PA#7 – Cause and effect

Blog the following by Wednesday and bring a copy to class that day:

Identify a quality or issue that helps to identify Ohio Wesleyan and discuss one of its effects. Get very specific here. A quality might be OWU's emphasis on public service. An issue might be the rule that first-year students are not permitted to have a vehicle on campus.

In the first sentence, mention the the issue, but don't dwell on it. Presumably, you will have discussed the issue in some detail in a previous paragraph. Instead, in the first sentence identify the issue (the cause), and describe the effect (one of many) that you intend to discuss. Then, discuss that effect. Prove to the reader that it truly results from the cause.

C & E paragraph moves often but not always look like the following:

5 Topic sentence (a reference to the cause and a statement of the effect)

4 Explanation of the effect

3 Significance of the effect (how many, how much?)

2 Evidence to support significance

3 Impact of the effect (benefit or harm arising from the effect)

2 Evidence to support impact

3 ? Another impact of the effect (benefit or harm arising from the effect)

2 Evidence to support impact

Wiki topic

Wiki Topic

By Wednesday, post a paragraph announcing your group's topic and how you are going to handle it. What subtopics are you going to cover? Who is doing what?

Please do not write as a group. You all need to get on the same page, and writing separately will give you some sense of any misunderstandings about the topic and the division of the work.

PA#6 -- Critique

PA#6 -- Critique

First rule: Criticism is not necessarily negative. Criticism is seeing the deeper meaning of an event, claim, essay, etc.

Second rule: Post the paragraph by Monday so we can talk about it.

Thus, for PA#6 find something interesting about the Branch Rickey/ Jackie Robinson event you attended and evaluate it. The "something interesting" could be an idea implied by the event, some quality of the event, or some idea stated at the event. In your evaluation, follow up on that quality or idea. Develop its implications. Then refer to details about the event that support your point of view.

You could, for example, look for some theme present (but not stated) in the Branch Rickey one man show. You could also analyze the acting ability or the playwriting of the event.

An example: I recently saw "The Social Network." I realized that biopics of this type have in the past tended to deify the person portrayed in the film, even if the screenwriter had to manufacture positive qualities that weren't actually there.

Lately, the victim of such films have been demonized, or at least their flaws have been quite evident even if the screenwriter had to manufacture them. Hmmm, I wondered. Does this film manifest that latter tendency or the former one?

In any case, your paragraph may look something like this:

5 Some basic info about the event, but only the info relevant to the paragraph (not all first sentences are topic sentences)

4 The principle of evaluation you are using (Don't try to write the whole essay!)

3 Your evaluation of the event

2 Evidence from the event to support it

2 Evidence from an outside source to support your evaluation

Some advice:

1. You are not writing a summary paragraph. Presumably, that paragraph appears earlier in the essay.

2. Each number above may be more than one sentence.

3. However, avoid the tendency to wander off topic or write the whole essay. Again, you are writing only one paragraph out of an essay that might be a more comprehensive evaluation of the event. Chose your principle of evaluation wisely.

PA# 5 -- They Say, I Say #2 (Refutation)

PA# 5 -- They Say, I Say #2 (Refutation)

ALERT: By Friday, publish your paragraphs here so we can talk about them.

Read your summary of Singleton's main arguments and pick one you can effectively disagree with. (Whether you actually agree or disagree or not doesn't matter.) Argue against that point in a paragraph.

Some advice:

1. Your topic sentence is about the point YOU, not Singleton, intend to argue. You have a point to make. You are using Singleton's argument as a "straw man" to knock down. In fact, this paragraph move is sometimes called the "straw man" technique.

2. State Singleton's point clearly and objectively. You want to avoid the appearance of bias. Announce when you are interpreting, rather than objectively stating your opponent's point of view. Quote your opponent to show that you are being objective.

3. Remember, this paragraph is theoretically part of a larger essay. You don't need to summarize all of Singleton's argument or even his main point. You've already covered his thesis nad his main arguments in the theoretical essay's summary paragraph.

Here is a sample organization, which is by no means comprehensive. (We'll discuss other methods in class.)

5 Topic sentence -- the point you intend to argue for

4 Singleton's point from which you intend to argue (reword it objectively)

3 A quotation to show that you aren't over-interpreting or reflecting your bias

4 The IMPLICATION of Singleton's argument that you intend to argue against

3 Your argument in response

2 Evidence in support of your argument

and, as necessary,

4 The IMPLICATION of Singleton's argument that you intend to argue against

3 Your argument in response

2 Evidence in support of your argument

etc.

PA#4 -- They Say (Summary Paragraph)

PA#4 -- They Say (Summary Paragraph)

Summarize the Singleton essay by first stating his main argument (his thesis) and then in a series of parallel sentences his sub-arguments (the MAIN arguments that support the thesis). Each of the sub-arguments may be developed with details in a subsequent sentence. Or you might consider quoting a phrase or two (briefly and within the structure of your own sentence) when such material adds clarity to your summary.

I'll be asking you to write a refutation of one of the sub-arguments above, but for now, just summarize.

Begin by identifying the basic structure of his argument. (Yes, it has one.) Seeing that structure will help you to write an effective summary.

Thus, the paragraph may look as follows:

5 Singleton's main idea. Don't forget to use his full name and the title of his essay

4 Sub-argument #1 (with brief quotation)

3 Development/ quotation (?)

4 Sub-argument #1 (with brief quotation)

3 Development/ quotation (?)

4 Sub-argument #1 (with brief quotation)

3 Development/ quotation (?)

4 Sub-argument #1 (with brief quotation)

3 Development/ quotation (?)

Some advice for those who missed class:

1. Don't overdo it. Summaries are supposed to be considerably shorter than the original.

2. Don't underdo it. You need to cover all his main points completely and accurately.

3. Above all, don't be boring. Your summary should sound objective, but it doesn't have to BE objective. Use strong verbs. Be lively but non-argumentative, at least in this summary paragraph. Let your opinion show but don't state it.

4. Post the draft of your paragraph by Wednesday so we can take a look at them in class.

PA#3: They Say, I Say #1

PA#3: They Say, I Say #1

A classic move in an academic paragraph is to confirm and expand on somebody else's argument. Look at the essay on p. 192 of Spatt (Carl Singleton's "What our Education System Needs is More F's) and find one such argument. It doesn't matter whether you agree with Singleton or not. Find an argument you can support "for the sake of argument," as the old saying goes.

We'll talk about how to structure the paragraph in class, but here is a thumbnail organization:

5. YOUR point (the topic sentence)

4. Singleton's point

3. Quote or paraphrase from Singleton explaining or expanding his point

4. The hidden assumption behind or implication of Singleton's point

3. Explanation of that assumption

2. Evidence that supports that explanation

We will. I hope, have time to write the paragraph in class, but in any case, have it blogged by Monday's class so we can take a look.

Find a Non-Paragraph

Find a Non-Paragraph

Look over the paragraphs that other students selected in the "Find a Paragraph" blog entry below.

Find one that you think is NOT a paragraph or that you think is a pretty poor one. Critique that paragraph according to the criteria we discussed in class -- topic sentence, unity, development, completeness, coherence (transition).

Be complete but kind in your critique. If you can learn to objectively evaluate other people's writing, you will become better at evaluating your own writing. Hey, better you than your professor. ;-)

Post your evaluation by Monday, January 24. Remember, THE CRITIQUE ITSELF NEEDS TO BE A PARAGRAPH.

PA#2: Definition/ Division Paragraph

PA#2: Definition/ Division Paragraph

You will be meeting with a class member on Monday, January 17, to write a descriptive paragraph about that class member. Interview each other. Try to find an important characteristic of that person and write a paragraph about her or him and it.

Post that paragraph ASAP -- as soon as you can get to a computer and keyboard it in -- but certainly by Wednesday, 1/19/2011, so we can talk about it in class.

Important: You cannot possibly capture the entire person in one paragraph. As I hope you learned from the previous assignment, you must think of the paragraph you are writing as part of a whole essay. Isolate one defining characteristic and write a paragraph about it. Think about that one characteristic as part of a larger essay about the person, but don't try to write the entire essay. Write about that one characteristic that might be part of the larger essay.

We'll talk in class about how to organize the paragraph. However, please note that you'll be looking for a defining characteristic for the topic sentence, and you'll be isolating a PARALLEL set of sub-characteristics that subdivide and develop the main characteristic.

Tom B.

Find a paragraph

By Monday, find a paragraph on the Internet, copy it to the blog as a response to this post, and explain why you think it is a paragraph.

Remember, in many forms of writing, the indentations and other formalized paragraph divisions are meaningless. Find the REAL paragraph and explain why you made the choice you did.

Paragraph #1 -- Basic Downshifting

We'll actually write the paragraph in class on Wednesday, January 12, so you need only bring detailed notes to class. But bring those notes to class on Friday. In the meantime, observe your environment. Look around. Take some notes.

Define and describe a problem here at Ohio Wesleyan. Start with a topic sentence that defines the problem. Then describe the problem in more detail in subsequent sentences. Finally, give a detailed example of the problem using the details to illuminate the description above.

Write a well developed paragraph that follows the basic downshifting pattern we will discuss in class. Sometime over the weekend, post your paragraph to the blog as a "comment" to this assignment. Also, BRING THE PARAGRAPH TO CLASS on Monday so we can spend some time in class editing it.

We will follow that basic pattern on all the paragraphs you write during the first weeks on the semester:

Day 1: Draft the paragraph.

Next class day: Edit the previous paragraph and draft a the next one.