Persuasive vs Argumentative

Grammar Rules to Improve Your Writing

THE MOST IMPORTANT GRAMMAR RULES????

Post your SECOND Draft (after you hear from your peer editors) by Wednesday (Feb 20) here

Sentence Editing

Let's edit the following sentences. How can we make these sentences better?

Nowadays, art is an important part of live.

There are a several steps to make artist feels happiness of his art.

Also if your art be at auction that means you are a famous artist.

Many people think Art is very abstruse, we usually spend much time to analysis the Art and think about Artwork from a lot of direction.

Art allows people dream about better life and include the massage that can't express by word.

Quiz on Art- Monday and New Topic- Art in Egypt

After the quiz, we will watch a video on the Seven Wonders of the World. This video also relates to ART.

What are the Seven Wonders of the World???




Please answer the following questions (due on TUESDAY before class)

THE NEW SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD             

A.- How is the list of the New Seven Wonders of the World elaborated?   Is it official? 

B.- They present to us their own list:

                1.- PYRAMID OF GIZA  

·         What is peculiar about it?

                                a.-

                                b.-

·         What is the warning?

                2.- TAJ MAHAL  

·         What does the legend say about this monument?  

·         What problem may you have there?

3.- THE ROMAN COLOSSEUM

·         How many spectators could be seated when it was constructed?

·         What was it filled with?

4.- THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA  

·         What has  been discovered about it?

5.- ANGKOR WAT

·         What kind of building is it?

·         Where is it?

6.- PETRA

·         Where and how was it built?

·         What was peculiar about it?

7.- POTALA PALACE

·         Where is it?

·         Who lived there for many centuries?

·         What is the warning?

C.- What is the problem with “Lonely planet”?

Who was Nefertiti?







Do you remember the names of the pyramids?

Peer Editing Assignment- Due Feb. 18, 2013

Please review the peer editing guidelines and let me know in class if you have questions. If you would like to use other formats for peer review, such as face-to-face, Skype, tutoring center, let me know this Thursday (February 14th). There are other options for you to do peer editing, you have alternatives, just let me know which one suits your needs.

In my opinion Goog Docs seems to work and it gives me a chance to give you feedback too. :) I started to use the "insert comment option" to give specific feedback, here is a tutorial if you missed the class demonstration. Here are the steps to follow if you decide to use Google Docs:
1. create one COMMON document (this will contain all three essays from your peers).
2. email your peers and include me too (if you want feedback from me, otherwise you can just email me the link by deadline). Please share with me the document ONCE (not three times).
3. provide as much detail as possible to BOTH of your peers,
4. submit assignment by deadline.

Remember, peer editing benefits you ALL without receiving a grade from me. You should work toward a FINAL draft, the more you collaborate with each other, the faster you will improve.

Either option you choose, you will still need to submit peer edits (via Google Docs, email or give me the hard copy in class on Monday so that you meet the deadline and get full credit). In order to get full-credit (10 points) for peer editing, you have to provide feedback on both of your peer's essays and meet the deadline. You can find more details about this in the syllabus and on the blog. Please let me know about any issues regarding peer editing in class this week.

On Thursday, let's talk about what areas can we improve and how can we hone more our essay writing skills. I look forward to seeing you all in class.

POST ESSAY ON ART HERE (FIRST DRAFT)- Deadline 2/14/2013 before class

Five paragraphs

ESSAY-First Draft THIS THURSDAY

Please bring outline to class tomorrow. You can use handwritten notes or graphic charts.

Choose a topic for your persuasive essay

v Art is valuable/

       Art is not valuable

v Art should be kept in a museum/

       Art should be auctioned off

v Art improves critical thinking and analysis skills/

       Art does not improve critical thinking and analysis skills

v School Arts programs should make art more relevant to students

v Every university student should be required to take a class in The Arts/

                   Students should not be required to take any class in The Arts

v The school board should keep funding for The Arts program/

       The school board should cut funding for The Arts program

v Public art in Tampa must be funded to cultivate appreciation of art/

       Public art in Tampa does is not important and doesn’t deserve

       funding

v The museum in Italy should burn art to protest budget cuts/

                   The Italian museum should burn art because it is valuable/

                             The Italian museum should burn art because it is not valuable

The government of Italy should fund art museums/

       The government of Italy should not fund the art museum/

                 The museum in Italy should get private funding

What will you write about in your essay?

Strong reasons	because…
1. 2. 3. 4.

 

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING PROJECT WITH PICTURE PROMPT

Class Discussion: What is descriptive writing? How would you use this genre?

Writing Project (10 minutes): Look at this photograph and write a descriptive paragraph about it using terms from the textbook and our class discussions. Check out the handout too.

Describing the painting of a Royal Family

Why do we use technology in our class?

This article reminded me about our online and offline class discussions on the use of technology and language learning. It seems that more and more students and teachers use technology as YOU ALL SAID- technology is a TOOL to learn a language and communicate. And why do I use technology in our class? Because I believe that technology can motivate ALL learners (who might not want to speak in class) to learn and collaborate outside class. :) I also would like you all to learn 21st century skills that involve digital content creation using technology. You all have done an amazing job so far!

Some of you also know that I don't firmly believe in tests, but I like to combine quizzes/test with creative projects. Here are some examples on creative assessments. Let me know which option YOU might like to explore next week. :)

Some of you asked me about free e-book resources, here is a link for such kind of sources. Some of the  books are classic readings in English. :)
 
Thank you for your work this semester and I am looking forward to working with you next week.

POST YOUR LAST DRAFT OF AUTOBIOGRAPHIES HERE

Deadline- MONDAY (February 11)  before class

GROUPS

Group 1: Chupeng, Naser, Mohamed
Group 2: Assim, Sultan, Ghanim
Group 3: Linh, Adela, Yu

iBuddy Announcement- sign up deadline Feb. 6th

If you would like to partner up with a domestic USF student in the iBuddy program, please contact Aneshia aneshia@usf.edu!

Peer Review on Your Autobiography- Some Guidelines

PEER SUPPORT ASSIGNMENT- WE WILL TALK ABOUT THIS ON MONDAY
We will do some peer editing work during this semester so that you can collaborate and work together in different assignments.

We will have THREE GROUPS for the peer support assignment. We will establish these groups on Monday in class. All group members will communicate via email or face-to-face to peer editing work during the course of the semester.

Format: instructor gives an essay assignment, each student produces the first draft of the assignment, then each student reads his or her peers' work and gives feedback.  Each student revises the first draft, and then submits the final draft to the instructor. The deadlines are set by the instructor and they will be communicated in class. For example, the deadline for the autobiography is Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 2 pm. I would like to ensure that you all have enough time to revise and perhaps consult with your peers if you have any questions about your essay or feedback.

Technology: email/gmail and you can share your files on the Google Drive with your team members.  If you use another technology, it is your job to make sure you submit your files and meet the deadlines. For example, if you meet face to face and you work on hard copies, you can submit the hard copy in class or after class on Tuesday so that you meet the Wednesday deadline. Since Google Docs seems to be user friendly and allows for members to do multiple edits on their assignments, I strongly recommend you use that tool. It will save you a lot of time and energy in the long run.

Each student will post their FINAL draft within a week on the blog (in the assigned folder- for instance, the Final drafts for the Autobiography will be due on February 11, 2013). I will create a folder called Autobiography Final Draft on the blog so that you can post your work there. Any questions? Ask me BEFORE the deadlines. You will receive a grade on your final draft and your collaboration, so it is in your best interest to collaborate and help each other.

Each team will tell me in class how they plan to collaborate and work together on peer editing assignments. If there are any concerns or issues (i.e., you did not get a peer feedback, let me know).

We will demonstrate a "HOW TO DO A PEER EDITING" collaboration in class on Monday.


Peer Review Guidelines

I’ve always found it helpful to have someone read my writing and give me feedback. I know what I wanted to write, but is that what I actually wrote? I need someone else to tell me. A reviewer can offer valuable comments on the direction and flow of my essay. Is the thesis clear? Do I support it with reasonable arguments and examples? Have I included enough detail, or have I strayed from the main idea?

I want you to read and comment on your classmates’ essays using the following questions as a guide. Please be thoughtful in your responses: be honest and offer only constructive (helpful) criticism. You are not expected to “edit” your classmates’ work for errors. At the same time, offering nothing but praise does not give the writer any suggestions for improvement.

 You must read the essay in parts and then again as a whole. Start with the title and the hook. Then go on to read the entire essay.

Name of Writer ________________________________________________________________

Title of Essay _________________________________________________________________

Is the title interesting? Why or why not? _____________________________________________

Based on the title, what do you think the essay is about? ________________________________

Does the writer open the essay with a narrative hook—is it a story?          YES           NO

What do you learn about the writer from the hook? ____________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Based on the hook, what do you think the essay is about? _______________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Now read the rest of the essay. On the essay, number the paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

Using the numbers you’ve assigned to each paragraph, identify the three main parts of the essay.

Introduction __________________________________________________________________

Body ________________________________________________________________________

Conclusion ___________________________________________________________________

How do you know where one part ends and another begins? Explain. ______________________

Now that you have read the whole essay, restate the main idea in your own words. ___________

Identify the explicit thesis statement. (You don’t have to rewrite the whole sentence or sentences. Start with the first few words and then use ellipses . . . and write the last word or two.)

______________________________________________________________________________

Describe the writer’s tone and voice. Are they appropriate for the audience? Explain.

______________________________________________________________________________

Does the essay meet the minimum length requirement?    YES      NO

Does the essay conform to format guidelines? (heading, margins, spacing, etc.)    YES      NO

What suggestions do you have for improving this essay? ________________________________