Lecture 10: Compare and Contrast Essay Preparation

In today's class we shall complete:



Additionally Nancy Robertson will come and talk to us about proper MLA Citation Style (12:30 - 1:50)

Reading Review

In groups of 4:
Brainstorm 30 words that come to mind after reading the title
Choose TWO places in the essay to stop reading and discuss as a group – How many of your brainstormed words/ideas have appeared? Have some not appeared? What conclusions can you draw?
When finished reading, note:
The thesis
How the essay is arranged and is it effective?

Homework:
Review Grammar (Part 3, Section B of EW)
Grammar Test in class
Read Shields, “Hazel” (242 HA)


NOTE: We will meet in Lab 258 and class will finish at 1:00pm

Lecture 9: Comparison and Contrast Essays

Outline:

Reading Review
Compare and Contrast
Practise
Homework


Reading Review
On your own, create a poem using parts of speech
Create a legend for readers to identify each of the parts of speech (underlined words are adjectives, highlighted pink are verbs etc...)

10-15 minutes

Reading Review

• 3 adjectives
• an abstract noun (things not knowable through the senses)
• 1 participial phrase (verb form used as an adjective to modify nouns and pronouns)
• 2 prepositional phrases (begin with a preposition and end with a noun,pronoun, gerund, or clause, the "object" of the preposition): In the weedy, overgrown garden OR Along the busy, six-lane highway
• 2 participial phrases (verbals ending in -ing, and -ed  are combined with complements and modifiers): The stone steps, having been worn down by generations of students, needed to be replaced. [modifies "steps"]
• the place name

Compare and Contrast:

When you compare items, you look for their similarities--the things that make them the same.

For example:

Apples and oranges are both fruit.

They're both foods.

Both are made into juice.

Both grow on trees.


When you contrast items, you look at their differences.

For example:

Apples are red. Oranges are orange.

The fruits have different textures.

Oranges need a warmer place to grow, like Florida. Apples can grow in cooler places, like Alberta.



There are three strategies to organise comparison and contrast papers:

1. Whole-to-Whole, or Block

2. Similarities-to-Differences

3. Point-by-Point



*****Homework*****

Read “Addition in Free Markets” (229 Essay Writing)
Read “Embraced by the Needle” (305 EW)

NOTE: Librarian Nancy Robertson will be coming next class for a tutorial in proper MLA referencing and citation (necessary for your comparative essay)


Note: Top image from Into the Book.

Comparative Research Essay Assignment

ENGL 108: Comparative Essay with Research

Assignment: Comparative Essay, Library Research

Topic: Any TWO essays from essay text OR any TWO stories from anthology

Overview: This assignment gives you the opportunity to compare any two essays or stories from your course text. You will need to find to essays that share similarities as a base for your comparison. You might find similar topics, writing styles or points of view. Additionally, remember to include some contrasting ideas. Comparative essays ask you to compare AND contrast.

For the research portion of the essay assignment, I would like you to find TWO sources that help support your essay. You might have sources that support a view point or a critique you might make.

Part 1: Choose 2 “academic” resources that are highly relevant to your topic. These sources can be online but they must be peer reviewed (not simply self-published or unvetted).  Give full MLA reference information for each source and thoroughly explain why each resource is appropriate and relevant to your topic.  Additionally, include how each resource was found (include keywords used in any Google searching).

Part 2: Once you have your two academic resources and you’ve written your annotations (see above), craft a 3 page essay.  In the essay you should make clear what your basis for comparison is.

Purpose: Learn basic methodologies of research, learn how to locate and evaluate information, learn how to find appropriate resources, evaluate and synthesise arguments, critique thinking, and employ critical reasoning and writing strategies. Additionally put into practise comparative arguments and refine academic writing.

Length: Each annotation should consist of at least one fully-formed paragraph with complete reference information in MLA style. The essay itself should consist of 3 pages. The total length should be 4 pages.

DUE: 30^th March 2010

EXAMPLE ANNOTATION

Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York:

Anchor Books, 1995.

Lamott's book offers honest advice on the nature of a writing life, complete with its insecurities and failures. Taking a humorous approach to the realities of being a writer, the chapters in Lamott's book are wry and anecdotal and offer advice on everything from plot development to jealousy, from perfectionism to struggling with one's own internal critic. In the process, Lamott includes writing exercises designed to be both productive and fun.

Lamott offers sane advice for those struggling with the anxieties of writing, but her main project seems to be offering the reader a reality check regarding writing, publishing, and struggling with one's own imperfect humanity in the process. Rather than a practical handbook to producing and/or publishing, this text is indispensable because of its honest perspective, its down-to-earth humor, and its encouraging approach.

Chapters in this text could easily be included in the curriculum for a writing class. Several of the chapters in Part 1 address the writing process and would serve to generate discussion on students' own drafting and revising processes. Some of the writing exercises would also be appropriate for generating classroom writing exercises. Students should find Lamott's style both engaging and enjoyable.

Note the indentation of all the text except for the first line of the reference.

For more information and style guidelines, visit the Online Writing Centre: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/

Note: Top image from Into the Book.

Lecture 7: Reaction and Response Essay

Position Paper

Due: by 2:00 pm today

Length: 5-8 Well Formed Paragraphs (2-3 pages)

Submission: via e-mail to jess AT jesslaccetti.co.uk OR laccettij AT macewan.ca (remember to change AT to  @ and remove the extra spaces)

Style: Formal (No Personal Pronoun)

Audience: Academic

Additional: Remember to use MLA style for references, include page numbers and your name on each page (top right header)

Refer to your Graphic Organisers, Notes, Text books, Dictionaries

Be ready with a topic and source(s) for your position paper - worth 20% - (newspaper report, journal article – must be at least two pages)

OR

Choose to write on “The Ticking Time Bomb” (247), “The Decline of Public Language” (367) or “Any Colour as Long as It’s Shakespeare” (361)


Homework:

• We will be meeting in the library lab. for our research session
• The SearchPath (online) tutorial is due at the end of class. Although you will have time after the research session to complete the SearchPath tutorial, I suggest making a start before then. Remember, to access the SearchPath tutorial log in to English 108 via Blackboard.

Lecture 6: Essays - Arguments & Reaction and Response

Outline:
Taking a Position
Reacting and Responding
Read Response Essay
Reading Activity
Homework


Taking a Position on Pandemics:
Definition? (on the board)
Examples? (on the board)
How does a pandemic usually erupt?
What actions or outcomes might be expected if there is a pandemic?
Can pandemics ever be useful?
What level of commitment is expected when you belong to an alliance?


Activity:
Record facts in point form to show evidence of a Global Pandemic due to Avian Flu

How is Avian Flu like a natural disaster?
Where does the world stand in its fight to contain the spread of Avian Flu?
Does another global pandemic loom on the horizon or has the threat passed?
What are the implications for Central Illinois with its large population of wild birds?





Much Ado about Clucking:
Review “Much Ado about Clucking” in Essay Writing
Address the following questions in a well structured response (paragraphs with topic sentences, transitions)
How do you feel about the way the topic is presented (hint: look at the title)?
What do you agree or disagree with?
Can you identify with the situation?
Give examples (at least three) of where the author agrees with others, disagrees, or both.
Rewrite three of the above examples in the opposing view.
Post as a comment to the Lecture 6 blog post


Homework:
Position Paper Due in class (23 Feb., after Reading Week)
Due: First half of next class
Length: 5-8 Well Formed Paragraphs (2-3 pages)
Style: Formal (No Personal Pronoun)
Audience: Academic
Additional: Remember to use MLA style for references, include page numbers and your name on each page (top right header)
Refer to your Graphic Organisers, Notes, Text books, Dictionaries

Come to class with a topic and source(s) for your position paper 20% (newspaper report, journal article, film review – must be at least two pages)
OR
Choose to write on “The Ticking Time Bomb” (247), “The Decline of Public Language” (367) or “Any Colour as Long as It’s Shakespeare” (361)

Read Chopin, “Story of an Hour” (95 HA)



Note: Image from No Sheep.

Student Work: Narrative Images

Lecture 2: Introduction to Essay Writing

Our outline for today's lecture:


Reading Review
Activity
Writing Process
Activity
Homework


Examples of Graphic Organisers we might use in our class activity:

 

 

Revising a Thesis Statement:

Thesis statements that are too vague often do not have a strong argument. If your thesis contains words like "good" or "successful," see if you could be more specific: why is something "good"; what specifically makes something "successful"? Does my thesis pass the "So what?" test? If a reader's first response is, "So what?" then you need to clarify, to forge a relationship, or to connect to a larger issue.
Does my essay support my thesis specifically and without wandering? If your thesis and the body of your essay do not seem to go together, one of them has to change.
Does my thesis pass the "how and why?" test? If a reader's first response is "how?" or "why?" your thesis may be too open-ended and lack guidance for the reader.


Homework:

For Next Class: Read pages 458-460 in Essay Writing



Note: Essay image from Illinois Library. Graphic organiser images from Elgin High School.