Essay #3 (In-Class) - Winter 2003

Writing 121 - Cora Agatucci
English Composition [Expository Essay Writing]

ESSAY #3 (In-Class)
WR 121, Prof. C. Agatucci - Winter 2003
In-Class essays are scored using Final Exam Essay evaluation criteria, and letter graded.
Worth: 20% of course grade if one of two highest grades earned
on the three timed, In-Class Essays (#2, #3, & Final Exam Essay) this term.
(See also WR 121 Syllabus & WR 121 Final Exam Essay Policy )

NO Late/"Make-Up" In-Class Essays are allowed
(See WR 121 Syllabus Course Grading & Late Work Policies)

DEADLINES: See WR 121 Course Plan, Weeks #8 & #9, for relevant deadlines.

This assignment will help you achieve these WR 121 learning outcomes (Course Competencies, as stated in WR 121 Syllabus):

Learning Outcome 1 Write essays that . . .
    ...use a thesis to establish control over content;
    ...supply relevant and adequate supporting details drawn from observation, personal experience and/or responsive reading;
    ...employ the organizational strategies of effective beginnings, transitions, and endings; and
    ...conform to standard edited English.
Learning Outcome 2 Achieve Outcome 1 under time constraints (prior to the final exam), while conforming to expectations of an assigned topic and of edited English appropriate for timed writing.

Learning Outcome 4 Employ one or more sources responsibly (without plagiarizing) in a . . . writing assignment.

Learning Outcome 5 Demonstrate, in an essay, a sustained style employing rhetorically effective tone, persona, diction, idiom, and syntax [i.e. sentence style & word choice].

(IN-CLASS) ESSAY #3 Directions & Topic Choices

For deadlines, preparation, & materials needed, see WR 121 Course Plan.
Come to class Week #9 prepared to write your in-class Essay #3:

(1) Preliminary Drafts/Prep copies (to be turned in at the beginning of class)
(2) Bring bluebook(s), black or blue ink pens, topics handout, Muller textbook, Works Cited; optional dictionary &/or thesaurus OK.
Note Well: No Notes, Outlines, Drafts, etc., may be used when writing In-Class Essays.
(3) EXTRA CREDIT will be given for augmenting your required Preliminary Draft preparation by doing at least one "practice timed writing" at home, labeling it as such, and turning it in at the beginning of the first In-Class Essay #3 writing period.

Assigned Topic Choice. Prepare your essay in response to one of the assigned topics given below.
NOTE WELL: Essays that do not address an assigned topic choice, and/or fail to address all parts of the chosen assigned topic will receive failing scores & grades!!)
Advice: Make sure your essay is unified by a clearly stated thesis and narrowed focus.
Your essay should be logically organized, coherent, and well developed with supporting explanation, specific examples and detail drawn from observation, experience, and reading.

Avoid Plagiarism: Cite Your Source/s. Note that you should bring Muller textbook to in-class writing periods to assist you in quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, and citing from Muller reading source/s.
In-Text Citation: In first reference to relevant Muller reading source(s) you bring into your essay, introduce the author’s full name and title of the article; author tags should accompany any summary from the Muller reading, and MLA-style in-text parenthetical citation [be sure to give page numbers!!] should follow all quotations and/or paraphrases. Review Directions for Essay #1 for general Advice on "incorporating" in-text citations into your essay.
Works Cited: You also need to devote a bluebook page at the end of your essay to Works Cited, wherein you give complete bibliographic entry on each outside source (i.e. Muller reading) that you have cited in-text of your essay. You are allowed--and encouraged--to write out in advance Works Cited bibliographical entries for any sources you use. Works Cited entries for Muller readings are given below.

Essay Length: In-Class Essays should be 750 to 1000 words--not counting the separate Works Cited page at the end of your essay. Warning: the perceived length of handwritten essays in bluebook pages can be misleading, and come to very different word counts than word-processed, double spaced pages.
Tip: Prepare your Preliminary Draft on wordprocessor and use the word count feature to judge the length of your essay.

Essay #3 Topic Choices
drawn from selected Muller Readings
[See Works Cited below]

Topic #1. In 1762, Oliver Goldsmith, an Anglo-Irish writer, deplored "National Prejudices" feeding xenophobic patriotism in his eighteenth-century countrymen. Goldsmith declares himself "a citizen of the world" (243) and enjoins others to see themselves not only as patriots of one particular society but as "general inhabitants of the globe, or members of that grand society which comprehends the whole human kind" (242).
"Is it not possible that I may love my own country, without hating the natives of other countries? that I may exert the most heroic bravery, the most undaunted resolution in defending its laws and liberty, without despising all the rest of the world as cowards and poltroons?" (Goldsmith 243). Write an essay that responds to Goldsmith's question and presents your own opinion of what "patriotism" means today, drawing upon your experiences and observations, as well as relevant points made in Goldsmith's essay "National Prejudices."

Topic #2. In "America: The Multinational Society" published in 1990, Ishmael Reed argues that the United States today is a "cultural bouillabaise" (Richard Thompson, qtd. in Reed 245), melding the contributions of many indigenous and immigrant peoples "to a greater extent than anyone can imagine" and with less "sensational conflict between people of different backgrounds" than is depicted in the U.S. media (Reed 245).
For Reed, the "destiny" of the United States is "exciting" because "[t]he world is here" where "the cultures of the world crisscross" (247). Do you share Reed's view of life in "multinational" America? Write an essay in which you respond to this question, drawing upon your own experiences and observations, as well as relevant points made in Reed's essay.

Topic #3: In "Loose Ends," Rita Dove claims that television's "projected reality" is powerful--not because children and adults "confuse TV with reality," but because many of us "prefer [television] to [the] reality" of our own lives (503-504).
Write an essay in which you interpret and respond to Dove's claim. Develop your analysis of television's power using specific examples from selected popular television programs.

Topic #4: Both Annie Dillard, in “An American Childhood,” and Robert Coles, in “ I Listen to My Parents and Wonder What They Believe,” address how parents’ values, attitudes, and behaviors can affect their children.
Write an essay in which you identify two or three influential values, attitudes, and/or behaviors of your parents, and analyze how and why they made a lasting impact on you. Introduce into your discussion at least one relevant point made by Dillard and/or Coles.

Topic #5: "The Gettysburg Address," by Abraham Lincoln, and "I Have a Dream," by Martin Luther King, Jr., are widely considered among the greatest speeches ever delivered by Americans.
Write an essay that analyzes and evaluates the effectiveness of selected elements of these speeches, to help your readers understand why these speeches are so highly regarded.

In-Class Essay #3 Evaluation                                   Name___________________________
WR 121, Winter 2003, Prof. C. Agatucci
Two highest scores/grades on three in-class                 Grade & Score_______________
essays count (2 @ 20% of course grade)                      No Late/Make Up Allowed

____Must be written in blank bluebook(s) or In-Class Essay will not be accepted for grading.
____Must avoid plagiarism: see Category #6 below.

Redefined: PASSING SCORES & GRADES: High Pass = 4 (Grade of A);
Clear Pass = 3 (Grade of B); Marginal Pass = 3- (Grade of C)
FAILING SCORES & GRADES: Fail = 2 (Grade of D); Low Fail = 1 (Grade of F)
In-Class Essays must demonstrate at least minimum competency (score of “3-”)
in all 6 of the following categories in order to receive a Passing Score/Grade:

_____1. ASSIGNED TOPIC & TOPIC FOCUS: Clearly addresses (all parts of) assigned topic question & explores relevant issues; topic/thesis is well focused (limited enough) to allow for satisfactory treatment in an essay of 750-1000 words within timed writing period.

TOPIC 1. Respond to Oliver Goldsmith’s question from “National Prejudices” (243) and present your own opinion of what patriotism means today, drawing upon relevant points from the reading, your experiences & observations.
TOPIC 2. Explain whether you share Ishmael Reed’s view that the “destiny” of the U.S. is “exciting” because “[t]he world is here” where “the cultures of the world crisscross” (247), in an essay drawing upon your experiences & observations., as well as relevant points from “America: The Multinational Society.”
TOPIC 3. Interpret and respond to Rita Dove’s claim in “Loose Ends,” that television’s “projected reality” is powerful—not because children and adults “confuse TV with reality,” but because many of us “prefer [television] to [the] reality” of our own lives (503-504), developing your analysis of television’s power using specific examples from selected popular television programs.
TOPIC 4. Identify two or three influential values, attitudes, and/or behaviors of your parents, & analyze how/why they made a lasting impact on you, introducing into your discussion at least one relevant point from Coles or Dillard.
TOPIC 5. Analyze & evaluate the effectiveness of selected elements of Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” and King’s “I Have a Dream” to help readers understand why these speeches are so highly regarded.

____2. CONTENT, THESIS/PURPOSE: Shows depth, complexity of thought (not simplistic) in exploring issues relevant to assigned topic; establishes and maintains a clear "focus" unified by a thesis statement, with clear controlling sentences (e.g. thesis/purpose statements, topic sentences, thesis transitions); engaged writing to communicate with the intended audience. Essay must be written to make a central point--i.e. unified by, organized and developed to support a clear, focused thesis that responds explicitly to assigned topic.

____3. ORGANIZATION, COHERENCE, ESSAY FORM: Effectively organized by a clear, logical organizational pattern appropriate to assigned topic & thesis; essay structure (e.g., introduction, conclusion, transitions & paragraph breaks) clearly establishes and carries out organizational pattern; effective transitions, logical reasoning, & clear expression maintain strong coherence throughout the essay.

____4. PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT: Body paragraphs are well-developed, drawing upon reading, personal experience, observation; general points (e.g. topic sentences) are developed with strong supporting detail & well-selected examples, with sufficient explanation to establish relevance of body points & specific evidence to the essay topic & thesis.

____5. STYLE & COMMAND OF STANDARD WRITTEN ENGLISH: Clear, coherent, effective style demonstrates control of diction/word choice & sentence structure, creating tone appropriate to topic/purpose; & pleasing sentence variety; strong Command of standard written English is demonstrated by few flaws in grammar, usage, punctuation, mechanics; no serious patterns of errors (e.g. subject-verb agreement, verb form/tense, persistent misuse of commas) and no more than three (3) major/high distortion errors (errors that hurt clarity)—e.g. fragments; run-on (CS) comma splices & (FS) fused sentences; unclear pronoun references, word choices, or sentence structure.

____6. EFFECTIVE & RESPONSIBLE USE OF READING. Demonstrates strong reading comprehension & integrates smoothly, effectively viewpoint/s &/or quotations from relevant reading, as required by assigned topic; avoids plagiarism: all sources are cited responsibly within (in-text) & at the end of (Works Cited) the essay; good faith effort to follow MLA style.

Writing 121 - Cora Agatucci English Composition [Expository Essay Writing]

Writing 121 - Cora Agatucci
English Composition [Expository Essay Writing]