Lesson One
READ:
Chapter 1. Make sure you understand the whole concept of writing as something that demands some organization in order to best reflect your thinking.
a. Review carefully pp. 5-9 if you are unsure about this and take a good look at the single paragraph entitled "The Hazards of Movie-going" at the top of p. 6.
b. Fill in the blanks for yourself on p. 7, but do not send them to me.
c. Reread the short essay on p. 8 entitled "The Hazards of Moviegoing," and then do the exercises on pp. 9-10 in the section entitled "Parts of an Essay."
PLEASE NOTE: SEND ONLY THE LETTERS IN ANSWER TO QUESTIONS 1, 2, & 3 on page 10 and 1 & 2 on page 11-12. That will be
five letters in all; just email me the five letters in order. This is a graded exercise, so make sure not to let this "slide" or "get lost in the shuffle." If you do this any other way, you will not get credit. Follow directions carefully!!!LECTURE:
If you try to "go it alone" without studying the reading assignment, your work will not be sufficient to earn you the grade you hope for. More importantly, you will find yourself wasting time, wasting your peer editor’s time and my time, getting frustrated, having to do some work over again occasionally, and not making the kind of progress you can make in a course that is devoted to your improvement as a writer.Review the syllabus carefully and indicate to me that you understand all of the items.
This week you will be introduced to the process by which you write a formal, organized, and informative essay. That is the primary focus of the course. The building blocks for this process are the paragraphs you write. They, in turn, consist of several sentences designed to make and support a particular point. It is a bit like the process of building a house. The job should not be attempted without a blueprint (outline), and it requires the correct tools (your supplies include your textbook, your peer editor, a dictionary, a thesaurus, your "spell check" if you have one, and, of course, yourself). The job also requires the proper amount of time to finish the job, and it must follow a strict order so that it won’t collapse part way through the process.
Your book is very explicit about the theory behind each of the steps in the writing process.
As I explain elsewhere, and will no doubt repeat many times, there are three things I want you to be sure to make time for with each week’s assignment.
Once again, if you are going to send me a draft to look at, make sure you put the word "draft" at the beginning so I will get it back to you as quickly as possible.
Note: Because of viruses, I prefer that you send work only through regular email messaging, or through the assignment window in the course itself. DO NOT SEND ATTACHMENTS WITHOUT ASKING ME FIRST. If I allow it, then make sure that it is an MS Word (Microsoft Word) document file, PREFEREABLY MS WORD 1997-2003.
Also, be sure always to sign your name on messages to me and on your work, because in many cases, student email addresses do not contain the students’ names. I usually do not get to know your names before half the course is over. SIGN YOUR EMAILS AND YOUR WORK!!
REVIEW:
MAKE SURE TO PROOFREAD YOUR ESSAY (SEE "WRITE" BELOW) SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE SUBMITTING IT. THAT WILL BE THE BEST INDICATION TO ME THAT YOU ARE READY FOR SOME MORE ADVANCED WRITING. I WILL GRADE THIS ESSAY MOSTLY ON THE CARE WITH WHICH IT IS WRITTEN, SO MAKE TIME FOR REVISIONS.
WRITE:
In an essay of THREE paragraphs and at least 350 words, discuss what you think the single most important element of raising children is. (That’s ONE element, NOT several!!! I know there are many, but you must pick one.) Assume that you would go on to discuss other elements as well; but in this essay, you are simply discussing what you judge to be the most important element. The best way to do this is to write a "topic sentence" and provide two or, at most, three details to support that sentence.
Since this is primarily a diagnostic essay, it will be graded more leniently than all the rest of your work. I will be giving you extensive comments on what I think you need to pay attention to most during the next eight weeks. I expect you to let me know if you do not understand the comments you get from me about this paragraph. Remember, I’m grading your carefulness and your organization more than anything else this time.
KEEP A BACKUP COPY OF
ALL YOUR WORK IN CASE OF COMPUTER (OR HUMAN) ERROR.DISCUSSION – PT. 1:
Read my first 8 postings in the "Instructor’s Posting Area." Also read the item marked "5 Key Errors Never to Make." Make sure you let me know in the Discussion area for Week 1 whether or not you have any questions about any of these postings. Even if you do not have questions, YOU MUST LET ME KNOW IN THE WEEK 1 AREA THAT YOU HAVE READ ALL 8 POSTINGS and understand what they say and agree to do them to the best of your ability. Do this in the link labeled "Postings" in the Week 1 area.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS AT ALL ABOUT THESE POSTINGS, NOW IS THE TIME TO ASK. IF YOU DO NOT ASK, I WILL ASSUME THAT YOU WILL FOLLOW THROUGH ON WHAT THEY SAY.
DISCUSSION – PT. 2:
Please introduce yourself in the "Introductions" link in the Week 1 posting area. This should be about 100 words just telling us where you are from, what you do currently, and what you hope to do with your degree from BCC. Read the other introductions throughout the week, and select someone – or wait to be selected by someone else – for peer editing for later on in the course. Use the Discussion Board to communicate with your peer editor, or just regular email after you learn each other’s email address. Please let me know when you and another classmate have agreed to be each other’s peer editor.
Submit your Essay in the form below: