English 101
Susan Field
February 12, 15
The First Formal Essay
So far this semester we engaged in an examination of three essays in terms of their content (the ideas and arguments they were making) and the writing strategies (structure, argumentation, voice, rhetorical devices, i.e. how they were making the arguments ) used by their authors. Now, we’re going to begin to work towards your first formal essay of the semester based upon these discussions. This essay will offer your analysis and critique of the writing in the works you have read so far as part of a larger consideration of how they extend, complicate, or challenge your ideas about academic writing.
The final draft of your essay will need to accomplish the following tasks (not necessarily in the order presented here):
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Provide a coherent discussion of your current conception of what constitutes academic writing.
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Present passages drawn from at least two of the essays we read as positive or negative evidence to build your argument. In other words, provide concrete evidence in the form of direct quotations of passages relevant to your argument.
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Offer analysis regarding how these passages fit into your ideas of, or experiences with, academic writing as discussed in assignment 1.0 (Defining Academic Writing). In what way do they conform to your notions of effective academic writing? In what ways do they not? Please discuss how working with these essays evolved your conception of academic writing.
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Offer reflection on how you might expand your technique as a writer. In other words, based on your understanding of academic writing in the collegiate context, and the rhetorical strategies you’ve seen deployed, how would you like to grow your writing over the rest of the semester? What are your current goals as a writer?
Please note that you are not debating the authors’ arguments or the issues in this essay. For example, the focus of your essay should not be to agree or disagree with Levy’s position on the state of feminism in today’s society; instead, you would focus on what the writer is doing to develop and support her argument effectively, or ineffectively, as the case may be.
Discussing the content in order to set context for the reader is good, but do not neglect the purpose of this assignment which is to provide an analysis of writing itself.

Timeline:
Wednesday, February 25 th : The first draft of this essay is due in class.
Please bring in two copies of the first draft of the essay. I will collect one copy so that I can provide feedback and commentary. We will be using the second copy for ongoing in-class revision work.
Friday, February 27 th : Peer Revision in class-Don’t miss this day!
Friday, March 7 th : The final draft of the essay is due in class.
Keep in mind that the suggested length for the final draft of this essay is a minimum of 4 full pages .
Assignment 1.5: Preparing to Write and Piecemeal Paragraphs
Part 1: I would like you to start ‘drafting’ for Monday, February 23 rd , by starting to compile your observations regarding the texts we have read so far this semester. What are the characteristics of the writing that struck you, as a reader in the academic context? Voice?
Diction? Tone? Organization? What seems to be the fundamental purpose? How do the authors structure their pieces? Where is the thesis statement? Is there an introduction? How do they differ from each other? Which ones were successful in your view? Which ones less so?
This “draft” is not necessarily meant to take the form of an essay. Use this early phase as an opportunity to start compiling information that is significant and what may, ultimately, be of strategic use to you as you develop your own essay. Keep it loose at this point – sentence fragments are ok!
Part 2: The essay you are going to write focuses on one topic (your ideas about academic writing), but this one topic is made up of several smaller sub-topics. Choose one of those subtopics and start there-compose those paragraphs. Some possibilities include:
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Presenting a passage that exemplifies what you consider academic writing
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Presenting an example of what you DO NOT consider academic writing
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Discussing how one particular essay evolved your conception of academic writing
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Discussing how one particular essay fits/does not fit the model of academic writing you explained in Assignment 1.0
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Reflecting on how you want to expand or change your writing technique
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Discussing your current goals as a writer
Please bring 2-3 complete paragraphs to class with you on Monday, February 23rd and email me a copy before class. Only email Part 2-bring Part 1 to class.
There are several reasons we are completing this assignment. First and foremost, it is designed to get you over the hurdle of starting an essay-that first paragraph is often the hardest-so save it for last! It is also meant activate your thinking around paragraphs-they should be able to stand alone to some extent and completing these ‘random’ paragraphs compels you to write paragraphs that are independent of the other parts of the essay. Finally, it will help you to structure your essay. Once you have a few paragraphs written, you will be able decide whether the remaining sub-topics need to become before or after what you end up composing for this assignment.