Download A Writing Assignment for College Freshmen

AVID 3: A Writing Assignment for College Freshmen
The theme for this paper is “immigration,” and particularly the issues surrounding immigration to the United States. You will be using three readings:
• Rodriguez, p. 186–189 in your textbook;
• Zuckerman, pp. 192–194 in your textbook; and
• Urrea, which will be distributed in class.
Prompt: Read, and study, the texts you have been assigned. They are interesting in terms of the issues discussed, the argumentation, and the strategies
or devices used to organize the texts and advance the arguments. Take notes on these readings by identifying the claim, the evidence, and the rhetorical
strategies used in each text.
Then:
• Find a person who has immigrated to the United States and likes to talk. Start interviewing this person about his or her life and experiences in the
United States. Remember to take notes!
• Using your notes from the readings, summarize for this person the major issues and arguments that are presented in the three readings.
• With that person, select one of these issues which is of interest to you and the person you are interviewing.
• Interview the person about this issue. What are his or her comments? Does the person interviewed agree or disagree with the authors you have read?
Why?
• Prepare a paper in which you discuss, in some detail, the issue you have selected. Use the readings, comparing/contrasting the authors’ claims with
those of the person you interviewed.
Paper Structure
• Begin with an introduction in which you present some of the problems and issues related to immigration, and immigrants, in the United States.
Introduce how your text will be organized. In this paper, I will…
• In a paragraph or two, introduce the person whom you interviewed, telling some of his or her story.
• In one or more paragraphs, discuss the reading(s) from which you plan to take the issue discussed in your paper:
— Who wrote each one? What is his or her “persona”?
— What were the major claims in each reading? What evidence does the author provide for those claims?
— What devices, or strategies, did the writers use to complete their texts?
• In two paragraphs, present the issue that you plan to discuss from the reading(s) selected, comparing and contrasting the presentation of the issue by
the writers with the comments by the person you interviewed. Paraphrase and summarize what you have read—and cite your sources correctly!
• Conclude the paper with your own comments on the issues. What did you learn from
writing this paper, either from the readings or the person you interviewed?
AVID 3: A Writing Assignment for College Freshmen
The theme for this paper is “immigration,” and particularly the issues surrounding immigration to the United States. You will be using three readings:
• Rodriguez, p. 186–189 in your textbook;
• Zuckerman, pp. 192–194 in your textbook; and
• Urrea, which will be distributed in class.
Prompt: Read, and study, the texts you have been assigned. They are interesting in terms of the issues discussed, the argumentation, and the strategies
or devices used to organize the texts and advance the arguments. Take notes on these readings by identifying the claim, the evidence, and the rhetorical
strategies used in each text.
Then:
• Find a person who has immigrated to the United States and likes to talk. Start interviewing this person about his or her life and experiences in the
United States. Remember to take notes!
• Using your notes from the readings, summarize for this person the major issues and arguments that are presented in the three readings.
• With that person, select one of these issues which is of interest to you and the person you are interviewing.
• Interview the person about this issue. What are his or her comments? Does the person interviewed agree or disagree with the authors you have read?
Why?
• Prepare a paper in which you discuss, in some detail, the issue you have selected. Use the readings, comparing/contrasting the authors’ claims with
those of the person you interviewed.
Paper Structure
• Begin with an introduction in which you present some of the problems and issues related to immigration, and immigrants, in the United States.
Introduce how your text will be organized. In this paper, I will…
• In a paragraph or two, introduce the person whom you interviewed, telling some of his or her story.
• In one or more paragraphs, discuss the reading(s) from which you plan to take the issue discussed in your paper:
— Who wrote each one? What is his or her “persona”?
— What were the major claims in each reading? What evidence does the author provide for those claims?
— What devices, or strategies, did the writers use to complete their texts?
• In two paragraphs, present the issue that you plan to discuss from the reading(s) selected, comparing and contrasting the presentation of the issue by
the writers with the comments by the person you interviewed. Paraphrase and summarize what you have read—and cite your sources correctly!
• Conclude the paper with your own comments on the issues. What did you learn from
writing this paper, either from the readings or the person you interviewed?