Portfolio Reflection

As an addition to your portfolio of work, you must draft a personal statement of reflection which discusses your progress over this semester. Some things you may wish to consider which demonstrate your evolution over the last few months:

• o   Changes or improvements or in your study habits, strategies and/or thinking
• o   Your attendance and participation in classroom activities
• o   Things that you learned which affected your understanding of reading and writing
• o   Your readiness for college-level composition classes

This reflection should be one page, minimum and should be a convincing argument for anyone considering your portfolio as evidence of your abilities. You will have time to work on this during lab time today and many of you will finish it today, but if you do NOT, you must have it for inclusion on in your portfolios, which will be due to me FRIDAY.

For FRIDAY, please bring in:

•  a paper folder with pockets
• Your final essay
• Any and all essay drafts with comments/scores (remaining work will be handed back for inclusion on Friday)
• Any and all practice reading tests and writing exams (some tests will be handed back for inclusion on Friday)
• Study questions for The Other Wes Moore

Elements of An Essay

http://www.brown.edu/academics/college/support/writing-center/writing-tips/elements-essay/elements-essay

Transitions

• First, using the transitional words and phrases handout, add at least 4 transitional words and phrases to the following paragraph and repost:

One reason people lie is to achieve personal power. Achieving personal power is helpful for someone who pretends to be more confident than he really is. One of my friends threw a party at his house last month. He asked me to come to his party and bring a date. I didn’t have a girlfriend. One of my other friends, who had a date to go to the party with, asked me about my date. I didn’t want to be embarrassed, so I claimed that I had a lot of work to do. I said I could easily find a date even better than his if I wanted to. I also told him that his date was ugly. I achieved power to help me feel confident. I embarrassed my friend and his date. This lie helped me at the time, since then it has made me look down on myself.

• Next, also using the handout, write one paragraph on the topic of your choice of at least 6 sentences that incorperates 4 transitional phrases and/or words and post online.
• Last, when you are finished, look at your essay and incorperate some of these phrases and words into it in preparation for draft 3 to make your ideas flow more smoothly into each other.

Some suggestions for your paragraph topics:

• Registering for classes
• Getting to school in the morning
• Any "how to" instructions: ex: How to ask for a date or How to ask for a raise

Caveat: Using first, next and last should be avoided for this assignment. Also, please do not take any "shortcuts" such as modifying existing writing unless it is your own as this will not have the same impact upon your writing skills.

Accuplacer

Go to the following LINK and complete the Accuplacer sample test to preview the types of passages and questions you will encounter for your final exam.

When I took the test myself, I encountered some technical trouble with the auto score after I completed it. If it does not give you a result, do NOT close the page; we will go over the correct answers in class. You may also want to PRINT THE PAGE or save a PDF for your files to review it.

Here are some YouTube tutorial videos on Accuplacer. If you have your headphones, you may view it. Alternately, you may view it on MUTE and read the Closed Captions.

The Other Wes Moore

Reading Schedule:

The Other Wes Moore

• November 14th Into- 62
• November 21st 63-122
• Dec 5th  123-186

Argument Essays VS Persuasive Essays

Argumentative and persuasive essays both aim to present a specific point of view, but they are different both in how they get their point across and why. The author of an argumentative essay will usually try to make his or her point through reason. This means identifying the opposing viewpoints and then using facts, statistics, or other evidence to discredit them so that the reader ultimately concludes that the writer’s position is correct. The persuasive essay, on the other hand, more often uses passion and emotion in an attempt to sway the reader’s loyalties. Opposing views are often acknowledged here, but aren’t usually analyzed. As a result, this sort of essay is often perceived to be essentially one-sided and is written based primarily on personal convictions. Argumentative papers are usually structured more like high-level analysis, with sections devoted to looking at key issues from multiple angles.

What is the difference between argument and persuasion?

 

An Argumentative Essay	A Persuasive Essay
Makes claims based on factual evidence Makes counter-claims The author takes opposing views into account Neutralizes or "defeats" serious opposing ideas. Convinces audience through the merit and reasonableness of the claims and proofs offered Often compares texts or ideas to establish a position Logic based.	May make claims based on opinion May not take opposing ideas into account Persuades by appealing to the audience’s emotion or by relying on the character or credentials of the writer – less on the merits of his or her reasons and evidence. May be emotion-based.

Argumentative Techniques

In most cases, the argumentative essay is one that objectively states an argument that it then backs up with facts, statistics, and expert evidence. Writers generally acknowledge counterclaims and opposing arguments from the very beginning, but make it their goal to discredit them by appealing to the reader’s reason. As such these sorts of papers often give an overview of all the main arguments or scholarship on a given topic, then build an argument about which is the best or the most correct.

For each of the following essay prompts, consider the following:

• What type of evidence would you provide to your reader if you were assigned the following essay prompts? 
• Where would you look to find this information? 
• What type of introduction would you choose to start each essay?

1. Should students be allowed to grade their teachers?
2. Is the cost of college too high?
3. Does religion cause war?
4. Does age matter in relationships?
5. Is global climate change man-made?
6. Is our election process fair?

Refining Your Narrative Essay

Figurative Language PPT

Descriptive Writing