Your Name___________________________
Ninth Grade Writing Project
Ms. DePoala
What are the reasons writers write?
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THE SIX MAIN STYLES OF WRITING
1.
Expressive Writing and Reflective Writing
Expressive Writing: First, and foremost, expressive writing is personal writing. The writer shares thoughts, ideas, feelings, and questions about his or her experiences. Usually written in first-person point of view, it exhibits the author’s voice. The author tells the reader how he or she feels.
Reflective Writing: Though also personal, reflective writing often moves beyond recounting on experience and into an exploration of how that particular experience has shaped the writer.
The goal of reflective writing is not to share final thoughts on a topic; on the contrary, it is a vehicle for exploring and discovering new thoughts. In reflective writing, the author often looks at the past as a means for looking at the future.
2. INFORM AND EXPLAIN
There are many times when you may need this type of writing. Some examples may be:
1. You may have to write a letter to a credit card company explaining an error you see on your statement.
2. You may be sitting on a job interview committee and asked to “Explain why this company should hire you.”
3. You may have to write a letter to your landlord explaining why you will need to terminate your lease early.
Possible topic starters:
How to…
I witnessed…
How does…. work?
The history of ________ is…
The perfect ___________ is…
3. EVALUATE AND JUDGE
Which ___________ is best and why?
Which ___________ is my favorite and why?
Which ___________ should you purchase and why?
4. INQUIRE AND EXPLORE
Pose a question that you want to explore further.
Why might this be? i.e.
new laws eliminating cell phone usage while driving
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fewer cards being purchased
higher gas prices
influence of M.A.D.D.
I’d like to know more about?
How do tsunami warning systems work?
Why are electric cars not mainstream?
5. ANALYZE AND INTERPRET
This form of writing asks you to delve deeper into your topic. You may be looking at a chart or a graph and reading between the lines. Move beyond the shallow interpretation of your reading.
Sample topics:
Who is to blame for childhood obesity?
How would you sum up a book in one word and why?
Who is to blame for the economic crisis?
Who is to blame for the lack of school spirit at the school?
Imagine if ___________ was ____________.
Imagine if ________________ needed an ideal roommate. Who would he or she choose?
Use a quote and apply it to the topic
What is the connection….
What is the connection between the amount of exercise in your life and the amount of stress in your life?
What will happen when…
What would have happened if…
Interpreting song lyrics
6. TAKE A STAND AND PROPOSE A SOLUTION
Would you rather…
Examine both sides of an issue.
Ways to solve an issue.
- five things you can do to promote world peace
- five things you can do to get healthy and stay healthy
- five ways to be more green
Rank problems
- 1) global warming 2) conflict in the middle east 3) unemployment in the United States
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Sample:
1.
EXPRESS AND
REFLECT
2.
INFORM AND
EXPLAIN (tell something about your topic that the reader might not know)
3.
EVALUATE AND
JUDGE (worth? Good or Bad?
4.
INQUIRE AND
EXPLORE (wrestle with a question)
5.
ANALYZE AND
INTERPRET (Why?)
6.
TAKE A STAND AND
PROPOSE A
SOLUTION
WRITING PURPOSES IN A SINGLE NEWSPAPER
A piece reflecting how Lance Armstrong inspired the author to be an athlete.
A review and explanation of all the recalled medicines of 2013 thus far.
AND
Rosendale Town Board proposes water, sewer rate hikes and why it is necessary.
A book review.
Apple users swear their computers are impermeable to hackers, but are they as safe as they think?
Why has the U.S. Transportation Security Administration decided to allow airline passengers to carry knives?
Knives should not be allowed on airplanes.
And
Cats should not go outside unsupervised
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Project Goal: We have discussed why writers write. We have talked about writing being meaningful. You will have the opportunity to explore, research and write about something interesting and meaningful to you so you can create AUTHENTIC writing. Through this exploration, you will be narrowing a topic of your choice into six different writing purposes:
1.Expressive and Reflective
2. Inform and Explain
3. Evaluate and Judge
4. Inquire and Explore
5. Analyze and Interpret
6. Take a Stand and Propose a Solution
When you write your expressive and reflective piece, you probably do not need much research. After you move from that, you need to look at this project as an opportunity to learn about what you do not know. It is a waste of time to research what YOU ALREADY
KNOW!!! Every time you learn something new, you will make record of it on your learning note sheets. A new sheet must be made for every source.
1.
You will be writing ONE formal paper for each of these WRITING STYLES (express and reflect, inform and explain, inquire and explore, analyze and interpret, and take a stand and propose a solution). Your papers will be aided by your research. Each paper will be graded. Please make sure your writing is handed in on time.
2.
Do not lose any draft. All drafts must be kept to be included in your writing and learning folder (we’ll get to that later).
3.
At the end of the project, you will choose two pieces to revise. These two will be graded and incorporated into your writing folder grade in June (I will break all of the steps down as the project evolves).
4.
You will also reflect on your writing. The final piece of writing is called “Myself as a writer and a learner.” TIME PERMITTING
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NAME_________________________________
LEARNING NOTE SHEET #______________
1.
WEBSITE VALIDATION – please do not use the site if you cannot fill out this section.
2.
CITATION – Please use Noodletools (express) – do a quick citation
3.
NOTES – avoid writing in long sentences. Aim for key words and facts. If you want to use SOME direct quotations, you must use quotation marks.
TEACHER’S INITIALS______________ COMMENTS (IF ANY ARE NEEDED):
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Name__________________________________
WRITING PURPOSES FOR:
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1.
EXPRESS AND
REFLECT
(feel/lessons)
2.
3.
4.
INFORM AND
EXPLAIN (tell something about your topic that the reader might not know)
5.
ANALYZE AND
INTERPRET (Why?)
6.
EVALUATE AND
JUDGE (worth?
Good or Bad?
INQUIRE AND
EXPLORE (wrestle with a question)
TAKE A STAND
AND PROPOSE A
SOLUTION
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-
-
-
When you go into noodletools citation maker, you will see a drop down arrow giving you options. These options are different places to find information. Explore the various sources.
Think about authentic learning. What is it? When you are curious about something, where do you go to find more information about that topic? Do you talk to people? Do you look online? When you are online, where do you go? If you immediately go to Wikipedia, how do you check to make sure the information is valid? Where can you go from there?
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