Meeting 2:
Tosspon’s English 105
Diagnostic Reviews
Review Chpt 1: Prewrites
Thesis Statements – Chpt 2
Description – Chpt 11
Your Diagnostic Essays
• Check your email. Open the
attachment.
• Review my comments by clicking on
“Review” and then clicking “Next” or
“Accept” on the menu bar.
Grammar Log
• For each #’d error (not ALL errors), use
the Grammar Log to correct.
• This is worth 10 points per paper. No errors
means you automatically get the 10 points.
Correct the
error
#6
In the beginning the dog wasn’t
sure what he wanted to do.
In the beginning, the dog wasn’t
sure what he wanted to do.
Find how to
Correct your
Errors by
using the
syllabus
(pg 9) and
the green
handbook.
Common Errors
• We will be adding these to our
weekly lesson
•
•
•
•
•
Fragments
Run Ons
Hook/Introductions
Wordiness
Semicolons
• ESL? Verb Tense Shifts?
See pages 337-358 (green)
Awesome. PreWrites, etc
REVIEW CHPT 1
When you Write. First:
Select a subject
• Start early
• Find the best space for you
• Select something in which
you currently have a strong
interest
• Narrow a large topic
Practice a Pre-Write: Looping!
• Practice B, pg 18
• Select two of the large subjects.
– With a partner, use looping (described
on pg 9)
– create a focused topic for 3-5 pg essay
How?
Freewrite for 5 minutes about the
topic. When time’s up, look back
for the “center of gravity” sentence.
Use that “center of gravity” sentence
freewrite THAT as your jumping-off point.
Review the 2nd freewrite. Find another “center
of gravity”. Begin a 3rd Freewrite using that
paragraph.
Discover your Audience
• How to Identify your
readers
– Who is the audience?
– Why are they reading it –
what do they hope to gain?
– What knowledge does your
audience have about the
subject?
– What is your audience’s
attitude towards your
subject?
Special qualities of your
audience?
1. They don’t like to be bored. (if you
are bored writing it, they’ll be
bored reading it)
2. They hate confusion and disorder
3. They WANT to think and learn
4. They want to see/feel what YOU
see/feel
5. They are turned off by
pretentious/phony voices.
Chapter 2
Pg 31
The Thesis
• What is a working thesis
• What does a “working thesis”
do?
• Can “Working thesis” change?
JigSaw: group work
• Each group assigned a section
• Read the section
• Explain to the class what it is
as group explains, read along, highlight.
– We will be playing a game w/ this info
Good thesis
-States opinion (pg 33)
-Asserts 1 idea (pg 33-34)
-Has something to say (pg 34-35)
-Is limited to fit (pg 35-36)
-Clearly/specifically stated (36)
-1st or 2nd paragraph (36-37)
Avoid Common Errors
-Don’t just announce topic
-Don’t clutter with “I think”
-Don’t just state a fact
-Don’t ask it as a question
Game! Pin the Thesis
• Groups each will get a set of
thesis statements.
Record the #’s you have!
• Decide which are “adequate”
and which are “inadequate”
– Use tape to put statements onto
the corresponding location.
– Be prepared to justify your
choice to the class.
• On 1 page per group, rewrite
the inadequate thesis
statements.
Guidelines for a good thesis (pg 33)
• States the writer’s clearly defined
opinion on some subject
• Assert ONE main idea
• Have something worthwhile to
say
• Limit thesis to fit the assignment
• State thesis clearly, in specific
terms
• In first or second paragraph.
Thesis Statement Answers
• Identify whether each is adequate or not,
explain the problem
1. Adequate
2. Inadequate
3. Inadequate
4. Inadequate
5. Adequate
6. Adequate
7. Inadequate
8. Inadequate
9. Adequate
10.Inadequate
11.Adequate
12.Inadequate
13.Adequate
14.Inadequate
15.Inadequate
16.Inadequate
17.Inadequate
18.Adequate
19.Inadequate
20.Inadequate
21.Inadequate
22.Adequate
23.Inadequate
24.Inadequate
25.Inadequate
26.Adequate
27.Inadequate
28.Inadequate
29.Inadequate
30.Inadequate
31.Adequate
32.Inadequate
33.Inadequate
Essay Map
• Use the handout to help you develop
a topic. Choose from the list on pg 40
or pg 18.
• Narrow the topic (what specific related
things are you going to talk about, and
what is your opinion about it)
• Take those “reasons” and
summarize them in the first 1-2 of
paragraphs (map for your reader).
Guidelines for a good thesis
• States the writer’s clearly defined
opinion on some subject/topic
• Assert ONE main idea
• Have something worthwhile to say
• Limited to fit the assignment
• Stated clearly,
in specific terms
• In first or second paragraph.
– 1st Paragraph should be a “hook”
(pg 33)
Jeopardy Quiz!
•
jeopardylabs.com/play/heald-english-105-week-22
• May get in groups of 4, may use
notes/book/syllabus/handouts =D
Categories:
• Syllabus
• Chapter 1, Chapter 2
• Pre-Writing Strategies
• Classmates
Description: Chpt 11, pg 323
• What is description?
• Read “Tree Climbing” pg 333
• What do you notice? How is
description used?
– Find one example of: smell,
taste, feel/touch, sight,
sound
– each description had a
purpose!
– Used specific/appropriate
details
– Vivid descriptions!
Vivid descriptions
(pg 326)
Sensory details
• Sight – The clean white corridors of the hospital
resembled the set of a sci-fi movie.
• Sound/Hearing At night, the only sounds …
quiet squeakings of sensible white shoes.
• Smell The green beans … smelled stale and waxy
• Touch The hospital bed sheets felt as rough and
heavy as a feed sack.
• Taste Every four hours…whose aftertaste
reminded me of the stale licorice my great-aunt
kept in candy dishes around her house.
Practice! Paintings tell a story
• First, brainstorm what the character(s)
may see, feel, hear, smell, taste, touch.
• Tell the story of this painting (may work in
groups or solo).
Game!
• You may use
Don’t show anyone your
this as a
painting.
pre-write
- read
your description to the
class
for your
- if your classmates can pick
outDescription
the photos from your
description of what the
Essay. Due
characters feel, hear, see,
smell,
tasteweek.
and touch, you
next
WIN!
Descriptive Essay: Draft
(due @ beginning of class next week, 50pts )
• Choose a topic from pg 331-332
– You may propose a topic if none appeal
to you. I must approve your proposal.
• Write a 2-3 pg essay
– MLA Format
Problems to avoid (pg 327)
• Remember your audience
They haven’t seen it! Be specific, not vague (big, beautiful,
bad, scary
• Erratic organization
Arrange your details: first to last, left to right, top to bottom,
head to foot, the most startling to least, most important to
least.
• Sudden change in perspective
Stay consistent – if you’re describing interior or at a
distance, stay there or explain the shift. “as the car
approached I could see…” etc.
Practice a Pre-Write: Looping!
• Select two of the large subjects.
– With a partner, use looping
(described on pg 9)
– create a focused topic for 3-5 pg essay
How?
Freewrite for 5 minutes about the
topic. When time’s up, look back
for the “center of gravity” sentence.
Use that “center of gravity” sentence
freewrite THAT as your jumping-off point.
Review the 2nd freewrite. Find another “center
of gravity”. Begin a 3rd Freewrite using that
paragraph.
Homework
• Descriptive Essay 1st Draft
DUE @ beginning of NEXT MEETING (50
points)
• Final draft due in 2 weeks emailed to
ttosspon@gmail.com
• Name file: lastname_Description
• Read: “What is Poverty” Handout
• Vocabulary 1 –(10 points each):
Select 10 words from the essay/article. Turn this in on a
separate paper titled “Vocab #__”. Write each
vocabulary word, the definition (look it up!), and a
sentence using the word correctly.