Lesson:
In this class period, we addressed common errors uncovered in grading the students' previous assignment.
I again stressed the need for unambiguous clarity regarding the thesis. I told the students that they need to be able to reduce their thesis statement to short, straightforward, powerful bullet points. Those bullet points then plug into the corresponding slots on our five-paragraph essay diagram. That structure forms the skeleton of the essay. From there, the students should flesh out those bones with supporting examples and details, and fully clothe their creation in elegant, flowing prose. However, when all is said and done, the clarity and power of those original bullet points should be just as clear to the reader as they were to the author in the beginning.
Other errors addressed were as follows:
Number agreement
Tense agreement
Parallel construction of concepts at the thesis level
Naming the subject (nouns, not pronouns) in the thesis statement
For all that, I must say that the definition essays turned in this week exhibit a much higher level of writing skill than the previous assignment. The students show that they are incorporating and applying what they are learning each week. In general, their word choices and sentence variety were excellent.
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We spent the remainder of the class period teaching the concept and format for a block-style compare/contrast essay. (If I get access to a scanner, I will attach a diagram here.)
For a simple contrast paper, students are to choose two things which seem similar, then explore the features that distinguish them as different. Examples might include:
dogs and cats (both small mammals commonly kept as household pets)
McDonald's and Wendy's (both fast food burger joints)
Target and WalMart (both large discount chain stores)
football and soccer (both popular team sports played by moving a ball down a field to score)
FDR and Churchill (both allied leaders during WWII)
Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia (both beloved classic fantasy with Christian underpinnings)
Star Trek and Star Wars (both influential sci fi series and cultural icons)
and many, many more.
Provide background and acknowledge similarities in the intro paragraph. Then delineate the categories of differences in the thesis statement. ("Cats and dogs differ in sociability, trainability, and usefulness." )
The body paragraphs will follow, each developing in order one of the three main points of the thesis statement. In our example, the next paragraph will discuss differences in the animals' sociability, the following paragraph will address their comparative levels of trainability, and the one after that will explore their relative degrees and roles of usefulness.
Finally, the concluding paragraph will begin with a restatement of the ideas of the thesis statement, followed by a sentence of two recapping the main point of each of the three body paragraphs. From there, that last paragraph broadens out to an overall conclusion, which might include a statement of preference, prediction, quotation, etc.
How this differs from the previous five-paragraph essays is that each of these three main points must be discussed for each of these two subjects. So, in the paragraph discussing sociability, for instance, the author will lead in with a topic sentences, then spend several sentences exploring the social behavior of cats. Next, with a pivot expression, ("on the other hand" . . .) the author will turn the topic to sociability in dogs for a few sentences, before concluding the paragraph gracefully with a reflection of the topic sentence. The same idea goes for the other two body paragraphs as well.
Whenever these subjects are mentioned together, they must remain in their original order. So, if cats are mentioned before dogs in the thesis statement, cats will always be mentioned first in any paragraph or sentence where dogs are also mentioned. Therefore, choose your starting order strategically.
Assignments:
Each student will write a five-paragraph block-style contrast essay on a topic of choice.
Students may treat the subjects in an impartial way, or may clearly state a preference.
Everything else we have learned applies.
This assignment is due October 31. Class will not meet next week, October 24.
With the extra week, students may opt to rewrite a low-scoring paper for an extra-credit grade.
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