Writing Assignment, the Assignment

English 110 Freshman Composition

Instructor: DFaye Anderson

 

Assignment #2: Reflections on Your Experiences as a Reader and Writer

First Draft Due in Class on Tuesday, March 18, 2015

Final Draft Due in Class on Thursday, March 27, 2015

 

For this assignment, you will read and annotate an excerpt from The Autobiography of Malcolm X. In the excerpt, Malcolm X writes about his inability as a teenager to communicate in written English. We will discuss his motivations and the strategies he used to develop his abilities as a reader and writer. Then you will write an essay about your own experiences with language, the challenges and discoveries you’ve had as a reader and writer.

 

Reading Assignment

Read and annotate “Learning to Read and Write”

excerpt from The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The excerpt is available at Blackboard. In addition it is available online at a number of sources. Simply Google Malcolm X “Learning to Read.”

Remember: As you annotate, of course you will underline or highlight facts and ideas. Use the margins to summarize (bullets work). Use context clues or a dictionary for new words. (If you don’t want to interrupt your reading each time you read a new word, simply circle it and then look up all the words later.  (You just have to promise to actually do that!)When you annotate you are having a conversation with the author. Write down questions that come to mind as you read. If something surprises, pleases or disturbs you, write down those comments, too. Annotating will enhance your understanding and appreciation of strategies did he employ to improve his ability to read and write?

After you have read the excerpt take a few minutes and answer the Reporter’s Tricks aka the 5 Ws:

Who are the people in the excerpt?

What is the central idea? What strategies did Malcolm employ to his reading and writing skills?

Where was he when he began his work to improve?

When (time period) did he learn?

Why did he want to communicate more effectively?

How old was Malcolm?

 

Connections

Think about your experience learning to read and write:

     a) Learning to print and write cursively

c) How and where you learned to communicate in English if it is your second language

     d) The role of oral storytelling in your family

e) Early reading habits, your first books, favorite children’s books and stories

f) Languages spoken/read/written in your household as a child

g) Personal writing: diaries, journals, creative writing, emails, tweets, and texts

h) Other languages you can read/write/speak

I) joys and challenges you’ve face as a reader and writer

In class: Be prepared to discuss the excerpt and share your insights in class on Tuesday, March 18, 2014.

The Essay

You will write a paper about your challenges and triumphs as a reader and writer of English. You will be able Use the discussions we had last week to jumpstart your brainstorm. The paper will go through several steps leading to the final, publishable product.

 

Brainstorm and discuss

Freewriting

Outlining

Draft 1                           Tuesday, March 18th

Conference

Revise and submit final draft     Thursday, March 27th

 

We will devote some class time to writing and editing your paper, but much of the writing will take place outside. I want to encourage each of you to make an appointment to conference with me during my office hours (Thursdays 4-6/Rm 6/323), or online, via Aim (Tues 8-10pm). If you are unable to conference with me, I encourage you strongly, to take your first draft to the Writing Center, before submitting it. Evidence of careful proofreading should be obvious.   

 

Your paper should include a title page, with a graphic that is appropriate. The first draft should be at least 2 (two) pages long, and the final paper, 3-4 pages.

 

Attached is a rubric which will be used to evaluate your essay and a proofreading checklist you can use to correct grammatical errors.

 

CRISP Proof Reading Checklist

 

          Re-read your essay several times for content and organization. You are not just looking to correct errors, but you are revising in order to communicate more effectively, your ideas to your audience. When proofreading for grammar conventions, you can look at these five categories:

 

Capitals at the beginning of each sentence.(Names, etc.)

Run On sentences and fragments

Indent each paragraph

Spelling homophones: their/there/they’re; too/to/two, etc.

Punctuation at the end of each sentence.

 

     It’s easy to remember: take the first letter of each category and together they spell CRISP. You want your writing to be clear and crisp!