Part 1:
How to Complete This Assignment
This assignment helps you practice creating an introduction, conclusion, thesis statement, and considering your topic, purpose, and audience for Paper 1.
You don't need to follow MLA format. You can number your responses.
You can type it in the textbox or write it by hand (but make sure it's easy to read and you are using appropriate grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation). If handwritten, take a picture, attach the file, and submit it.
Instructions:
1. Choose a Topic: Pick a unique personal experience based on the prompt below. This will be the topic for your first big paper: a narrative (personal story). Don't worry-you'll work on the paper step by step. For now, just think about your experience.
- Prompt: Pick an experience you're comfortable sharing. Your story should have a lesson or meaning (this will be your thesis). Choose something distinct and unique to you, not a common experience like getting a driver's license or having a baby (while these experiences are special, they are not necessarily unique). Make sure you can add enough details and maybe dialogue to tell your story.
2. Review the English department's AI policy located in the syllabus and at the top of the Content area of Blackboard. AI should not be used to write any part of this assignment -- I want your own thoughts.
3. Answer the Following Questions and read the examples to help you:
A. What will you write about? Be specific. Example: "I will write about diving into a mud volcano in Colombia," or "I will write about caring for my grandmother who has dementia."
B. What's your thesis statement? This is the main point of your story-the lesson or meaning that you want readers to understand or take away. Example: "Diving into the mud volcano taught me the value of embracing unfamiliar situations to discover joy and personal growth."
C. What details (descriptions) will you include to support your thesis? Think about moments or images that show your lesson. Example: Describe the mud volcano (texture, temperature, sensation of floating); Explain your feelings (nervous, excited, hesitant); Detail the moment of diving in and your reaction.
D. Who is your audience? Who will read your story? Example: "My classmates and people who are nervous about trying new experiences." Need Assignment Help?
E. What does your audience need to see to understand your thesis? What will help them agree with the lesson you learned? Example: Vivid Descriptions: Help them feel like they're there with you. Your Emotional Journey: Show your fear, hesitation, and how you overcame it.
F. How do you plan to open/start your paper, "start in the moment" or with "brief context"? Then provide the first sentence. Example: I will open my paper by starting in the moment. My first sentence may be, "My toes curled over the edge as I stared into the thick, gray mud below, my heart pounding louder than the voices urging me to jump," or I will open my paper with brief context. My first sentence will be, "I've never been the adventurous type, especially when it comes to messy or unpredictable situations".
G. How do you plan to close/conclude your paper? Provide a sentence or two. Example: I plan to end by reflecting on how that moment taught me to stop letting fear make my decisions. I might write, "I didn't just dive into the mud that day, I dove into the kind of person I wanted to become: braver, bolder, and ready to say yes."
Part 2: Map attached
Using Maps to Plan and Write Body Paragraphs
Body paragraphs are an essential part of writing an essay. Let's practice planning and creating some, and use this opportunity to showcase your writing skills!
Body Paragraphs - 7-9 sentences minimum
- Topic Sentence - states the topic, purpose, and point of the paragraph; the controlling idea.
- Supporting Details (2-3 supporting ideas minimum) - explain, develop, illustrate; provide evidence and examples - with transitions to show the connections in your organization
- Conclusion Sentence - summarize your point and transition to the next paragraph.
AI Reminder: Review the English department's AI policy located in the syllabus and at the top of the Content area of Blackboard. AI should not be used to write any part of this assignment -- I want your own thoughts.
Instructions:
Submit the following 3 steps in a single MLA-formatted Word document.
STEP 1: First, focus on crafting effective topic sentences that can stand alone and still convey a clear idea for each rhetorical mode. Write three unique topic sentences that could serve as the foundation for a potential paragraph in an essay. Each belongs at the top of one of the maps below.
STEP 2: Using each map that outlines the essential components of a well-structured body paragraph, fill in the accompanying details that include potential sensory descriptions, supporting details, examples, or evidence you might use to develop that paragraph. Ensure that your supporting details relate back to the topic sentence and contribute to the overall discussion of the topic.
STEP 3: Choose one of your maps to draft into a fully developed body paragraph. Start with a strong topic sentence and ensure your paragraph is well-organized so that everyone can clearly understand your purpose. Remember to end with a sentence that wraps up your topic.
1. NARRATIVE TOPIC OPTIONS: a unique event from your life that has a lesson, your experience with a family tradition, OR a time you traveled to a new place.
- Example: Traveling in an airplane on a long flight makes me feel claustrophobic.
TOPIC SENTENCE
SENSORY DETAILS
EXPLANATION OF CONNECTIONS
List all possible supporting details: specific points in time, sensory descriptions (sight, sound, touch, smell), emotions or feelings, or dialogue; add potential examples, evidence, and explanations. Provide vivid details to show rather than tell. Add any dialogue if necessary. Make sure to show the relationships between your details, like later, next, then, meanwhile, after, before, or as. Your concluding sentence should wrap up the paragraph.
2. CAUSE/EFFECT TOPIC OPTIONS: the reasons for or results of buying a car, moving to a new place, OR beginning a new job.
- Example: One negative consequence of buying a new car is the increase in insurance premium payments.
TOPIC SENTENCE
SUPPORTING DETAILS
EXPLANATION OF CONNECTIONS
List all potential reasons, results, motives, impacts, consequences, or intentions; add specific details, expert opinions, potential examples, evidence, and explanations. Clearly link reasons and results by including transitions to show the relationships between your details, such as 'because,' 'since,' 'as a result,' 'therefore,' or 'consequently.' The conclusion should emphasize your point.
3. ARGUMENT TOPIC OPTIONS: your opinion on whether e-textbooks are better than physical textbooks for learning, should banned books be allowed in school libraries, OR does social media improve or reduce the quality of real-life friendships.
- Example: School libraries should make available banned books so that students can learn about and understand diverse cultures and beliefs.
CLAIM
SUPPORTING EVIDENCE
CONNECTIONS TO EVIDENCE
List all possible supporting evidence: specific points, potential reasons, valid motives, impacts, or consequences; add specific details, potential examples, evidence, and explanations. Links between your reasons and details should be clear and logical; include transitions to show the relationships between your details, such as for example, in addition, clearly shows, or furthermore. Your concluding sentence should stress the reasoning for why your point is important.
STEP 3: Choose one of your maps to draft into a fully developed body paragraph. Start with a strong topic sentence and ensure your paragraph is well-organized so that everyone can clearly understand your purpose. Remember to end with a sentence that wraps up your topic.
Submission:
Your submission should include each of the 3 completed maps and a single paragraph in an MLA-formatted Word or PDF document.