Essay #1: Definition



Essay #2: Compare & Contrast

12.5% of final grade - English 50 – K. Douglass

DUE: Monday, February 1, 2016

• This essay will be a compare & contrast style essay like the one that we covered in Chapter 16.

• This essay must be a minimum of 1000 words and 5 paragraphs.

• Additional Resource Use Grade items (submit behind final paper with this rubric)

a. Due Wed 1/27: outline and first working thesis that you will turn in with the final paper.

b. Due Thurs 1/28: full-length draft due in class for peer review – also due with final draft.

Remember that these three preliminary steps can happen in any order and can overlap. But the key idea is that you need to do all of them. Also remember that you can and should consult me or an instructor on duty in the WRC at any stage of this process for help shaping, organizing, drafting, or revising your essay. But make sure that you have a SPECIFIC question or area of concern when you approach an instructor in the Writing Center.

1. Brainstorm

a. Just start thinking about your topic – jot down some notes.

b. If you find it helpful, use the planning form for Comparison and Contrast essays to organize your ideas; select the point-by-point or whole-to-whole visual organizer.

2. Create a thesis

a. The thesis for a compare & contrast essay should make it clear what the two topics of comparison are, but also should be very clear about what the point of this comparison is, which should go beyond saying simply that they are the same or different.

3. Make a sketch outline:

a. See page 92 in your textbook for a general sketch outline.

b. Remember that you want to have balance between subjects and use transitions carefully in a compare and contrast essay.

c. If you find it helpful, use the planning form for Comparison and Contrast essays to organize your ideas; select the point-by-point or whole-to-whole visual organizer.

4. Write!

5. Read, Revise and Proofread: See page 123 in your textbook for a basic revision checklist.

The Topics:

(Note that all prompts are in response to a particular text. For each of the prompts, you must summarize the ideas of the article that is your required source, and use it to transition into your topic and then into your specific thesis. Summary of the original reading and how it applies to your topic will be the bulk of your intro. You also are required to use at least one direct quotation from the source; it can be in the intro or anywhere else in the essay that makes sense to you, and you can use more than one quote if you want to and doing so supports your argument.)

1. Using Rui Dai’s “A Whiff of Memory” (p. 229) as a model, write an essay comparing and contrasting two different places that are important to you. Include smell or other sensory details; What memories and emotions do the smells or other sensory details evoke for you? What is the importance of these two places that is captured through these sensory details? Your thesis should be some point about the the importance of the places in your life, and how your sensory details help you to recall these ideas.

2. Read Malcolm X’s “Learning to Read” (p. 617) and Review Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” (p.633). Although their tones are different, Malcolm X and Amy Tan both write about the importance of language in their lives. Write a paper with a thesis that makes this point and asserts which of the two readings most effectively make this point. Your body paragraphs should support your thesis and show that language is important to both authors but illustrate how one makes the point a bit better than the other.

3. If you have an idea for a compare / contrast topic related to the readings in Chapter 16 and 46, you can propose it, along with what your point in the thesis will be, in writing by Tuesday, January 26. I will email you later on the 26th or in class to approve your topic or tell you to choose prompt 1 or 2 above instead.

General Grading Rubric for English 50

This rubric provides a general description of papers that fall in each of the five grade categories. You should use it to prepare your papers and to understand your grades once papers have been returned.

A level paper (Final Grade Range: 100-90%) (Actual Paper Grades: A+ 100-98; A 95; A- 92)

This paper is outstanding; that is, it “stands out” in relation to other papers responding to the assignment. In an A paper, a significant, thoughtful thesis is clearly defined. The essay addresses all aspects of the assignment and is supported with concrete, substantial, and consistently relevant detail. The thesis indicates or allows for the essay to progress in clearly ordered stages and original development. Transitions between paragraphs are clear and effective. The essay demonstrates awareness of audience for rhetorical effect. Sentences are unified, coherent, articulate and effectively varied. Language use is distinctive, fresh, precise, and economical; may illustrate effective idiomatic and creative use of language. The essay has an appropriate and consistent level of formality and point-of-view. Clarity and effectiveness of expression are supported by consistent and correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling. In all regards, this paper is an excellent response to the assignment.

B level paper (Final Grade Range: 89-80%) (Actual Paper Grades: B+ 88; B 85; B- 82)

In a (B) paper, the writer has in some way moved beyond the basics of the assignment expectations, offering some thoughtful observations and insights. In a B paper, there is a clearly defined thesis that is supported with concrete and mostly relevant detail. The essay has a clear organization structure and good development and does not veer off topic in significant ways. Transitions between paragraphs are usually effective. There are no major problems with sentence level clarity, though the level of sentence variety may show occasional weaknesses. Language use is precise and clear. The essay has an appropriate level of formality, audience awareness and point-of-view. Clarity and effectiveness of expression are supported by mostly consistent and correct use of grammar, punctuation, and spelling, though there may be occasional errors that don’t distract from the content. Overall, this paper is a very good response to the assignment.

C level paper (Final Grade Range: 79-70%) (Actual Paper Grades: C+ 78; C 75; C- 72)

A paper in this category will complete at least the basic tasks and requirements of the assignment – it is competent, adequate, and satisfactory. The thesis is apparent but trivial or too general; also may be generally implied but not strongly enough stated. The essay supports the assignment but details are occasionally repetitive, irrelevant, or underdeveloped. Plan and method of thesis is apparent but not consistently fulfilled. Thesis may be developed unevenly, but paragraphs are still unified, coherent and usually effective. Transitions may be abrupt, mechanical or monotonous, but generally effective at a simplistic level. Some sentences may be skillfully composed, but most lack variety. Sentences are correctly constructed without a distracting number of fragments and run-ons. Language is clear and has an appropriate level of formality, point-of-view, and awareness of audience, with only occasional deviation. Clarity and effectiveness of expression is weakened by errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling, but the point of the discussion is still knowable. Overall, this paper is an adequate response to the assignment.

D level paper (Final Grade Range: 69-60%) (Actual Paper Grades: D 65)

A paper will fall into this category if it shows serious difficulty completing or satisfying the tasks of the assignment; if it lacks an overall plan with a beginning, middle, and end; or if errors in word choice, sentence structure, and mechanics seriously interfere with readability. The “D” paper may contain one or more of the following defects: thesis is lacking or confused; thesis is not supported with concrete and relevant detail; plan and purpose of thesis is not apparent; thesis is undeveloped or developed with consistently irrelevant, redundant or inconsistent ideas. Sentences may be incoherent, confused, incomplete or monotonous; sentence construction is frequently marred by fragments and/or run-ons. Language use is vague and undefined or may have an inappropriate level of formality. The writer's control of language may be uncertain, and it may contain errors in mechanics, usage, and sentence structure that continually distract the reader from the content. Overall, this paper is an inadequate response to the assignment.

F level paper and no credit grades (59-0%)

An F (usually 55%-50%) would be assigned to a paper if it simply does not exhibit any of the basic requirements of composition writing: it has no clear thesis, or thesis does not respond to question asked in prompt; the organization is unclear or non-existent to the point that the logic and/or argument of the paper are unknowable. Serious and frequent errors in word choice, sentence structure, or mechanics interfere with basic readability. Papers that are well-written, but of incomplete length will also receive this grade.

A O% F is given for any paper not turned in, turned in late without an approved extension, or if it is an unapproved essay on entirely other subject matter than what was assigned.

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