Download File - Western Composition

Practical Writing
Today: Online Writing (Blog Publishing)
Noteworthy Electives at SIAS
This spring semester several of our foreign faculty
are offering electives These electives will be
extremely beneficial to our students both in
content and because they are offered in English.
It is a chance for you to learn something new,
develop your English (especially listening) skills,
and to meet another foreign teacher.
I encourage all of you to take part in one of these
classes if you are interested! Here they are:
Noteworthy Electives at SIAS
Communicating Cross-Culturally 跨文化交际 - David (Dave) Pedosiuk
Monday 7pm @ Room 1-402
Worldviews 世界观简介 - Greg Giles
Tuesday 7pm @ Room 1-402
Intro to Western Philosophy 西方哲学史 - Drayton Hamilton
Tuesday 7pm @ Room 7-107
Social Entrepreneurship - Y. Michelle Brown
Wednesday 7pm @ Room 7-107
The Way to Success (TWTS) 成功之道 - Brian Swanson
Thursday 7pm @ Room 13-110
Last week...
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For homework, you should have created your
own blogging website.
You don't need to have any entries yet, but if
you do, it's ok.
Today we will talk about creating your blog and
online and blog publishing.
You will be using this blog for the rest of the
semester. This blog will be about 40% of your
grade in my class. (25% writings + 15%
Research Essay)
You should know your blog address
I will pass around a piece of paper with your
names on it.
You will write the address of your blog on the
paper next to your name.
You CAN NOT share a blog with another
classmate. (Must be your own)
If you do not have a blog today, YOU ARE
REQUIRED TO HAVE ONE BEFORE NEXT
CLASS.
How many blogs should you write?
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You will be required to write a minimum of 10
blog entries this term, plus your research essay
(making the total 11)
You will also be required to write a blog on a
topic that you research(15%). You will be giving
a presentation (5%) on this topic.
The blog and the research is 40% of your final
grade. It is very important that you do not
procrastinate!! Do all of your work ahead of
time.
Plagiarism
I have a program on my computer that detects
plagiarism immediately.
If you plagiarize, I will know and you will fail.
DO NOT PLAGIARIZE.
What will you write about?
I will give you topics to write about every week.
You should use some of the writing styles you
learned last semester to write your entries.
Today I will teach you how to cite your sources as
well, so you wont get in trouble for plagiarizing!
What this class isn't.
This is not a class where I teach you English.
This is not a class for lazy students.
What this class is.
This is a class where you will improve your
English writing ability.
This is a class where you will learn new styles and
aspects of writing.
This is a class for students who desire to
understand Western Culture on a whole new
level.
Impossible.
It is impossible for me to meet with all of you this
semester to talk about how you should improve.
SO
Each week we will talk about what you need to
improve as a writer. (We will use the book
weekly)
The Blog.
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What is a blog?
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A blog (also known as 'weblog') is a discussion or
informational site published on the World Wide Web
and consisting of discrete entries or "posts"
Blogs became popular in the early 1990's
Now there are 100's of millions of blogs that can
be found on the internet
Blogs are used for several purposes, including:
Personal, Professional and Educational.
In our setting, we will be using it as a tool to
further our writing abilities.
I encourage you
Don't be afraid!
This is not meant to stress you out... have fun with it!
Read your classmates blog entries AND post
comments on their entries!
Always write your assigned topics. You will never
know when I check your personal blog.
I will comment on at least one of your entries this
semester.
Your first blog entry
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Your first article will be about you. (This is your
homework this week)
The name of your blog is completely up to you,
(ex: 'Jon's Thoughts', or 'China's Scribe') but
this entry(post/article) should be titled:
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'Hello to the world!'
In the first entry you are going to write about
yourself, your present and your future. We have
done this before, so it should be easy.
The style of this essay should be written in a
'Description' and 'Example' essay style.
Here are questions I want you to answer
in your first blog post:
Where are you from?
What do you do for fun?
Why did you decide to attend Sias?
What is your favorite part of college?
What will you do after you graduate?
Would you like to study abroad? Why? Where?
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where
would you go and why?
Add some interesting information about yourself.
(This assignment is part of your grade. Don't forget to
finish it before next class.)
Let's work on our ENGLISH!
Today we will be talking about 'Run-on' sentences.
MANY of my students had a problem with run-on
sentences, so today we will focus some of our
energy on what they are and how we can avoid
using them in the future.
What is a run-on sentence? (pg. 428)
(Chapter 25)
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The book says that they are 'two complete
thoughts that are run together with no adequate
sign given to mark the break between them'
I would say that some of you even had run-on's
with 3 or 4 complete thoughts! We need to learn
how to recognize and fix this!!
Look at page 428-429 in your book and lets talk
about the two kinds of problems the book
addresses.
Fused Sentences
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What does 'fused' mean?
The bus stopped suddenly, I spilled coffee all
over my shirt.
They appear to be joined together as one
thought, even though they are clearly two
separate thoughts.
The bus stopped suddenly. I spilled coffee all
over my shirt
Comma Splices
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A comma is not enough to join to ideas. That is
why you need a comma AND a joining word.
What is an example of a joining word?
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And, but, for, or, nor, so, yet
The bus stopped suddenly, and I spilled coffee
all over my shirt.
The book also mentions the use of semicolons
to correct your run-ons. Although these are
useful, they are distracting if they are used to
often.
With the semicolon
Which way is correct?
'The bus stopped suddenly; and, I spilled coffee
all over my shirt.'
'The bus stopped suddenly; I spilled coffee all
over my shirt.'
'The bus stopped suddenly; and I spilled coffee
all over my shirt.'
Take a minute...
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On page 430, there is a list of run-on
sentences.
Put a period at the end of the first thought and
capitalize the first word in the next thought.
You only need to do sentence 1-5.
Take another minute...
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On page 432, complete sentences 1-5 by filling
the the joining word (conjunctions).
As a class... FIX THIS RUN ON!!
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The boy showed us his tickets someone gave
them to him.
The boy showed us his tickets. Someone gave
them to him.
Which one is correct?
1. Adam is a sweet boy he really loves animals.
2. Adam is a sweet boy. He really loves animals.
3. Adam is a sweet boy, he really loves animals.
#2!!!!!!!!
What makes it a run-on?
The mere fact that a sentence is long does not
make it a run-on sentence. (It also does not
mean it is a good sentence...)
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Sentences are run-ons only when they contain
more than one independent clause(section).
A run-on sentence can be as short as four
words—for instance: I drive she walks.
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In this case there are two independent clauses: two
subjects paired with two intransitive verbs.
A couple more examples:
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INCORRECT: They weren't dangerous criminals
they were detectives in disguise.
CORRECT: They weren't dangerous criminals;
they were detectives in disguise.
INCORRECT: I didn't know which job I wanted I
was too confused to decide.
CORRECT: I didn't know which job I wanted, and I
was too confused to decide.
Notice the semicolon in the first correct answer?
They are useful, but shouldn't be used excessively.
(some of you use too many semicolons.)
Transitive and Intransitive verbs
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A transitive verb is INCOMPLETE without a
direct object
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ex. INCOMPLETE
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The shelf holds.
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COMPLETE
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The shelf holds three books and a vase of flowers.
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INCOMPLETE
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The committee named.
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COMPLETE
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The committee named a new chairman.
Transitive and Intransitive verbs
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An Intransitive Verb cannot take a direct
object.
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The sound of the choir carried through the
cathedral.
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The verb "carried" is used intransitively in this
sentence and takes no direct object. The
prepositional phrase "through the cathedral" acts as
an adverb describing where the sound carried.
Transitive and Intransitive verbs
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Transitive
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According to the instructions, we must leave this
stuff in our hair for twenty minutes.
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In this example, the verb "leave" takes a direct
object, the noun phrase "this stuff."
Intransitive
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We would like to stay longer, but we must leave.
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In this example, the verb "leave" does not take a
direct object.
Transitive and Intransitive verbs
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Recognizing the diffence between these two
verb-types may help you avoid writing run-on
sentences.
One more run-on activity!
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In your notebook, write quickly for 10 minutes. (I
will time you. Do not write longer than 10 minutes)
about what you did this past weekend.
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Don't worry about spelling, punctuation, finding
exact words or organizing any of your thoughts.
Only focus on writing as many words as you
can before I tell you to finish!
After you have finished, go back and correct
any run-on sentences in your writing. Focus
mainly on fixing your run-ons!
Punctuation Saves Lives!!!!!!
What is 'Practical Writing'
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Writing in everyday situations.
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Example:
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BLOGS
Resume
Cover Letter/Job Application Letter
Essay Exams
Writing E-mails (Both private and professional)
Why is practical writing important?
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There are SEVERAL good answers to this
question.
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(Future jobs, applying for schools, skill building, etc.)
For a few weeks, we will be focusing on
different practical writing skills.
Starting a blog is a big step in 'practical writing'
because it allows you to put your thoughts down
and publish those thoughts for others to read
and critisize.
Works Cited
Why is citing your work so important?
It keeps you honest.
It lets the reader know that you received information
from another source.
You wont get a zero for plagiarizing, because your
source of information is obvious.
We will talk more about citing your work on week
9 and then again on week 11. Today we will just
talk about citing sources from the internet.
Works Cited
The style used to cite sources is known as 'MLA'.
How to Cite a Website in MLA:
Structure: Last name, First name. "Article Title."
Website Title. Publisher of Website, Day Month
Year article was published. Web. Day Month
Year article was accessed. <URL>.
Structure: Last name, First name. "Article Title."
Website Title. Publisher of Website, Day Month
Year article was published. Web. Day Month
Year article was accessed. <URL>.
Example:
Cain, Kevin. "The Negative Effects of Facebook
on Communication." Social Media Today RSS
N.p., 29 June 2012. Web. 02 Jan. 2013.
Make sure to:
Only include the URL if the source cannot be
found easily.
Works Cited
All of your citing should be entered at the end of
your articles.
Your homework assignment should require NO
citing because it is all your opinion and all of
your own ideas.
If you are not sure how to cite something, you can
use a website like :
Bibme.org
citationmachine.net
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We are going to focus on Online writing a little
more; our main focus will be practical writing for
Tourism and Travel
Blogs to check out!
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http://www.insidethetravellab.com/
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http://www.nomadicmatt.com/
These blogs are about travel. Read some entries
from these, and try to find your own.
HOMEWORK
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Remember to write your first entry in your blog.
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This is an important grade, do not procrastinate!
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You will write about yourself, your present and your
future. Your entry should be over 250 words.
The style of your essay should be 'Description' and
'Example'
If you do not have a blog address one yet, you are
REQUIRED to have one BEFORE next class. (If
you do not, it is an automatic 2.5% off of your final grade
in my class.)