Writing 20 - Cora
Agatucci
Basic Writing I
WR 20
Assignments (1) - Fall 2001
for CRN #40561, Tues.-Thurs. 11:00 am - 12:15
pm, Jefferson 101 (Cora Agatucci)
Webtip: When you re-visit this
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please click "Refresh" or "Reload" to ensure you are seeing
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See Fall 2001 WR 20 Course Plan
for Deadlines
Short Cuts: Week #1; Week
#2; Week #3; Week #4
Paragraph #2:
Go to Paragraph #2 (Narration)
URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr20/p2narration.htm
Sentence
Analysis Review handouts: Go to
Sentence Analysis Review
URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr20/sentenceanalysis.htm
URL:
Weeks #5 - #10:
Go to WR 20 Assignments (2)
URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr20/assignment2.htm
Paragraph #1
Topic Choices (as
agreed upon in class on Tues., 9/18/01)
Directions: Choose one of these topics for In-Class Diagnostic Paragraph #1:
-
People watching
-
Why are you here...in
college?
-
Your first tatoo or body
piercing (that you did or didn't get)
-
The scariest moment in your
life
-
Your favorite place
Diagnostic Paragraph #1
will be written in class (30 min.) on
Thurs., 9/20/01.
Bring your written preparation to class (recommended:
try out Ch. 2 "prewriting" strategies).
See also Week #2: In-Class
Diagnostic Paragraph #1 Evaluation Checklist
Writer's
Profile #1 (Survey of Writing Skills & Goals)
Directions: Read the following
WR 20 Course Competency statements, and do the following:
- Rate your current skills in each category
using this 5-point scale:
5 = Excellent/A; 4 =
Very Good/B; 3 =
Adequate/C; 2 =
Weak/D;
1=Poor/F
- Comment in the space provided -
especially if you (a) have questions about what the competency
statement means; (b) are not sure what your skills are in that category;
and write (c) any other responses you care to make
- Circle any Competency statements that
represent course learning goals that you think are particularly important;
and/or feel free to list any additional course learning goals
you have
that are not among the WR 20 Competency statements.
Paragraph
Writing Skills
___Competency 1:
Be able to produce stand-alone
paragraphs with a topic sentence and supporting details.
Comments:
___Competency 2: Be able to maintain focus and
coherence for stand-alone paragraphs of at least 200 words.
Comments:
___Competency 3: Be able to distinguish between
general support and specific evidence and to apply the distinction to one’s
writing.
Comments:
Sentence Editing
& Correction Skills
___Competency 4: Be able to produce paragraphs
containing a variety of sentence lengths and structures, including some complex
sentences.
Comments:
___Competency 5: Be able to edit one’s own
writing to avoid most major sentence errors.
Comments:
___Competency 6: Be able to edit one’s own
writing to avoid capitalization, spelling and confused word errors.
Comments:
___Competency 7: Be able to edit one’s own
writing for generally accurate use of commas, semi-colons, apostrophes, and
pronouns.
Comments:
The Writing
Process
___Competency
8: Understand the principles of
the writing process in its basic form: generating ideas [prewriting],
organizing ideas, drafting [composing], revising and editing.
Comments:
Writer's
Workshops
___Competency 9: Be able to assist other writers
with accurate analysis of focus, coherence, and specific development, at the
paragraph level.
Comments:
List here any other course learning goals of
your own:
Top
of this page
Ch. 3
Exercise (&
to ensure that you get full credits on this & future Exercises, please review Directions at top of WR 20
Course Plan!)
Directions: Read Odyssey Ch.
3: "Composing: Creating a Draft" and then do the following exercises in Ch. 3:
-
Exploration
1b (pp. 34-35): do #1 & do #2 but for only one of
the topic sentences
-
Exploration
1c
(pp. 35-36):
do #1b
-
Exploration
3b (pp. 40-41):
do #1a, c, e & do #2b or 2c
-
Exploration
3c (p. 41): do #1a, b, e
-
Exploration
4a (pp. 43-44): do #1 & #2
-
Exploration
6a (p. 48):
do #1
-
Exploration
7c (pp. 50-51):
do #1a, b, c
Ch.
17 Exercise
Directions: Read Odyssey Ch.
17: "The Sentence" and then do the following exercises in Ch. 17:
-
Exploration
1a (p. 238): do all
-
Exploration
2a (p. 241):
do all
-
Exploration
2b (p. 242):
do all. [Note
error in Odyssey directions: Sentence #5
does not have a compound subject, but it does have two subject-verb
combinations. We’ll discuss
further in class.]
-
Summary
Exercise (pp. 243-244):
do all
Extra
Credit Option: Make an extra
double-spaced copy of (Revised) Paragraph #1, and for each sentence in
your paragraph, do the following:
Double
underline
the main verbs (Note
that you sentences may have more than one subject-verb combination)
-
Find
the subjects of the main verbs and single underline the complete
subject,
and . . .
Circle
the simple subject words
|
Looking ahead . . . |
|
FRAGMENTS
(Ch. 18)
If Cora marked any sentences in your
Paragraph #1 a “FRAG,”
the sentence(s) may lack a verb, a subject, or both.
|
|
COMMA SPLICES & RUN-ON
SENTENCES (Ch. 20)
If Cora marked any sentences in your
Paragraph #1 a “CS” or “RS,”
you can expect to find at least two complete subject-verb combinations in that
sentence.
|
In-Class
Diagnostic Paragraph #1
Evaluation Checklist
Worth:
2
P.C. – Evaluated Credit / No
Credit and critiqued by Cora using this checklist.
____a.
Understand the Assignment:
Paragraph is written on one of
these assigned topic choices: 1. People Watching; 2. Why are you here in
college?; 3. Your first tattoo or piercing; 4. Scariest Moment; 5. Your
favorite place
____b. Written Preparation
(Pre-Writing) for In-Class Diagnostic Paragraph #1?
____c. Topic
Scope is limited well enough so that it could be adequately addressed in a
stand-alone paragraph of 100-200 words.
Evaluation
Guide: Check
Plus = Very Good; Check = Satisfactory; Check
Minus = Weak
___A.
Topic Sentence & Paragraph Unity (Odyssey Ch. 3)
(1) Paragraph makes a central point, expressed in a
clear, specific, well-placed topic sentence. Title is relevant to the main idea of the paragraph.
(2) Paragraph content is unified or
controlled by the topic sentence: the writer sticks to the focusing
point; everything else in the paragraph supports and develops
the topic sentence; writer
does not stray from the topic or the topic sentence idea.
___B.
Supporting Development (Odyssey
Ch. 3)
(1) Paragraph body offers both general
support and specific evidence (details) to support the topic sentence
and develop (clarify, explain, illustrate) the writer’s points fully
enough so that (uninformed) general readers can understand.
(2)
Specific
evidence (supporting details, examples) is well selected and relevant to the point(s), clear
and vivid enough to “show” readers what the writer means.
___C. Organization
and Coherence (Clarity, Transitions) - (Odyssey
Ch. 3)
(1) Order or arrangement of ideas is logical, effective & easy to follow.
(2) Coherence is created & maintained through clear expression
(word choice, sentence structure) and use of strong
transitions (which
point out relationships and move the reader smoothly and logically from idea
to idea).
___D. This paragraph is
“Reader-Centered” writing. (Odyssey
Ch. 3)
Sentence
Editing & Correction Skills: WR 20
Competencies # 4, 5, 6, & 7
See “Sentence Skill Locator” on
inside back cover of Odyssey for Editing Symbols.
___E.
Style & Grammatical Correctness.
Words are
chosen effectively; Sentences use subordination, coordination, variety effectively.
Paragraph has been edited effectively to avoid most grammatical errors.
In particular, these Major Sentence Errors are avoided: (1)
Fragments
(frag – Ch. 18), (2)
Comma Splices (cs – Ch. 20), and (3)
Run-on Sentences (rs – Ch. 20).
Revised
Paragraph #1 (to
be graded) - Worth 10% of
course grade. Directions were given
in class when In-Class Diagnostic Paragraph #1 was returned and
discussed. Revised Paragraph #1 will be graded on Criteria A - D stated
above in Evaluation Checklist for In-Class
Diagnostic Paragraph #1. Grammatical errors will be included in the
grading only if they hurt the coherence and clarity (see Criterion C above) of
your written expression.
Chs.
18 & 19 Exercises
SUGGESTION:
If you don’t want to tear out Odyssey pages or copy out
exercises on a separate piece of paper in order to hand them in for credit, try zeroxing Odyssey pages of
assigned exercises, then doing the exercises on the zeroxed pages.
Directions: Read Odyssey Ch.
18: "Fragments" and Ch. 19 "Subordination and
Coordination," pp. 261-264, then do the following exercises:
-
(Ch.
18) Exploration 1a (p. 249): do all.
-
(Ch.
18) Exploration 1b (p. 249): do #3, 4, 5.
-
(Ch.
18) Exploration 2a (p. 251): do Sentences #1 through #7.
-
(Ch.
19) Exploration 1a (pp. 263-264): do all.
-
(Ch.
18) Exploration 3a (pp. 253-254): do all.
[Tip: First identify & circle any Subordinating
Conjunction or Relative Pronoun (see lists, p. 262) that
introduces a subject-verb unit, and you will have found a subordinate
clause (AKA: dependent clause).]
Follow-Up Editing
Exercise: FRAGMENTS.
When Revised Paragraph #1 is graded and returned to you, look to see whether Cora marked any of your sentences a “FRAG."
Then use what you’ve learned to analyze why your sentence is
a fragment, and try to correct your fragment(s).
Ch.
5 Exercise
Directions: Read Odyssey Ch. 5:
“Narration” and do the following:
Review
the “Narrative Paragraph Checklist”
(p. 91) and re-read the following Ch. 5 example narration paragraphs:
-
Paragraph
from Amy Tan’s novel The Joy Luck Club (pp. 87-88)
-
Excerpt
from Annie Dilliard’s essay “God in the Doorway” (p. 88)
-
Paragraph
from Peter Griffin’s biography of Ernest Hemingway,
Less Than a Treason (p. 89)
Choose
two of the above narrative examples, then answer all 5 questions
in the “Narrative Paragraph Checklist” (p. 91) for those two
narrative paragraphs.
Go
to
Paragraph
#2 (Narration)
URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr20/p2narration.htm
Week
#4
See Fall 2001 WR 20 Course Plan
for Deadlines
Go
to Paragraph
#2 (Narration)
URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr20/p2narration.htm
Writer's
Profile #2
I.
Self-Assessment of Paragraph Writing Skills: Review Cora’s
assessment of Paragraph #1. Then respond to the following:
A.
Questions: Write here any questions you have about Cora’s comments,
Evaluation checklist, and/or grading:
B. Identify
the type(s) of paragraph development you used in Paragraph #1 (see Odyssey
Chs. 5-12)
C. Strengths:
Identify one-to-three of the strongest aspects of your Paragraph #1:
1.
2.
3.
D. Weaknesses:. Identify one-to-three of
the weaker aspects of Paragraph #1 that you want to target for improvement:
1.
2.
3.
II.
Preparation for Week #4 In-Class Sentence Analysis Exercise:
Make a clean copy of Paragraph #1—DOUBLE SPACED!!—and bring to
class with this completed Writer’s Profile #2.
Sentence
Analysis Review: Part I
& Practice Ex.; Part II & Practice Ex., & Part III handouts(to be distributed
in class on Tues., 10/9/01)
Go to Sentence Analysis
Review, Parts I, II, & III - Online Handouts
URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr20/p2narration.htm
Go
to Chs. 20 & 19 Exercise (to
be assigned in-class on Thurs., 10/11/01)
Go to WR
20 Assignments (2) for Week #5
URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr20/assignment2.htm
Punctuating
Common Sentence Patterns handout & Practice Exercise (to
be distributed in class on Thurs., 10/11/01)
Go to WR
20 Assignments (2) for Week #5
URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr20/assignment2.htm
Weeks
#5 - #10 - Go to WR 20 Assignments (2)
URL: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr20/p2narration.htm
See Fall 2001 WR 20 Course Plan
for Deadlines
Cora's
Fall 2001 WR 20 Syllabus | Course Plan
|
Assignments
are being webposted after they are discussed in class.
WR 20 Course Home
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Assignments (1) ~ Fall 2001
URL of this webpage: http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr20/assignments.htm
Last updated: 12 August 2002
This webpage is maintained by Cora
Agatucci, Professor of English,
Humanities Department, Central
Oregon Community College
I welcome comments: cagatucci@cocc.edu
© Cora Agatucci, 1997-2001
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