Chinese government considers the Dalai Lama a separatist and often takes retaliatory action against countries whose leaders meet him.
Source:
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2009-11-17-voa31-70423322.html
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader made the comments Tuesday to the Italian news agency ANSA, on a trip to northern Italy.
Hours earlier, Mr. Obama held talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing, where he said Washington recognizes that Tibet is part of China. The U.S. leader said he supports a resumption of talks between envoys for Beijing and the Dalai Lama.
In Italy, the Dalai Lama said he knows the U.S. interest in Tibet is strong, but he understands there are limits to what the White House can say to China. He said he appreciates President Obama's words.
Mr. Obama declined to meet the Dalai Lama when the Buddhist leader visited Washington last month. The White House says the two will meet after Mr. Obama's trip to China. Critics say the White House delayed the meeting to avoid upsetting Beijing before his visit.
The Chinese government considers the Dalai Lama a separatist and often takes retaliatory action against countries whose leaders meet him.
Source:
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2009-11-17-voa31-70423322.html
December 4 class notes
Cause and Effect First Draft Editing
Did the writer include a mindmap or brainstorming?
Did the writer make an outline?
Did the writer include their notes?
Is the work in a project folder?
Is the work original, not plagiarized?
Related concepts and skills are:
Resources for the Editor:
__ Inside-front-cover checklist (the bottom half more than the top half)
__ Peer Editing #12, page 183 (somewhat useful)
__ Final Draft Checklist on page 136 (more useful later but also useful now)
__ Your own mind: your knowledge of essay structure, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, format, and your impressions (Very useful!)
__ Essay contest checklist: (most of the points that are in the checklist also can be used for any other essay)
Here are the generic essay contest checklist questions.
Format
Is the paper typed? If not, deduct 50% when calculating the total.
Is the paper typed on one side of the paper, not both sides?
Is there a “header” with a running title and the page number in the upper right corner?
Is the writer's name and student number in the correct place and correct form?
Is the date in the correct place and correct form?
Is the name of the class in the correct place and correct form?
Are the margins one inch (or 2.5 cm) on all 4 sides?
Is the document double-spaced with proper spaces between parts?
Is the title centered, underlined, in title case?
Are the paragraphs indented properly?
Is the essay at least 300 words or 3 paragraphs or more?
Sentence Structure
Is the essay free of structural and grammatical errors?
Is the essay free of confusing spelling errors?
Is the essay free of errors in the use of articles?
Is the essay free of capitalization errors?
Is the essay punctuated correctly?
Essay Structure
Is the essay set out in paragraphs?
Are there at least three paragraphs?
Is there an introduction?
Is there a thesis statement?
Is there a hook?
Is the hook interesting?
Is the body of the essay clearly organized?
Is each point supported by details, facts, and examples?
Are there topic sentences within each paragraph?
Are there effective transitions between each paragraph?
Are there effective signal words and sequencers in the essay?
Is there a conclusion?
Content
Is the essay original? If it is not original, deduct up to 100% from the score.
Are the ideas expressed clearly and unambiguously?
Is the essay interesting to read?
Is the essay informative, persuasive, narrative, insightful, timely, or especially relevant?
Does the essay have a universal appeal to readers?
Did the writer include a mindmap or brainstorming?
Did the writer make an outline?
Did the writer include their notes?
Is the work in a project folder?
Is the work original, not plagiarized?
Related concepts and skills are:
- Intellectual honesty: Don't claim to write something you didn't write.
- Paraphrase: Use your own words to explain what you know; don't use another person's exact words.
- Cite: Give credit to the person who said or wrote something. According to Mr. John Smith,...
- Quote: If there a a quotation that you would like to use, use it correctly as a quotation.
Resources for the Editor:
__ Inside-front-cover checklist (the bottom half more than the top half)
__ Peer Editing #12, page 183 (somewhat useful)
__ Final Draft Checklist on page 136 (more useful later but also useful now)
__ Your own mind: your knowledge of essay structure, grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, format, and your impressions (Very useful!)
__ Essay contest checklist: (most of the points that are in the checklist also can be used for any other essay)
Here are the generic essay contest checklist questions.
Format
Is the paper typed? If not, deduct 50% when calculating the total.
Is the paper typed on one side of the paper, not both sides?
Is there a “header” with a running title and the page number in the upper right corner?
Is the writer's name and student number in the correct place and correct form?
Is the date in the correct place and correct form?
Is the name of the class in the correct place and correct form?
Are the margins one inch (or 2.5 cm) on all 4 sides?
Is the document double-spaced with proper spaces between parts?
Is the title centered, underlined, in title case?
Are the paragraphs indented properly?
Is the essay at least 300 words or 3 paragraphs or more?
Sentence Structure
Is the essay free of structural and grammatical errors?
Is the essay free of confusing spelling errors?
Is the essay free of errors in the use of articles?
Is the essay free of capitalization errors?
Is the essay punctuated correctly?
Essay Structure
Is the essay set out in paragraphs?
Are there at least three paragraphs?
Is there an introduction?
Is there a thesis statement?
Is there a hook?
Is the hook interesting?
Is the body of the essay clearly organized?
Is each point supported by details, facts, and examples?
Are there topic sentences within each paragraph?
Are there effective transitions between each paragraph?
Are there effective signal words and sequencers in the essay?
Is there a conclusion?
Content
Is the essay original? If it is not original, deduct up to 100% from the score.
Are the ideas expressed clearly and unambiguously?
Is the essay interesting to read?
Is the essay informative, persuasive, narrative, insightful, timely, or especially relevant?
Does the essay have a universal appeal to readers?
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