EH 101 Course Writing Guide Composing Thesis-Based Essays Photo courtesy of _StaR_DusT_ [www.flickr.com/photos/star-dust]

Table of Contents How To Use This Guide Week 3: Brainstorming & Developing an Argument Week 4: Revising & Proofreading Week 5: Supporting an Argument Week 6: Integrating the Ideas of Others Week 7: Building Relationships between Ideas Week 8: Integrating Research Week 9: Paragraph Construction

How To Use This Guide Use this document as a learning guide. It contains all of the information, activities, and homework assignments on writing. In order for classroom time to be effective, you should access the materials during the weeks suggested on the course schedule. You should have each unit’s action items completed before the Wednesday of the unit’s scheduled week, unless otherwise indicated. After class, review materials as needed. In order to facilitate review, this guide includes a table of contents with hyperlinks to specific resources. You can also access these materials, as well as other writing resources, on the course website. If you have any questions about these materials, please ask! You may contact me via email (tsasser@jsu.edu), the Contact Me page on the course website, or Twitter (@TanyaSasser).

Week 3: Brainstorming & Developing an Argument Learning Goals Action Items Review pages 34-42 in Patterns for a Purpose Read About.com’s Guide to Brainstorming Watch concept mapping demonstration Review pages 42-46 in Patterns for a Purpose Watch “How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement” Read “Thesis Statements: How to Write One” Practice writing a thesis statement

Learning Goals To learn how to develop writing ideas via concept mapping, Venn diagramming, and other brainstorming methods. To learn how to develop a clear, concise, arguable, and relevant thesis statement.

About.com’s Guide to Brainstorming* Brainstorming: These pages will discuss various methods for brainstorming ideas for your writing. *When viewing each webpage, click on the numbered sticky notes to read my comments.

Concept Mapping Demonstration

How to Write a Strong Thesis Statement

Practice Writing a Thesis Statement As you draft your This I Believe essay, begin by developing a single sentence that summarizes the personal philosophy that your essay will address. This sentence should encapsulate the major controlling idea upon which the entire essay is focused. This single sentence is your thesis statement. You can use your CLN on Twitter to get feedback on, revise, and refine your thesis statement by completing the This I Believe Twitter session assignment.

Week 4: Revising & Proofreading Learning Goals Actions Items Read “Revising Drafts” Watch “3-Step Revision” Listen to “Cut Big, Then Small” Watch “Proofreading” Read The OWL’s guide to Proofreading Read “10 Crucial Proofreading Tips” Grammar Resources

Learning Goals To effectively revise writing in a way that demonstrates a “re-envisioning” of the ideas presented. To effectively and thoroughly proofread writing in a way that correctly addresses errors of mechanics, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting.

Cut Big, Then Small This podcast by The Poynter Institute’s Roy Peter Clark discusses the steps of revising.

3-Step Revision

Proofreading

Grammar Resources Patterns for a Purpose (pgs. 723-728) Grammar Girl Quick & Dirty Tips (website featuring podcasts w/RSS subscription option) Grammar (video) 5 Grammar Habits Every Writer Should Adopt (website) 5 Parts of Speech (video) Sentence Fragments (podcast) Run-on Sentence (podcast) Subject-Verb Agreement (podcast) Comma Splice (podcast)

Week 5: Supporting an Argument Learning Goals Action Items Review thesis statements by watching “How to Write an A+ Thesis Statement” Read “Writing Argumentative Papers” Read About.com’s Guide to Argument Watch “Logical Structure of Argumentative Essays”

Learning Goals To support an argument using sufficient, relevant, and effective evidence and examples. To organize supporting evidence and examples in a logical and persuasive way. To effectively address opposing arguments.

How to Write an A+ Thesis Statement Before drafting your first response to My Freshman Year, watch this video as a review on thesis statements. Notice that now we will be adding a 3rd element to our thesis statements: reasoning. You can have fewer than or more than 3 reasons.

About.com’s Guide to Argument* Argument: This page defines argument and provides some sample argumentative essays. How to Write an Argument Essay: These pages walk you through selecting a topic, planning, and writing an argumentative essay. *When viewing each webpage, click on the numbered sticky notes to view my comments.

Logical Structure of Argumentative Essays

Week 6: Integrating the Ideas of Others Learning Goals Action Items Read Ch. 15 & pages 729-732 of Patterns for a Purpose Read “Integrating Others’ Ideas into Your Writing” Print handout on Introducing & Explaining Source Material for reference during writing Watch “How to Use Quotations in Writing Essays” Watch “In-text Citations” Complete the plagiarism tutorial MLA Resources

Learning Goals To summarize, paraphrase, and quote others’ contributions to a conversation about a topic/issue. To document the original context and source of summarized, paraphrased, or quoted materials.

How to Use Quotations in Writing Essays

In-text Citations

Plagiarism Tutorial Complete this plagiarism tutorial to test how well you do at avoiding plagiarism. If you have questions about using sources and how to cite them correctly and cannot locate the answers in the provided resources, you can contact a campus librarian in person or at Ask A Librarian.

MLA Resources Purdue's OWL:  MLA Formatting and Style Guide  Patterns for a Purpose (pg. 706-711) McGraw-Hill Handbook (pg. 342-378)

Week 7: Building Relationships between Ideas Learning Goals Action Items Read “Coherence: Transitions between Ideas” Watch “The Given-New Theory” Listen to “Repeat, Repeat, Repeat” Complete the coherence analysis quiz Bookmark the Transition Chart on pages 67-68 of Patterns for a Purpose for easy reference during writing

To select and integrate transitional words and phrases, repetition, and synonyms in order to maintain coherence in your writing. Learning Goals Image courtesy of Ginny’s Photography (flickr.com)

The Given-New Theory

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat This podcast by The Poynter Institute’s Roy Peter Clark addresses how to use repetition to create cohesiveness and emphasize your main idea.

Coherence Analysis Complete this coherence analysis by typing your analysis into the blank text blocks; then click on the provided link to see a completed analysis.

Week 8: Integrating Research into Your Writing Learning Goals Action Items Review Ch. 15 in Patterns for a Purpose Watch “The Research Process: What Is It & Why Do We Do It?” Complete library research tutorials Complete evaluating web sources tutorial Complete research tutorial

Learning Goals To locate relevant, reliable, and timely sources to integrate into your writing. To evaluate materials from various sources, including the internet.

“The Research Process: What Is It & Why Do We Do It?”

Library Research Tutorials Complete each of the General Library Instruction tutorials; each provides an overview of the basics of library research, including specific information about the resources available at Houston Cole Library.

Evaluating Web Resources Tutorial This Evaluating Web Resources Tutorial will help you assess your ability to identify relevant and reliable resources on the internet.

Research Tutorial This Research Tutorial will help you assess your research skills.

Paragraph Construction Learning Goals Action Items Review pages 60-72 in Patterns for a Purpose Watch “Introductory Paragraphs” Read “Introductory Paragraphs” Watch “Effective Paragraph Development” Read “Paragraph Development” Listen to “Vary the Lengths of Paragraphs” Watch “Conclusions” Read “Conclusions”

Learning Goals To compose effective introductory, body, and concluding paragraphs. To use effective and logical organization within and between paragraphs. To determine an effective paragraph structure and length.

Introductory Paragraphs

Effective Paragraph Development

Vary the Length of Paragraphs This podcast by The Poynter Institute’s Roy Peter Clark discusses the issue of paragraph length and when to paragraph.

Conclusions