Autumn at UNC

Each day I am on campus I am in awe of its beautiful fall colors and how well the grounds are kept. The campus hasn't always had such good care, but the university hired a horticulturist a few years ago who has done an exemplary job of creating a beautiful environment where we work and study, making it enjoyable I hope, to move from class to class.

I took photos the other day of the beautiful fall colors as I wandered about the vegetable garden just outside of Ross west of the faculty parking lot.

I have to admit to feeling exhilarated watching the trees turn colors and the shedding of their leaves, looking then like they have dropped their skirts two the ground. 

I don't wander too far from the parking lot and the buildings where I teach, but when I do I enjoy seeing our beautiful campus. So I could not resist taking this photo. How amazed and surprised I was when I looked at it home. Taken on my iPhone, I didn't realize the special effects of shooting directly into the sun. And while I certainly know the scientific explanation for the star bursts radiating from the residence halls, I would rather like to think that the Angels keep close watch over the campus.

Do take the time enjoy Autumn's beauty as the stress of your studies tends to take over. Breath deeply as you walk between classes; put away your own cell phones and just enjoy the simple joys of life and the miracles of Nature as the seasons change. 

We are right on schedule in the syllabus with a couple of free days built in, so I would like to use a free day next Tuesday for an in class writing. The topic will be inspired by the three articles that I have posted here on the resilience (or the lack there of) of college students. I really want to know what you think about the topic, in addition to have an opportunity to practice what we have learned thus far. So if you have read these articles yet, do so in preparation for the in class essay that you will write Tuesday. You will not be allowed to use your computer or phone, so take a few notes on each article that you might want to use in your essay or at least to refer to as you write the essay.

Again, here are the links to the articles. 

And a big thank you to those who took the time to comment last week on the readings.

"How Should Parents Relate to Today's College Student"? Jan. 13, 2013

"Declining Student Resilience: A Serious Problem for Colleges" Sept. 22, 2015

"Helicopter Colleges Confront Lack of Grit in Students"

Reslience

The articles that I have posted here have to do with students' transition from home to college life, from a predetermined high school curriculum to discovering and planning your major, from being a teen to an adult, from a parental structured life to self determination.

So I ask you, how prepared are you to make these transitions? Are you resilient, or as this article discusses, do you have the grit that it takes to face not just the day-to-day problems that life presents, but to accept the challenges, defeats, setbacks, and dilemmas that life in general presents?

Psychologist, Dr. Hurd continues the discussion from the other two articles that I have already posted. This article offers perhaps a solution to lack of presumed resilience that some college officials have recognized.

Let me note that in my years of teaching, I have found students do grow resilient and strong. They may arrive at UNC bewildered, lost, scared, unsure of themselves, but they grow and develop into fine adults able to meet the challenges life throws their way.

'Helicopter Colleges' Confront the Lack of 'Grit' in College Students

Read these articles then tell me what you think in the comment section below.

Writing the Problem Solving Essay

Most of our lives are spent solving problems, some pretty simple, some pretty devastating. Everything from deciding how to solve the problem of what to wear for a special occasion to how to come up the money to pay our college tuition. This essay then has some very practical uses as students will go through the process of identifying the problem, examining the causes of the problem,  looking at the effects of the problem, and then coming up a sound solution.

For this assignment you will identify a problem that college students often have to face. To get started, here are two articles from Psychology Today that will get you started thinking about your freshman experience.

"How Should Parents Relate to Today's College Student"? Jan. 13, 2013

"Declining Student Resilience: A Serious Problem for Colleges" Sept. 22, 2015

Brainstorm a list of situations that college students face
 then add your suggestion in the comment box below.

Using MLA Documentation

To complete the MLA test, click on these two links to write a proper MLA citation:

4. "Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Transgenic Crops and Recombinant DNA Technology"

5. "Seeds of Doubt"



About Bibliography Tools: These tools are wonderful aides when students have to create especially long works cited documents, for example, my English 123 College Research course requires a 25 source annotated bibliography; therefore, such a tool makes that assignment much more manageable for students.

For short works cited; however, students should know how to create the document using a handbook. Before students turn to a bibliography tool, they should fully understand how determine first what type of source they are working with so that they make the correct choices in the tool. In order to choose the correct citation template in any of the tools, students must be able to determine what kind of source they are trying to crete a citation for. For example, did they find their journal article through a an online database such as EBSCO Host or UNC's library catalog Summon?

Probably the best advantage to using a bibliography tool is it ability to create a document using the proper format, which can ordinarily be a miserable, tedious chore. Students, then, should use their favorite tool with their handbook along side.

Favorite Bibliography Tools

A Writer's Reference Bibliography Tool- Provided by Bedford St. Martin for student use. Easy to use.

Easy Bib- Access through Michener Library

Noodle Bib- Access through Michener Library

Michener Research Tools for Students-A useful page that provides a variety of student resources.

Let's Get Real: A Frank Discussion on Grades

Now that you have turned in your first essay, it is time to discuss essay grading. Unlike math and the sciences that are objective with specific answers most of the time, essay writing is subjective, based on someone's opinion of your writing. Yet grading essays does require criteria and standards that students must follow and that teachers will apply when they grade student writing. Here then are the criteria for your essays in this class:

D: The essay demonstrates little effort to follow the requirements of the assignment or to produce a good essay. It will have a poorly stated thesis or no thesis. The essay will have multiple grammar and sentence errors including run-ons, fragments, and comma splices; it will not have been edited or proofread. It may be written in first (I) or even second person (you), and lacks a sense of audience. It will lack in style with little effort to vary sentence structure, develop ideas, or demonstrate critical thinking. Students who write the D essay will often admit to writing it late the night before it was due with little or no effort to produce quality writing. It fails in several areas: content, critical thinking, organization, and is not submitted in proper MLA format.

C: The essay meets the requirements of the assignment; it will have structure, show some thought, but it will be uninspired, lack depth, and originality. The thesis demonstrates that the writer has put some thought into developing a main idea, but has difficulty developing it. The writer does address an audience and avoids second person. The essay will have grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence errors, and would benefit from more careful editing and proofreading. The essay follows proper MLA format.

B: This essay shows effort, originality, and certain maturity in thought and manner in which ideas are developed. The writer has provided ample evidence to support and develop the thesis. Ideas will be developed and well thought-out, and demonstrate a high degree of critical thinking.  The writer demonstrates a strong sense of audience and addresses that audience in the 3rd person plural (they). There will be minimal grammar, punctuation and sentence errors, demonstrating effort and an awareness of good writing. The essay meets all of the requirements of the assignment, and is submitted in proper MLA format.

A: This essay demonstrates an extraordinary insight in the thought process, with ample support and evidence combined with synthesis of ideas that demonstrates sophistication in thought and critical thinking. The essay demonstrates original thought with a uniqueness that captures the reader's interest and respect for the piece. This writer not only addresses a specific audience but also demonstrates certain empathy for the audience. It has only minor punctuation errors; sentence structure demonstrates skillful editing along with a sound, even sophisticated style of writing.  The essay meticulously follows MLA format with no formatting errors and has a professional, polished appearance.

Grading Scale:

100-90           A                      50-45             90%    A

89-80             B                      44-40             80%    B

79-70             C                      39-35             70%    C

69-60             D

Failing essays will not receive an F; instead, they will receive an R, which stands for "Rewrite." Students will be given an opportunity to rewrite the essay for a better grade but only after they have held a conference with me to discussion revision. All students are welcome to meet with me after their graded essays have been returned to discuss their grade but only to clarify the grade, not to rewrite for a better grade.

Near the end of the semester, students often come to my office to explain why they have not attended class and/or turned in their work, wanting some sort of special favor to hand in late work. Only in rare cases do I extend such favors especially for students who have missed class, not participated in class, and who have demonstrated that they are putting forth little effort. I always explain to them that to give them special favors is not fair to the students who come to class every day, participate, and do their work to the best of their ability.  So if students find themselves in trouble, it is wise to come talk to me before their situation is irreversible.

Students also will let me know (or even demand) that they must receive an A in English 122 in order to be accepted into their chosen degree program. I let them know that an A does not come easily in any course, for it requires extraordinary work ethic, talent, desire, and academic excellence at the highest level.  Announcing that one needs a certain grade does not guarantee that grade.

Students are always welcome in my office to discuss their writing and their grades.

(Note: This grading policy is solely my policy and does not reflect the grading polices of other university instructors or professors.)

 For Class

This week we will be working on pronouns and passive/active voice. The pronoun handouts for the week will be found on Blackboard in the Assignments tab. Print the 4 sheets to bring to class on Tuesday. 

This Week: Submitting Your Essay to Safe Assign on Blackboard and Writing Better Sentences

Our first writing assignment, the personal narrative will be due on Thursday. I am excited to read your first essay and to get to know a little about you.

I have scheduled Safe Assignment to open at 11:55 AM, September 8 so that you can upload your essay to Safe Assignment by 11:55 PM, September 9. Follow this link for directions on how to upload your assignment to SA. You will find the link in Course Materials and Assignments tabs.

How to upload to Safe Assign

This week we begin our grammar lessons, beginning with Writing Better Sentences. See if you can identify your most serious sentence problems and be willing to discuss them.

Homework: Grammar Exercise Due Thursday

Do Comma Exercise 1 on the OWL. Print your exercise screen  before you check the answers. Then review the answers and, hand in the corrected answers on the print-out.

Visit another self testing grammar web site: Grammar CCC Commnet. Do one more exercise of your choice for either sentence problems that you have or comma problems. Print and turn in.

Revised Due Dates for Personal Narrative Essay

Revised Due Dates for Narrative Essay

         Sept. 8 Tuesday Rough Draft

         Sept. 8 Tuesday Safe Assign Opens @ 11:55 AM to submit final draft
         Sept. 9 Wednesday Safe Assign Closes 11:55 PM Submit Final Draft  to Safe Assignment on Blackboard.
        Sept. 10 Thursday Hard copy due in class

Schedule Writing Center appointments early; don't wait until the last minute because the there may not be any appointments and you need time to revise. Email me if you have concerns.

The Essay

By the time students enter their freshman college English composition class, most of them have written a variety of essays for a variety of purposes, tailored to specific assignments by a plethora of teachers. College English teachers then expect their students to be developed writers. What then should their expectations be for their new students? Here, we will begin by writing the personal narrative essay, so first we will explore what exactly an essay is:

·      A short piece of non-fiction writing that can be read in about an hour. How short is short? Check out these two websites:
                        Howard Community Library: Ask a Librarian
                        Convert Word to Pages: a calculator that will figure out how many words to a page depending on fonts and other page attributes. For example, 250 words equal 1 page double-spaced for Times New Roman 12 pt
 
·      Focuses on making one point
·      Often directed to a specific audience or even a general audience (though college professors may one a more specific audience)
·      Has a controlling statement: Thesis sentence that states the purpose
·      Thesis can appear any where: first sentence of the essay; last sentence in the intro; anywhere in the essay; in the conclusion; even an implied thesis sometimes works
             For us: last sentence in the introduction
·      Has specific, purposeful organization
Hierarchy of ideas: presents ideas in a certain order--most to least; best to worst; largest to smallest
            Chronological order: time sequence of events
            Spatial order location: to my left I saw the group of girls who glared at me; on my right. . .  
            Cause-effect: x  (condition) happens resulting in (effect)
            Compare-contrast: shows how things are alike and/or different
            Definition: uses examples, imagery, and explanation to tell what something is outside of the dictionary definition or common acceptance--from your view           
            Analysis: gives a critical discussion of something from your point of view based on your experience
            Problem-solution: presents a condition or a problem then propose solutions
            Persuasive Attempts to change audience's mind using experience and evidence
 
·      Often expresses your opinion; with or without bias

 Adopt the proper tone and voice
 
            Tone: writer's attitude toward the subject (avoid sarcasm)
            Voice: The quality that gives a piece of writing the writer's personality through the use of word choice and syntax (the order in which words are put together in a sentence or sentence structure). Not the way you talk, which reflects your personality; now you have chose words and sentence structure to project that voice or maybe you want to customize your writer's voice depending on the subject and purpose.
            Style: the way you write: includes all of the above. What makes your writing uniquely you?
           
           

An essay is well planned and well thought out. While using an outline is somewhat foreign to many students, once they surrender themselves to the all important planning phase, they will be mildly surprised as how beneficial and efficient even a rudimentary out line can be.

I. Introduction

            A. Catchy, interesting opening

            B. Introduce the topic or build up to the topic to excite interest in the topic

                        Facts, statistics, quotations from experts or the famous, or someone of significance that relates to the topic and building interest; tell a story; relate a personal experience

            C. Lead-in to the thesis to prepare reader for the main point

            D. Thesis sentence/Essay Map: One sentence that states the purpose (main idea) of the essay and announces the main ideas or points

II. Body

            A. Main Point one stated in a topic sentence

                        1. Supporting point that develops the topic sentence

                        2. Supporting point providing evidence and proof or explanation

                        3.

                        4.

            B. Main Point two opening paragraph with a transition and stating next point

            C. Main Point three

            D. Main Point

III. Conclusion

            A. Restates/reminds the reader of the essay's purpose and main point

            B. Call to action: asks the reader to do something

            C. Leaves the reader thinking about what you have written not with a new point, rather with that last piece of evidence or that thought that make your essay memorable.

           

Writing with a Purpose: Essay may do more than just one

To Inform

To Explain, Describe, or Define

To Argue

To Problem Solve

To Investigate

To Entertain

Thesis: Makes a claim

Audience: Those who specifically need your message or can make the changes for which you advocate

Provide Proof and Evidence to back up your claim (does not always require research)

            Facts

            Statistics

            Quotations/testimony from the experts

            Charts, graphs

            Studies

            Your sound reasoning and sound logic

            Your personal experience

            Aristotle's Appeals

Reason and Logic

            Aristotle’s Appeals

                        Ethos: an appeal to one's sense of good judgment ethically and morally; advances an argument based on the writer's good ethics and credibility

                        Logos: an appeal using logic and reason; what sounds sound good and right

                        Pathos: an appeal to the emotions; most effective, limit use; combine with other two to develop a strong argument

An essay does not always need research; however, any claims that you make must be supported, so if you do need research make sure to properly cite borrowed material.

Sources:

            Books

            Magazines

            Newspapers

            TV news

            Internet

            Personal Experience

            Interviews with experts or others who can give credible witness

An essay is well thought out, planned, organized, makes a point, addresses a specific audience with a specific purpose.

Uses in Academia

Essay Exam

Responses

Summaries

Research

Argument

Explain

Inform

Explore

Observe

Simple outline

Scratch out a simple thesis: Never text while driving

List 1-5 reasons: ABCDE or 12345

Evaluate the reasons to reduce to 2-3 strongest points. Depending on length of essay, keep number of points manageable

Refine thesis: Parents must set the example for their children by not texting while driving.

            A. Reason 1: Parents are the first and most important role models

            B. Reason 2: Parents have the responsibility to set a good example

            C. Reason 3: Parents need to be safe, too

Writing a sound essay takes time.

            Brainstorm a strong idea; test the idea with friends or colleagues

            Develop a plan for how to develop the idea

            Identify an audience

            Write a working thesis

            Have a purpose for the essay

            Develop strong points

            Use a variety of strategies (supporting evidence) to develop your ideas

            Create Unity and coherence by using good transitional words and phrases

            Write a rough draft

            Seek others' opinions, but don't be too quick to follow everyone's advice

            Visit the Writing Center is you need extra assistance

            Edit and proofread

            Remember to show rather than tell: She screeched at me vs. Her loud, piercing voice pounded against my ear drum, making me . . .

Good writing takes time

           

            

Thursday's Agenda and Notes

Course Text Books

Writing Myths and Rituals

Now Where Does that Comma Go?

Who's Your Audience?

The Personal Narrative

Anatomy of an Essay: Reading: A Writer's Reference: Section C Composing and Revising; see p. 59 for MLA document format for paper submission

For Next Tuesday: Readings. Copies found on Blackboard Course Materials

            Student Examples:

o   St. Francis Lost Grandma

o   Ryan's Narrative

Volunteers to give a very brief bio of these writers.

            Learning Dynamics: (copies found on Blackboard Course Materials with text on reserve in Michener Library

o   Helen Keller

o   Maxine Hong Kingston

o   Maya Angelou

Narrative Essay Due: (SA opens at 11:55 AM), September 7 11:55  PM to Safe Assign September 8 Hard Copy

 Click here to view the Assignment Sheet