ENG121: English Composition I
Week One
Discussions
Discussions
Participate in the following discussions:
Post Due by Day 3. Reading Strategies. After studying the
active reading strategies described in Chapter 2 of Essentials of College Writing, read
Chapters 1 and 2 and the “Instructor Guidance” for Week One, apply the Survey-Question-Read-Recite-Review (SQ3R)
strategy as you reread the materials. Discuss how this reading strategy is similar to and/or different from
the way you read course material previously. Did using SQ3R improve your comprehension of the course materials?
If so, explain how, if not, explain why? Be sure to use specific examples and you can also explore how you
might apply this strategy in your everyday life. How might SQ3R affect the way you read the newspaper or
online articles, for example?
Your initial post must be 200 to 300 words in length and
posted by Day 3.
- 1st Post Due by Day 3.Generating Ideas
for Writing. Review the techniques for generating ideas discussed in
Chapter 4 of Essentials of College Writing. Share your
experiences with your peers about your ideas for a narrative topic and how
you plan to go about developing it. In addition to your own topic, you can
explore what you think are the key elements of a narrative. What makes a
good story work?
Your
initial post must be 200 to 300 words in length.
Assignment
- Due
by Day 3.
Diagnostic Essay. This diagnostic writing exercise will help
your instructor discover who you areas a writer. The essay will be
used to help you identify your strengths and weaknesses as a writer, and
it will allow the instructor the opportunity to identify grammatical,
stylistic, and mechanical problems specific to each student. Do not fret
over the idea that grammar, style, and mechanics will be evaluated in this
assignment. This diagnostic writing exercise is merely one way to take a
look at any particular patterns that exist in your writing. You will earn
full credit for completing this assignment as long as you follow
instructions.
A narrative is a story that you
tell to an audience for a reason. You can use your own experience or your role
as an observer to frame a narrative, but the story itself should stir readers
into thinking about and remembering their own stories.
As children, we often seek out or create mysteries.
Every town seems to have stories of haunted houses or swamp monsters. One
reason might be that children have to learn how to conquer a fear of the
unknown. Based on your
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Week Two
Discussions
Participate in the following
discussions:
- 1st Post Due by Day 3.Elements of
Narration and Description. Review Chapter 6.3 and 6.4 in Essentials
of College Writingand the “Instructor Guidance” for Week Two.
Identify at least two elements that you might use inyour Narrative
or Descriptive essay, the working rough draft of which is due this week.
Describe how you plan to use these elements and what effect you intend for
them to have on the reader. You are welcome to post a sample from your
working draft to demonstrate how you are incorporating elements of the
narrative essay.
ENG121:
English Composition I Online
Your initial post must be 200 to
300 words in length and posted by Day 3
- 1st Post Due by Day 3.Strengths and
Weaknesses in Writing. In Chapter 1 of Essentials of College
Writing,you reviewed a comprehensive list of typical college writing
tasks, and you had the opportunity toidentify two tasks as
strengths and two tasks as weaknesses. In Week One, you completed the
Diagnostic Essay and Quiz. Based on the feedback you received and your own
assessment, describe at least two of your strengths and weaknesses. Share
with your peers what you plan to do further maximize your strengths and
resolve your weaknesses. Use specific examples.
Your initial
post must be 200 to 300 words in length and posted by Day 3. Support your
claims with examples from
Assignment
- Due
by Day 7.
Narrative/Descriptive Essay – Rough Draft. For this writing
assignment, you have two choices.Please select one of the
following options for your essay:
- Describe
a person, place, or object that has special meaning in your life.
- Describe
a particular moment or occurrence in your life that had special meaning
to you.
Using the techniques described in
the Descriptive Writing Pattern and Narrative Writing Pattern sections of
Chapter 6 of your text and expanding upon the prewriting done in the discussion
forum this week, your essay should provide specific details about the person,
place, object, or event so that readers can visualize the subject and/or feel
present in the story. Your description should be specific and appeal to the
five senses. If you choose Option 1, utilize the Descriptive Writing Pattern
described in Chapter 6. If you choose Option 2, utilize the Narrative Writing
Pattern described in Chapter 6.
This rough draft needs to be
between 350 to 500 words, and it should have a thesis statement that clearly
states what you are going to be writing about.
The
point of a rough draft is to allow your instructor to get a good sense of your
organizational writing skills, to examine your use of the strategies of
narration or description, and to give you feedback that you will incorporate
into your Narrative/Descriptive Essay – Final Draft that is due in Week Five.
As you are writing this essay,
please pay attention to the areas that you struggled with in your Diagnostic
Quiz and Essay.
When submitting your essay, make sure to:
a.
Proofread
your work for errors in grammar, mechanics, and style.
b.
Format
the essay according to APA Style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
c.
Perform
a word count check to make sure the essay is 350 to 500 words in length.
d.
Save
the document as a Microsoft Word or compatible .doc or .docx file.
Week Three
Discussions
Participate in the following
discussions:
- 1st Post Due by Day 3.Strategies for
Persuasion Using Compare and Contrast. In Chapters 6 of the text, you
learned about different types of personal writing, including
descriptive essays and narrative essays. You also were able to use these
techniques in the essay you wrote during Week Two. For this week’s
assignment, you will be writing a comparison/contrast essay on the
differences and similarities between a narrative essay and a descriptive
essay, ending with a persuasive statement on which style of essay you
believe is superior to the other, based on the examples you selected. For
more information on how to write a persuasive statement, please reference
Chapter 7 of your text.
Choose one story from the
Narrative Essay list located in the Week Two Required Readings section and one
story from the Descriptive Essay list. After reading, identify key elements
such as the author’s purpose for writing the narrative, the intended audience,
and impact on the reader. Compare and contrast how each essay addresses these
elements. Which essay is more appealing and why? Keep in mind there is no right
or wrong choice here. You are using your reading and critical thinking skills
to explain your choice.
Your initial post must be 200 to
300 words in length and posted by Day 3.
- 1st Post Due by Day 3.Thesis and
Outline Development. Review Chapter 6 in Essentials of College
Writing.In addition to simply comparing and contrasting
elements of the narrative and descriptive essays you have chosen, you will
develop a thesis that will persuade the reader that one essay is more
compelling than the other. The key to a successful persuasive essay is a
strong thesis statement. Post the thesis you have developed for your
compare-contrast essay to this discussion.
Your
initial post will only be a sentence, so there is no word count. The thesis
statement must be posted by Day 3.
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Assignment
- Due
by Day 7.
Compare-Contrast Essay – Rough Draft. In Chapter 6, you learned
about different types ofpersonal writing, which include
descriptive essays and narrative essays. You were also able to use these
techniques in the essay you wrote during Week Two. For this week’s essay,
you will be writing a Compare-Contrast Essay on the similarities and
differences between a narrative essay and a descriptive essay, ending with
a persuasive statement on which style of essay you believe is superior to
the other, based on the examples you selected. For more information on how
to write a persuasive statement, please refer to Chapter 7 of your text.
To
assist you in writing this Compare-Contrast Essay, you were asked to choose one
descriptive and one narrative essay to use from a list of possible essays. In
the Week Two assignment, you wrote a draft of an essay that utilizes the
techniques implemented by these authors.
During your discussion forums
this week, you identified similarities and differences between the essays you
chose. Now, you will use those items to create a Compare-Contrast Essay.
Chapter 6 from Essentials of College Writing references two ways to organize
this type of essay. In your essay, you will present several points of
comparison and contrast in either block arrangement or point-by-point
organization.
In
your draft:
a. Present several points of
comparison and contrast in either block arrangement or point-by-point
organization. Make sure to address the structural components of each essay.
b.
Incorporate
the following:
§ A quote from one of the chosen
essays.
§ A summary of a section of one of
the chosen essays.
§ A paraphrase of a section from
one of the chosen essays.
c.
Conclude
with a persuasive statement about which style of essay is superior, based on
the examples you selected. Make sure to address how the structure of the essay
contributes to its superiority.
This
rough draft needs to be between 900 and 1000 words, and it should have a thesis
statement that clearly states what you are writing about. For more information
about writing thesis statements, review Chapter 5 of Essentials
Week Four
Discussions
Participate in the following
discussions:
- 1st Post Due by Day 3.Elements of a
Compare-Contrast Strategy for a Persuasive Essay. After readingChapter
6, identify at least two elements of an effective compare-contrast essay
and explain how you are utilizing these elements in your own final
compare-contrast essay. How do these elements help you in persuading the
reader that your comparison has merit? You must give examples from your
selected narrative and descriptive selected readings as support.
Your
initial post must be 200 to 300 words in length and posted by Day 3.
- 1st Post Due by Day 3.Peer Review.
As part of the writing process, you are expected to reflect upon your work
and revise and edit accordingly. It is also useful to establish a
community of learners where you help one another edit and proofread each
other’s papers. Not only does this help you identify areas of strength and
weakness in other’s writing, but you are also able to reflect on your own
work and perhaps discover similar mistakes. It is truly a reciprocal
relationship. For this week, you will be performing a peer review on your
final Compare-Contrast Essay.
For the review, please either (1)
upload your paper (DOC format) as a new thread with your name and title of
paper, or (2) create a new thread where you cut/paste your essay into the body
of the thread. After doing so, you will be performing two peer reviews in which
you will complete the Peer Review Template and upload it as .doc file
(available for download in your online course). Please peer review your
classmates who have not yet received a peer review.
Assignment
- Due
by Day 7.
Revision of Essays. This week you should begin revising your
essay drafts in order to polishthem up and get them ready to
submit next week. Make sure to review all of your feedback from your
instructor on both drafts, as well as the feedback you received from your
peer review activity this week.
2.
Note: There is nothing to submit for this assignment.
Week Five
Discussions
Participate in the following
discussions:
- 1st Post Due by Day 3.Reflection on
the Peer Review Process. Upon reviewing the feedback that you received
last week during the peer review process, as well as the feedback from
your instructor, take a moment to describe the main areas of your paper
that you need to work on, as well as areas that your reviewer felt you did
well on.
How
will you remedy any areas of weakness in your paper? Did your reviewer feel you
did a solid job comparing and contrasting your topics? Did you effectively
persuade your reader, why or why not?
ENG121: English Composition I
Online
When responding to your peers,
direct them to the various resources for improving academic writing that have
been discussed throughout the course. These could be links to the Ashford
Writing Center, the Ashford University Library, or any other resources that
have helped you improve and develop as a writer.
Reflection
posts must be 300 to 400 words in length and posted by Day 3.
- 1st Post Due by Day 3.Reflection on
Reading Strategies. Throughout this course you have been exposed to a
multitude of reading strategies geared at improving your reading
comprehension. As you journeyed through this course, what reading
strategies have you found most helpful and which ones do you see yourself
using in future courses?
Reflection
posts must be 300 to 400 words in length and posted by Day 3.
Final Portfolio
The
final assignment for this course is a Final Portfolio. The purpose of the Final
Portfolio is for you to culminate the learning achieved in the course by
revising your rough drafts of both your Week Two and your Week Three essays to
create two final polished essays. The Final
Portfolio represents 35% of the overall course grade.
ENG121: English Composition I
Online
Part 1:
Narrative/Descriptive Essay – Final Draft
In Week Two, you wrote a rough
draft of an essay that reflected one of the following options:
- Describe
a person, place, or object that has special meaning in your life.
- Describe
a particular moment or occurrence in your life that had special meaning to
you.
This
week you will complete this draft and turn in your Narrative/Descriptive Essay
– Final Draft. If you chose Option 1, utilize the Descriptive Writing Pattern
described in Chapter 6. If you chose Option 2, utilize the Narrative Writing
Pattern described in Chapter 6. The Narrative/Descriptive Essay – Final Draft
needs to be between 550 and 800 words.
Your essay must include:
- A
clear thesis statement in the intro paragraph.
- Specific details about the person, place,
object, or event so that readers can visualize the subject and/or feel
present in the story. Your description should be specific and appeal to
the five senses.
3. A conclusion paragraph.
As you are writing this essay,
please pay attention to the areas that you struggled with in your Diagnostic
Quiz and Diagnostic Essay, as well as incorporate all of the feedback provided
to you by your instructor on your rough draft and your writing throughout this
course.
When submitting your
Narrative/Descriptive Essay – Final Draft, make sure to:
1. Proofread your work for errors in
grammar, mechanics, and style.
2. Check that the essay is 550 to
800 words.
3. Format the essay according to APA
style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
4. Save the document as a Microsoft
Word or compatible .doc or .docx file.
5. Use a naming convention that
includes your last name, week number, and the assignment number (e.g.,
smith_w5_a1.doc).
Writing the
Narrative/Descriptive Essay – Final Draft
The Final Draft:
- Must be 550 to 800 words in length, and
formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing
Center.
- Must
include a title page with the following:
ENG121: English Composition I
Online
a.
Title
of paper
b.
Student’s
name
c.
Course
name and number
d.
Instructor’s
name
e.
Date
submitted
- Must
begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.
- Must
address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
- Must
end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
Part 2:
Compare-Contrast Essay – Final Draft
In
Week Three you wrote a rough draft of a Compare-Contrast Essay that examined a
narrative and a descriptive essay to determine which style of essay was
superior. This week you will complete the final version of your essay. Your
Compare-Contrast Essay – Final Draft needs to be between 1500 and 1700 words
and should have a thesis statement that clearly states what you are writing
about. Your essay must:
- Present
several points of comparison and contrast in either block arrangement or
point-by-point organization.
2. Incorporate the following:
a. A quote from one of the chosen
essays.
- A
summary of a section of one of the chosen essays.
c. A paraphrase of a section from
one of the chosen essays.
- Conclude with a persuasive statement about
which style of essay is superior based on the examples you selected. Make
sure to address how the structure of the essay contributes to its
superiority.
ENG121:
English Composition I Online
As you are writing this essay,
please pay attention to the areas that you struggled with in your Diagnostic
Quiz and Diagnostic Essay, as well as incorporate all of the feedback provided
by your instructor on your rough draft and your writing throughout this course.
When submitting your
Compare-Contrast Essay – Final Draft, make sure to:
- Proofread
your work for errors in grammar, mechanics, and style.
- Check
that the essay is 1500 to 1700 words.
- Include
a title page and a reference page (these are not counted in the word
count).
- Format
the paper according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
- Save
the document as a Microsoft Word or compatible .doc or .docx file.
- Use a naming convention that includes your last
name, week number, and the assignment number (e.g., smith_w2_a1.doc).
Writing the
Compare-Contrast Essay – Final Draft
The Final Draft:
- Must
be 1500 to 1700 words in length, double-spaced, and formatted according to
APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
- Must
include a title page with the following:
- Title
of paper
- Student’s
name
- Course
name and number
d. Instructor’s name
e. Date submitted
3. Must begin with an introductory
paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.
4. Must address the topic of the
paper with critical thought.
- Must
end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
- Must
document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing
Center.
- Must include a separate reference page,
formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
