TOPIC: ANALYSIS

“The Nature of Analysis” from Ch. 1 of the textbook Exploring Perspectives: A Concise Guide to Analysis, by Randall Fallows. Accessible at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks. This was one of the first textbook selections that I used in unit one, in which I prepared my students to analyze a place that they knew well. The selection defines analysis and shares how analyses may build from summaries and specific details about the subject at hand. As an example, it includes a brief analysis of a speech from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Note: although we at UH English do not assign analyses of literary works in ENGL 1303 (instead leaving that to our literature classes), instructors could use this selection’s Tempest-focused analysis to springboard to analyses of other subjects, perhaps observable events in addition to published texts.  – Nathan Shepley

TOPICS: CLAIMS AND THESIS STATEMENTS

“From Interpretations to Assertions” from Ch. 3 Exploring Perspectives: A Concise Guide to Analysis, by Randall Fallows. Accessible at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks. This section addresses statements of fact, statements of classification, statements of taste, and statements of intention. Also, in the part of it called “Worthwhile Assertions,” it explains kinds of assertions that work for academic thesis statements. Just notice that this section discusses thesis statements in relation to persuasive writing, which is not the focus of ENGL 1303. So if you use this section in ENGL 1303, please stress that for the kind of essays students will be producing, the students should prioritize informing, explaining, or analyzing. (Of course, by taking a position or adopting a clearly stated perspective, students are always on some level arguing for the validity of their position or perspective. Above, I’m referring to a matter of emphasis, to our top priorities in ENGL 1303 versus in ENGL 1304.) I assigned the reading selection above right before having my students respond to several thesis statements that I provided, thesis statements of a kind that suited my Paper #1 assignment. – Nathan Shepley

TOPIC: THESIS STATEMENTS

“‘The Working Thesis” from The Process of Research Writing by Steven Krause. Accessible at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/the-process-of-research-writing. Krause starts by explaining how to find a topic for an essay and then how to narrow it down to an arguable point. From here, he walks through how to create a thesis that will both encompass and guide an essay. He gives specific examples of bad theses (general, unarguable fact, etc.) and ways to make them better.  — Wendy Wood

TOPIC: RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

“‘What is Academic Writing” from Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol 2, by Lennie Irvin.  Accessible at http://writingspaces.org/essays. This is the first reading we do in my Composition I class. It gives the foundation of how college writing is different from high school writing and ways to join the academic conversation. It outlines writing myths students have heard and why the myths are problematic. It introduces the idea of argument as a conversation or trial, where one has to outline his/her point of view in light of outside sources. It covers the rhetorical situation and what one needs to consider before beginning to write. It breaks down the overall goals of a writing class and lays out why they are important for any college student.  — Wendy Wood

TOPIC: RHETORICAL ANALYSIS

“‘Backpack vs Briefcase: Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis” from Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol 2, by Laura Bolin Carroll. Accessible at http://writingspaces.org/essays. Carroll does a good job of showing how rhetorical analysis happens in a student’s everyday life and how that translates to a writing assignment. She outlines specific information that we process and form opinions on. Then she shows how one does this in writing. She outlines how rhetorical analysis will change the ways we organize an argument or the content we use. She shows how the argument remains the same but the packaging changes based on the rhetorical situation. — Wendy Wood

TOPIC: WRITING ASSIGNMENTS

“‘So You’ve Got a Writing Assignment. Now What?” from Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol 2, by Corrine Corrine. Accessible at http://writingspaces.org/essays. I assign this reading at the same time I assign the first paper, and then I refer back to it with each new assignment. This reading gives practical advice about what to look for and focus on when receiving a writing assignment. It helps to clarify common terms, such as analyze or describe, in relation to what an instructor is actually asking for. When I introduce this reading in conjunction with the writing assignment, I find the students are more proactive in clarifying expectations and asking questions.  — Wendy Wood

TOPICS: ESSAY FOCUS AND ORGANIZATION

“Focusing, Developing, and Synthesizing,” from Ch. 5 of Exploring Perspectives: A Concise Guide to Analysis, by Randall Fallows. Accessible at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks. The selection covers issues of scope (don’t try to write an encyclopedia about your topic), of expanding on one’s most relevant points, and of organizing ideas into an essay form. We read and discussed this, in relation to essay examples, after we read the selection from Fallows’ Ch. 3 (see above). I required the Ch. 5 reading for the class meeting before students were to bring a partial rough draft of their Paper #1. – Nathan Shepley

TOPIC: IDEAS FOR REVISING A FIRST DRAFT

“A Strategy for Analyzing and Revising a First Draft” in the textbook About Writing: A Guide, by Robin Jeffrey. Accessible at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks. This selection is about identifying and promoting one’s strongest point(s), improving an essay’s overall coherence, linking evidence to claims, and avoiding oversimplifications. I had my students read this selection for the same class meeting in which they did a peer review of their first full draft of Paper #1. – Nathan Shepley

TOPIC: SUMMARY WRITING

“How to: Write a Summary,” p. 30 from About Writing: A Guide, by Robin Jeffrey. Accessible at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks. This minimalist, one-paragraph summary about how to write a summary bottom-lines the importance of trying to use a neutral tone, sticking to the subject of your summary, using your own words, and aiming for conciseness. However, it is up to each instructor to make these abstract principles real for students, to discuss what neutral, concise, main points, and the like mean for the assignment at hand. If the instructor has a couple of examples handy of written summaries (even if the summaries are excerpted from longer pieces of writing), then p. 30 from this textbook can set some basic conceptual parameters that each class fleshes out through structured activities. Note: another summary criterion that I would add to what p. 30 mentions is accuracy. Also missing in the information on p. 30 is any sense of why people might write summaries, of what summaries give people that is so badly needed in some communication situations more than others. – Nathan Shepley

TOPICS: SUMMARIZING AND RESPONDING TO A TEXT

“Analyzing Content and Rhetoric,” p. 28 from The Word on College Reading and Writing, by Monique Babin. Accessible at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks. This page lists several questions that readers might ask to begin making sense of how an essay or other short text functions, questions about kinds of evidence used and about the information given to support main points. Some of its questions, like those about tone and audience awareness, inch toward what we usually call a rhetorical analysis (an analysis of the how and so-what of a writer’s rhetorical choices). But I think most of the questions stay too general to prompt a good analysis. Instead, I would use some of the questions to help students begin writing a summary of and response to a text. – Nathan Shepley

TOPIC: USING SOURCES AND DOCUMENTATION

“A Guide to Reference and Documentation” from chapter 11 of The Informed Writer: Using Sources in the Discipline, by Charles Bazerman. Accessible at https://writing.colostate.edu/textbooks/informedwriter/. Bazerman does a good job of giving an overview of all aspects of using sources within an essay. This includes how to do both in-text citations and the works cited page, as well as choosing sources and incorporating them into your own argument. I used this as the first step in a unit on incorporating sources in one’s writing. After the overview, I taught individual lessons on specific aspects of using and documenting sources. While other sources do a good job explaining how to incorporate sources, this is the best resource I’ve found on how to document sources correctly. Note, this is an older textbook so some formatting items have changed, but I had to point out very few changes.  — Wendy Wood

TOPIC: USING SOURCES

“Annoying Ways People Use Sources” from Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol 2, by Kyle Stedman. Accessible at http://writingspaces.org/essays. This is the cornerstone article I use to teach how to use sources within an essay. In very clear language, it outlines common mistakes students make, then gives solutions to solve the problem. What I appreciate most is the author gives memorable titles to each mistake, such as Armadillo Road kill or Dating Spiderman, so the students can remember them easily. After reading and discussing the article in class, I have the students find a quote from their own source and create a “sandwich” for it.  — Wendy Wood

TOPIC: USING SOURCES

“Walk, Talk, Cook, Eat: A Guide to Using Sources” from Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol 2, by Cynthia Haller. Accessible at http://writingspaces.org/essays. This article is written like a conversation between a professor and a student who has just been given a research assignment. It starts at the beginning and how to choose a topic, walks through how to choose sources and types of sources, then explains how to incorporate sources into your writing. I assign this article at the beginning of the research paper as a way to walk the students through the process. It does a good job of breaking down the paper into manageable pieces, gives the student an order of attack, and makes the overall assignment less intimidating.  — Wendy Wood

TOPIC: ANNOTATING

“‘Reading Games: Strategies for Reading a Scholarly Article” from Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing, Vol 2, by Karen Rosenberg. Accessible at http://writingspaces.org/essays. This article is especially helpful because it gives practical, hands-on advice. Rosenberg explains all the reasons academic articles can be difficult for new scholars, then gives tricks she has learned to make these articles more accessible. After we read this article, I assign the class an academic article and have them practice the skills Rosenberg lays out.  — Wendy Wood

TOPIC: DICTION

“Word Choice,” p. 34 from The Word on College Reading and Writing, by Monique Babin. Accessible at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks. This is another minimalist treatment of a topic, in this case diction. But it offers a starter explanation of some effects of using words that an audience will find simple compared to some effects of using words that an audience will find complex or regionally specific. This might work better as a handout than as assigned reading done out of class. – Nathan Shepley

TOPICS: SUMMARIZING, PARAPHRASING, AND QUOTING

Ch. 3, “Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Avoiding Plagiarism,” from The Process of Research Writing, by Steven Krause. Accessible at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks. This ten-page chapter runs through the topics identified in its title, addresses some in-text citation conventions for MLA vs. APA, and includes brief examples. However, some of its writing samples that it calls good are, in my perspective, not yet A material. Feel free to push harder than this book chapter does. Note: the chapter could be used in ENGL 1303 and/or in ENGL 1304. – Nathan Shepley

TOPICS: GRAMMAR, PUNCTUATION, AND PROOFREADING

“Grammar and Style,” pp. 165-169 in the textbook The Word on College Reading and Writing, by Monique Babin et al. Accessible at https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks. This section offers a top-ten error list, a detailed checklist for proofreading a paper, one way to keep an error log, special attention to independent clauses and dependent clauses, and a brief review of common punctuation conventions. Finally, it includes links to some popular grammar and punctuation websites. I found that this section helped me explain dependent and independent clauses and how assembling clauses in certain ways can generate more complex sentences. Also, I used the punctuation section to support my explanation of the FANBOYS convention for compound sentences containing particular coordinating conjunctions. I tell students that I expect them to master these conventions even though they will find journalists and other writers (maybe even some teachers) who never learned them. Note: this reading could apply to both ENGL 1303 and ENGL 1304. – Nathan Shepley