Student Learning Outcome:
Students will identify the skills necessary to write a successful essay for a college-level course.
Step One:
Read the following document about writing processes (doc).
Step Two:
Writing Your Paper:
Most papers use the following format:
- Introduction
- Body
- Conclusion
1. Practice writing well-prepared, eye-catching introduction sentences using this site.
Write an introductory sentence on one of the following topics:
- Study Skills
- Dolphins
- Favorite genre of music
2. In every introduction there needs to be a thesis statement. A thesis statement:
- Narrows your subject to a single, central idea that you want readers to gain
- Claims something specific and significant about your subject
- Conveys your purpose
- Previews the arrangement of ideas
Using the previous topic you chose, use the Thesis Builder website to create a thesis statement. Keep in mind that the Thesis Builder will guide you toward your thesis statement - it is still your responsibility to make sure that the thesis statement makes sense and that it is grammatically correct!!
Step Three:
Citing Your Work:
DO NOT FORGET TO CITE YOUR SOURCES. IF YOU DO, IT IS CONSIDERED PLAGERISM AND CAN RESULT IN THE EXPULSION FROM THE UNIVERSITY
- Review the Purdue Online Writing Lab and look over the citing guide provided. (APA or MLA Style)
- Practice citing the following website using either the MLA or APA style guide Who's Really Flying the Plane?
- After you complete your citation, use the same format (MLA or APA) that you chose to insert an in-text citation in the following paragraph:
There is a lot of controversy about who is really flying the plane you happen to be riding on. There is new technology that allows pilots to use computers and electronic control systems that allow pilots to fly "hands off" beginning soon after takeoff, continuing through the flight route and -- in very rare cases -- all the way through touchdown." A lot of people are worried that this may not be the best approach and safest way to fly.
Step Four:
Complete the activity below on setting deadlines:
Go the link: Tips for Effective Deadlines and review the strategies for setting deadlines.
Now, suppose you have a paper due for a teacher on April 30, 2012. The teacher assigns it April 2, 2012. Set deadlines for the following assignment using the calendar:
Assignment: A struggle between two or more opposing forces in a work is called conflict. Cite a piece of literature and explain the conflict embodied in the work.
Locate a piece of literature: ______________________________
Have 2 paragraphs completed: __________________________
Have 2 more paragraphs completed: __________________
Finish the rest of the paper: _____________________________
Have the writing center or someone revise the paper ____________________
Turn the completed paper in: April 30, 2012