details and descriptive writing
What to do:
Descriptive writing lies at the heart of many—if not most—other kinds of writing. It is the basis of developing your ideas, the detail that creates imagery in your readers’ minds. That said, you are to write an essay illustrating your understanding and control of the elements of good descriptive writing introduced in the discussion boards: subjective information, the communication of an idea bigger than the subject itself (good writing has many layers), etc.
Choose a person, place, or object as a launching pad. The subject is up to you.
Use narrative writing to write an anecdotal introduction and conclusion–you’ll find a forum specific to this requirement in the boards.
What not to do:
Do not write about your bedroom or your car, please—I cannot make it through anymore of those. Step out into the world a bit with this one.
Do not describe an event. Doing so often landslides you back into narrative mode.
Do not simply describe a person, place, or a thing; rather, let that person, place, or thing be a spring board into other, bigger layers of thought. That is, you’re not only writing about what you’re writing about (your topic); rather, you’re also writing about what it means (your controlling idea).
Why:
Fully developing your ideas is perhaps one of the most difficult concepts in an entry level writing class–actually, there are plenty of people out there who will never take the time to learn how to do it, but it is without a doubt a developable skill.
Descriptive writing truly does illuminate so many different pathways in your writing: saying something and meaning it, ditching filler sentences and paragraphs, focusing / unifying an essay to a purpose, etc. This is a basic building block you will employ, guaranteed, in our next papers and in your lifetimes as writers.
When:
Check the Course Calendar for specific due dates (rough draft posts, peer responses, final draft).
Gloom and Doom:
Failure to submit a completed draft by the listed deadlines will cost you 25 points from the course total.
Failure to respond to your classmates drafts by the listed deadlines will cost you 25 points from the course total.
This assignment link will become unavailable shortly after the final copy due date and time–any papers past that point must be turned in but will not be accepted for a grade; there simply isn’t enough time for you to turn your work in late.
What’s at Stake:
This second essay will be worth 125 points.
Requirements:
3-4 pages.
MLA format (including Normal margins, Times New Roman, etc.). Use the link to Purdue Owl in Modules as an example for proper formatting.
cover page with thesis, name, title, and date. MLA doesn’t call for a cover page, but I do; use it to show me your thesis.
a completed self-evaluation should appear as the last page of your paper. You will find the directions as a standing document in Modules; please copy, paste, and complete the document to your file before submitting your work.
submit your paper and self-evaluation as a single document in a .rtf or .docx format. You are required to use Microsoft Word for your essays–don’t use Pages (.pages), Works (.wps), Open Office (.odt), etc. If you don’t have Word, your tuition has paid for access to a download of Word Online–ask me for details if need be.
Assessment:
use your voice.
fully develop your ideas according to your thesis.
please review the department grading standard included in the syllabus–it certainly applies
here.
observe all minimum requirements.
there are no brownie points for exceeding the minimum requirements (honestly).
sentence level errors / mechanical errors should be kept to a minimum.
do not write the classic, five or six paragraph essay.
