2
Invocationc. 1889
by
Fredrick Lord Leighton
(1830-1896) / Writing Papers for College
ENL 111 (Vavra)
June, 2015
Preface
For the first two decades that I taught this course, I used a regular textbook. But textbooks are expensive, often run into hundreds of pages, and are not equally good in the various aspects of writing that students really need to master. I have therefore condensed what you really need to know into these sixty-eight pages. Parts of it will be assigned as reading, and parts of it are simply reference materials. You are always welcome to ask questions about these materials in class.
ENL 111 is a course about HOW to write good papers for college. In other words, the content of your papers is not as important as the way in which you focus, organize, and otherwise support the main idea you are trying to get across. Note that you are also always welcome to discuss a thesis or outline for an upcoming paper with me. You can send me a thesis and/or outline by e-mail, and I will send you my thoughts and suggestions about it, probably including the grade you would be heading for with what you sent me.
Except for extremely unusual circumstances, I will not comment on a draft by e-mail, but you are always welcome to bring me a draft of a paper before it is due. Bring it during my office hours, but if you cannot make those hours, we should be able to arrange an appointment.
If you bring a draft, fill in the grading sheets to try to grade your own paper before you come. One of the “Student Outcomes” for this course is that students should be able to “judge [their] own writing enough to revise it.” Filling out the grading sheets will not only help you meet that objective, it will also give our meeting a sharper focus. If you do not bring a completed copy of the grading sheets, you are welcome to come with specific questions such as “Is my organization o.k.?” or “Are the details in my paper good enough?” If you do not bring the grading sheets or specific questions, I will probably give you a copy of the grading sheets which you can fill out at one of the desks in the common area of our suite, and then we can discuss your paper.
Table of Contents
If you are looking at this document on-screen in MS Word, you can hold down the “CTRL” key and click on a page number in the Table of Contents. Doing so will take you to that section of the document.
Introduction 3
Background Material 5
Organizing Notes and Other Materials 5
Writing In-Class Essays--TOW 6
Causes of Grades in Freshman Composition 7
The Smartest People Ask the “Stupid” Questions 14
An Introduction to Writing College Papers 16
Writing as Process 18
Brainstorming 18
Brainstorming research papers 19
Brainstorming for Audience 19
Recursive Storming 20
From Brainstorming to Outline 20
From Outline to Paragraphs 20
Drafting 21
Revising (as opposed to “Editing”) 22
“Process Checklists” in the Major Paper Assignments 22
Writing as a Product—An Introduction to ATODS 23
Details for Items on the Grading Sheets 23
“Process and Mechanics” in the Grading Sheets 23
Audience 27
“Audience” in the Grading Sheets 29
Thesis 30
“Thesis” in the Grading Sheets 33
Organization and Outlining 34
Outlines 36
Paragraph Outlines 39
Thesis, “Focal” and Topic, and Supporting Sentences 40
“Organization” in the Grading Sheets 42
Details (and Storming) 43
“Details” in the Grading Sheets 45
Style (and Editing) 45
“Style” in the Grading Sheets 47
Penalty Points 48
Late penalty 48
Style Point Penalties 49
Additional Instructional Materials 49
Introductions and Conclusions 49
Introductions 49
Conclusions 51
Fallacies and Critical Thinking 52
Research and Documentation 52
Research/Reading 52
Copies of Sources for Research Papers 54
Documenting Sources 55
The Purposes of Documentation 55
The Logic of Documentation 55
Paraphrasing and Quoting 55
Framing Source Material in Your Writing 56
Page References to Electronic Sources 59
An Important Note on Drafting a Research Paper 59
“Works Cited” or “Bibliography”? 59
Journals vs. Magazines 60
Review—Brief Definitions/Explanations 61
Brainstorming 61
Editing 61
Fallacy 61
First Person 61
Focal Sentence 62
Framing 62
Voice Marker 62
Credibility Marker 62
In-text Citation (ITC) 62
Metacommentary 62
Outline 63
Quoting vs. Paraphrasing 63
Revision 63
Thesis 63
Titles in Your Text 63
Topic Sentence 64
Introduction
Welcome to ENL 111. The purpose of the course is to improve your writing skills—particularly as they relate to writing college papers. Some students who enter this course think that their writing skills are already sufficient. This may, or may not, be true. College papers often differ significantly from high school writing assignments. Other students think that they simply can’t write papers. This is definitely not true. Anyone can learn how to write good college papers. The problem is that there are a number of “tricks” and skills that are needed. These can be organized under five topics—Audience, Thesis, Organization, Details and Style. These are the focus of this course.
To master the skills under the preceding categories, one needs practice—repetition. You will be writing four two- to four- page papers for the semester. To help you with this, your papers will be graded on a point-system (also called “Grading Sheets” or “Rubrics”). The rubrics for all five papers are very, very similar. (What changes from paper to paper is the nature of the assignment.)
This is the primary textbook for the course. We will be covering most of what is in it, either in paper assignments, or in class. Thus, most of this book is reference material. It does, however, include some theoretical (and practical) material (especially about organization) that goes beyond the requirements of the course. It does so because some students have told me that they use this additional material when writing papers for other courses. Whether or not you use it is up to you.
The “Background Material” is fairly short, but it gives important suggestions. The section on “Writing as a Process and Product” explains the five categories noted above, but also includes some practical instruction. Note that the “Table of Contents” includes sub-categories. Although we will regularly be discussing such things as “Focal, Topic, and Supporting Sentences” in class, if you are having problems with them (The grading sheets will tell you this.) you might want to review this section.
The section on “Writing as a Process and Product” includes many of the items that show up in the rubrics, I have included a separate section on “Explanations of the Grading Sheets.” For example, under “Style” the grading sheets for every paper include at least one point (sometimes two) for the use of first person pronouns. We will discuss this in class, but in case you missed those classes, you will find an explanation in this section. Note that the “Table of Contents” is very detailed. If you are looking at this document in MS Word, you can hold down the “Ctrl” key and click on the page numbers in the Table. Doing so will take you right to the page you clicked on.
The section on “Introductions and Conclusions” presents practical suggestions for writing these. (In the rubrics for the papers, introductions and conclusions count for a total of four to six points for every paper.) Graff’s They Say/I Say includes some theoretical suggestions for introductions and conclusions, but the ones in this section are more practical.
An important focus of this course is improving your research skills, including how you express that research in your papers. The section on “Using Research and Documentation,” which will be assigned later in the course, provides both important perspectives and practical suggestions.
This instructional material is intentionally short and intended to give you command of the most important skills needed to write college papers. I expect you to use it, and I expect you to do the required assignments. Don’t forget, however, that in all your courses, your instructors are your most important resource. If you are having problems, I am hoping that you will ask questions in class and also come to see me to discuss them. That’s what “Office Hours” are for, and that is also why I included “The Smartest People Ask the ‘Stupid’ Questions.” (See below.)
Background Material
Organizing Notes and Other Materials
The relatively new, hypertext format of web-based courses presents students with some confusion as they attempt to deal with what, at first, appears to be an inundation of printouts. How are you to keep them organized?
To answer that question, we should look at the types of print-outs that you will be making. They basically fall into three categories:
1) weekly assignment schedules and short assignments,
2) major instructional materials (like what you are reading now), and
3) major paper assignments.
You will be directed to print out all the material you need, week-by-week, on the Tentative Course Schedules.
Organizing the Major Instructional and Short Assignment Materials
To organize this material, the syllabus says that you should have one or more 3-ring notebooks, several two-pocket folders (preferably of different colors), and, of course, a notebook for taking notes in class. You do not need to bring everything to class every class period. All you need to bring to class are your notebook for taking notes and any materials directly associated with the day’s assignment.
Use one two-pocket folder for the materials that are due on the specific class day or, if you wish, week. [Note that the tentative schedules are organized by week.] When you are finished with those materials, transfer them to a 3-ring notebook. The best way to organize the 3-ring notebooks is to keep the major instructional materials together, in order, at the beginning of the book.
You will be directed to print out parts of this material, as you need it, in the tentative course schedules. Some students like to put tabs on the first pages of various print-outs so that they can find them easier in the notebook, but that is up to you. Keep the other materials from weekly assignments in the notebook, in order, after the major instructional material. You never need to bring these 3-ring notebooks to class.
Organizing Materials for Major Papers
There are four “major” papers in ENL 111. When a major paper is assigned, you should print the assignment, the checklist, the grading sheets, and anything else that is part of the assignment. Keep these in a separate two-pocket folder. Most students like to keep their storming, outlines, drafts, etc. for that paper in the same two-pocket folder. Bring that folder to class whenever the major paper is the direct focus of the class period. When the paper is due, transfer everything in the folder to a 9x12 envelope. I strongly suggest that you keep everything related to each paper once you get it back, but how and where you do so is entirely up to you.
Taking Notes in Class
In academic college courses, you are expected to take notes, not only on what you are assigned to read, but also on what is said in class. I expect you to take notes during every class, labeling them with the week number and date. I will probably collect (and grade) your notes for the previous weeks three times during the semester.
Writing In-Class Essays--TOW
Think, Organize, Write
TOW is an acronym for “Think, Organize, Write.” Many students have told me that writing TOW at the top of the page helps them handle in-class writing, not just in my class, but also in many others. The idea is to Think first (Brainstorm), then Organize (Outline), then Write (Draft). Organized drafts are what is expected in in-class writing. If you have time, you should go back and revise, crossing-out and/or inserting words or sentences. Use arrows to show sentences or paragraphs that you want to move. If you still have time, you should attempt to edit. Doing so shows that you care.
Think:
1. Read the question carefully.
2. Look for all the things it asks you to do.
Organize:
1. Does the question imply an organization to the answer? Explain the causes of the Civil War. (Organization = list of causes.)
2. Make a list of two or three points you intend to cover.
Write:
1. Turn the question into a thesis. “There were four major causes of the Civil War.”
2. Write a brief introduction that ends with your thesis statement.
3. Write a paragraph about each point.
4. Write something as an ending.
One Last Suggestion: Remember KISS
A few students outsmart themselves by writing in-class essays that are too complex, too sophisticated. Particularly in the case of in-class writing, it is important to remember to KEEP IT SIMPLE BECAUSE THE INSTRUCTOR IS STUPID! Consider what happens to your essays. The instructor takes them home. Instructors have lives. They have homes, families, hobbies. They also now have a set of in-class essays to read and grade. They are going to read those essays as quickly as possible. If you get fancy, by hiding your thesis, by going off on tangents, by getting creative and sophisticated, the instructor may well miss what you are doing. They simply do not expect such things and are not looking for them. Psychologists have shown that we (humans) see what we are looking for. If the instructor misses what you are doing, who will suffer? Do yourself a favor, KISS.