Welcome to Seminar 2
We will begin on time.
Meanwhile, enjoy chatting.
Believe in your
dreams. If you don't,
who will?
Jon Bon Jovi
It’s SHOWTIME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Welcome to Seminar #2:
How is everyone today?
What can you do this week toward
achieving your dream?
• The Chinese say, "The best time to plant a tree
was always 20 years ago. The second best time
is always today."
• Funny how planting trees and taking action on
the life of your dreams are the same that way.
• Every challenge is a stepping stone to a
HAPPIER place than you even knew existed.
Tallyho!
First the good news:
You do not have a project due this
week. [Pause for cheers]
Unit 2 Work
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Discussion: Prewriting
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Must include prewriting and a
three point thesis
Must discuss the topic you chose
from the list in Unit 1.
Quiz: Multiple Choice
Discussion
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If you wish to do well on the
discussion and have an easier time
for the rest of the term, here are
two things you must do:
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1) Print & read the articles from
Unit 1: Final Project.
2) Fill out the form I will give you.
The form will also be posted in the
discussion.
Form for Discussion
• My topic: ________________
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Things I know about my topic:
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
• Things I would like to know
about my topic:
• __________________
• __________________
• __________________
• __________________
• __________________
• From your lists, pick three ideas
that you might want to write
about.
The three ideas I want to write
about are:
• 1) ____________
• 2) ______________
• 3) ____________
• Put the three ideas into one
sentence.
• This sentence is your working
thesis statement.
• Remember: your thesis can not
be a question.
Discussion (continued)
• If you read the articles and fill out the form,
you should end up with three usable ideas.
• Try to put those three ideas into ONE
sentence.
• Once you get that far, I will help you.
• However, if you do not read the articles
and have three usable ideas, I will tell you
to go back and try again.
Topics for the
Informative Essay
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Eco Fuels
Telecommuting
Drugs & Crime
Immigration Laws & Border Control
Providing Healthcare for Illegal
Immigrants – Social Responsibility?
Intimate Partner Violence
Alternative Medicine vs. Conventional
Medicine
More Topics for Final Essay
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Cybercrime
Firearms & Crime
Sex & Adolescence
Homeland Security & Terrorism
Sting Operations: Justice or Entrapment?
Underage Drinking & Law Enforcement
Bariatric Surgery – An Easy Answer to
Obesity?
No Child Left Behind
The Informative Essay
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Must be on one of the topics listed in
Unit 1.
Will be an essay of 3-5 pages due at
the end of Unit 9.
The information you use must be cited
correctly both in the paper and on the
reference page using APA citation format,
which we will discuss in another seminar.
Be sure to keep careful notes about where
you found your information.
Reminders
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Discussions: are a large part of your
learning experience as well as your grade,
so post in each section and respond to a
minimum of one other student.
Seminar: if you miss seminar, click on
"Seminar" under the unit. You do not
need to complete that section if you
attended seminar.
Seminar Questions: you’ll find the
questions I’m going to ask during
seminar in the weekly announcement
on the Course Home Page.
To Find Articles in
the Kaplan Library
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1. Click on Library at the top
right of your “My Desk” page.
This is the first page that you
see after you log in, not the
Course Home Page.
2. In the middle of the next
screen, click on “Electronic
Articles.”
Finding Articles (slide 2)
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3. On the right side of the next screen, you
will see a list of databases under the heading
“Database Resources.” Click on the
database that you want to enter, for example:
Academic Search Premier.
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Other databases that you may find helpful
are Business Source Premier, Funk &
Wagnalls Encyclopedia, Health Source:
Consumer, MasterFile Premier, Proquest
Criminal Justice, Newspaper Source.
Finding Articles (slide 3)
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4. Now you are into the actual database and
can begin your research. In the box next to
“Find,” enter the title of the article you are
looking for, the name of the author, or a
keyword. For example, if you are doing general
research enter a keyword such as homeland
security.
When looking for the title of an article, do not
use a question mark even if there is one at the
end of the title. Be sure you have entered the
title of the article correctly.
Research Involves Searching
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The word "research" contains the word
"search" for a very good reason. Often, it is not
easy to find material and you will have to keep
trying different combinations of information until
you find what you want.
Go to doc sharing, download “Research, the
Kaplan Library, & the Internet.” and read
about what you will need to do to find
information.
What is an informative essay?
The Informative Essay
An informative essay seeks to
educate the audience on a given
topic. It explains and describes the
topic.
Most professions have a need for
informative writing. Types of
informative writing can include
emails, reports, product descriptions,
product comparisons, letters, etc.
Informative Essays (continued)
Informative writing presents its
information in a factual
manner expecting its readers to
accept the information as true.
Informative writing does not
include the writer’s opinions,
nor does it try to persuade or
convince the readers of
anything.
Informative Essays
and Opinions
 Even in informative essays, views, pro
and con, can be included if both sides
of the issue are presented in an
unbiased manner.
 For example, if your informative essay
topic was about gay marriage, you could
say that Group A is opposed to it and
Group B supports it.
 You, however, can not say which side
you think is right.
If you include both sides
of an issue…
Remain neutral, saying something
like: "This controversial issue is
not likely to be resolved any time
soon. Perhaps the final
resolution will lie with the
Supreme Court, or maybe the
American voters will resolve the
issue at the polls."
What is a thesis statement?
Thesis Statement = Topic
+ Point (Main Idea)
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Your thesis statement is merely your topic
plus whatever point you are making about
your topic.
Begin by looking at your prewriting.
What do you want to say ABOUT your
topic? What do you want your
reader to know? What point do
you want to make about your
topic?
The Thesis
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Should be only ONE SENTENCE.
Must be a COMPLETE SENTENCE, not a
title.
Can NOT be a question.
 If
you find yourself with a question,
answer it. The answer may be your
thesis.
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The thesis is the glue which binds the
essay together. It is the point of the
essay. It's what the essay is about,
what it intends to prove. The thesis
controls or limits the essay.
Why do you need a thesis?
So what?
Who cares?
What’s it good for anyway?
Why You Use a Thesis
• A thesis is an organizing device.
• “Organizing is what you do before you do
something, so that when you do it, it is not
all mixed up.”
– A. A. Milne (creator of Winnie-the-Pooh)
• A thesis helps you to organize your thoughts.
• A thesis tell the reader what you are writing
about.
• All writing needs to be clear and organized,
whether it is an email, letter, proposal, report,
etc.
Do I Want to Read This?
• How many of you read the
back of a book or the inside
cover before you decided to
buy or read it?
• How many of you look at a
long email briefly to see if it is
important before you spend the
time reading it in detail?
• If you do these things, you are
not alone.
Should I Read This?
• People are busy. They want to
know what something is about
before they invest their time
reading it.
• No one wants to wade through
pages of writing trying to find
out what it is about.
• A thesis, since it is the last
sentence of the first paragraph,
saves the reader time.
Your Thesis
• It’s much like when you were in 3rd grade
and you wrote, “My paper is about…..”
You were letting the reader know what to
expect.
• It’s like the inside cover or the back of the
book.
• Busy people want to know what writing is
about. They don’t have time to waste on
non-essentials.
Professional Writing
• Even in your emails and letters, you should keep
the concept of a thesis in mind.
• For example, if you were writing to your boss
regarding a problem, you would not want to
describe the problem pages or paragraphs into
the writing. Your boss would not appreciate it if
he/she had to wade through your writing to find
out what the issue was.
• Instead, you would tell what the problem was in
the first or second sentence and then go on to
describe the issue in detail.
Where the thesis belongs
• Your thesis statement belongs after your
introduction and is usually found as the
last sentence of the introduction.
Ideally, the thesis should be not only the
end of the introduction, but also the
transition into the overall theme of the
essay.
Have any of you ever used MapQuest?
When using MapQuest, what two things
must you have or know?
YOU NEED TO HAVE
Starting Address
Get Directions
Ending Address
You will get different sets of directions
for the following trips:
Trip #1
Starting Address
Ending Address
[Fort Myers]
[New York City]
Trip #2
Starting Address
[Fort Myers]
Ending Address
[San Diego]
Get Directions
Think of your thesis statement as
using
Map Quest
Starting Address
[Topic]
Get Directions
Ending Address
[Point]
Your starting address (topic) may remain the
same, but as you chance your ending address
(your point), your directions change.
Starting Address
[Topic: Relatives]
Get Directions
Starting Address
[Topic: Relatives]
Get Directions
Ending Address
[Point: Can create
problems]
Ending Address
[Point: Will
support you in
times of trouble]
DIRECTIONS = OUTLINE
Your thesis statement is like
using MapQuest or buying airline
tickets.
You must know where you are starting
from and where you are going.
 Your topic is where you are starting from.
However, if you do not know where you
want to go (your point), you can not get
directions or buy tickets.
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How Do You Find Your Point?
You’ve been given topics,
so all you need is a point.
• A topic is not enough.
• What point will you
make about your topic?
• This is an informative essay, so you
must inform or teach the reader
about some aspect of your topic.
How do you figure that out?
• This is where prewriting comes in.
Methods You Can Use to Find
Your Point: Freewriting
• Start by typing or
writing down
everything you know
about your topic.
When you run out of
things you know, ask
questions that you'd
like to have answered.
Sample Free Writing
• Illegal immigration means coming to
the country illegally. What makes it
illegal? How do you come illegally?
How do they get here? I heard the
government was going to build a wall
between Mexico and the U.S. I also
heard that illegals had built a tunnel.
Some people say that it's a war zone
down there. Do we have the same
problems with Canada? What about
our large coast line? I heard people
are sneaking in by ship. Some have
even landed on Sanibel. That's just
down the road from me!
Freewriting (continued)
• When you use free writing, write down whatever
comes into your mind. Don’t worry about
grammar, punctuation, or spelling or even if your
writing makes sense. When you are done, read
your free writing, looking for ideas.
• Choose one sentence and research it.
Examples:
– The U.S. is proposing to build a wall
between Mexico and the U.S.
• You could write an essay informing the reader
about that.
– OR: How do you come illegally?
• Answering that question could be your essay.
Methods You Can Use to Find Your
Point: Questioning
• Brainstorm answers to WHO, WHAT, WHERE,
WHEN, WHY.
• WHO: People from other countries who come to
the U.S. They're coming here illegally. Possibly
terrorists, too.
• WHAT: They're coming here illegally. What
does that mean? How do you come here legally?
• WHERE: They're coming from Mexico, Central
America, S. America, China, Cuba, Dominican
Republic, Haiti, Arab nations. Maybe other
places.
• HOW: How are they getting here? Car? Boat?
Plane? Walking?
Choose one question to answer
• WHEN: It's happening now. How long
has it been going on? Have there always
been laws restricting immigration? Is it
different now than before, or are we just
more worried about it now?
• WHY: Why are they coming here?
Money? Freedom? Fleeing from
oppression? Running drugs? Terrorists?
• Select one of the questions (who, what,
when, where, how, why).
– Why: Why are they coming here?
– Answering that question could be your
essay.
Three Point Thesis
• For the Informative Essay, your thesis
must include a thesis map or the three
points you will cover.
• Example: A discussion of gay marriage
usually includes the issues of
tradition, civil rights, and children.
Three Point Thesis Statement
• Topic: A discussion of gay
marriage
• Point: usually includes the
issues of
• 1) tradition,
• 2) civil rights
• 3) children.
Let's practice thesis
statements.
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For example, suppose your topic is "relatives"
(family) and you've used prewriting to jot down a
number of ideas.
You can now begin developing a working thesis
statement.
What would YOU want people to know about
YOUR relatives???? Anyone?
Sample thesis statements about
relatives.
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You might say:
 Relatives
can be a source of support in troubled
times.
 Relatives can make or break a holiday family
reunion.
 Relatives can be troublesome and interfering.
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All of these are possible thesis statements that
could be developed into full essays.
Writing Tip:
Titles of Articles
• Within the text, capitalize the first letter of the
words of the title of an article:
– Doctors Are Over-prescribing Psychiatric
Medication to Children.
• On the reference page, capitalize only the first
letter of the first word in the title of an article:
– Doctors are over-prescribing psychiatric
medication to children.
– Notice how only the first letter of the word DOCTORS
is capitalized. The rest of the words in the title are all
lower case.
• Within the text, place the title of articles
within quotation marks:
– "Doctors Are Over-prescribing Psychiatric
Medication to Children"
• On the reference page, do not use
quotation marks:
Diller, L. (2004). Doctors are overprescribing psychiatric medication to
children.