Do You Speak American?

http://www.pbs.org/speak/transcripts/2.html

Assumption -- Identify Hidden

Identify the likely hidden assumptions in these arguments:

1. We should reduce the penalty for drunken driving, as a milder penalty would mean more convictions.
2. Moby Dick is a whale. So Moby Dick is a mammal.
3. Giving students a fail grade will damage their self-confidence. Therefore, we should not fail students.
4. It should not be illegal for adults to smoke pot. After all, it does not harm anyone.
5. There is nothing wrong talking on a mobile phone during lectures. Other students do it all the time.
6. Killing an innocent person is wrong. Therefore, abortion is wrong.
7. Traces of ammonia have been found in Mars' atmosphere. So there must be life on Mars.
8. There cannot be more than one God. Otherwise, there would be two Gods equally powerful, or one is more powerful than the other. 

from http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/arg/hidden.php

Assumption -- Identify Hidden

Identify the likely hidden assumptions in these arguments:

1. We should reduce the penalty for drunken driving, as a milder penalty would mean more convictions.
2. Moby Dick is a whale. So Moby Dick is a mammal.
3. Giving students a fail grade will damage their self-confidence. Therefore, we should not fail students.
4. It should not be illegal for adults to smoke pot. After all, it does not harm anyone.
5. There is nothing wrong talking on a mobile phone during lectures. Other students do it all the time.
6. Killing an innocent person is wrong. Therefore, abortion is wrong.
7. Traces of ammonia have been found in Mars' atmosphere. So there must be life on Mars.
8. There cannot be more than one God. Otherwise, there would be two Gods equally powerful, or one is more powerful than the other. 

from http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/arg/hidden.php

Paragraph -- sentence order

Arrange for Main Ideas

1.  The rosary beads they’d twisted and looped around her knotty hands were her everyday amber ones, not the good wine-red ones she took out of their velvet case at Easter and Christmas – the ones Grandma herself would have chosen for this occasion. 

 

2.  Mrs. Mumphy and her daughter had gone to Grandma’s house to pick out her clothes. 

3.  She had on the green print dress she’d worn to our wedding.

 

4.  I forced my eyes up to her wax-museum face.

 

5.  Death or the undertaker had relaxed her facial muscles.

 

6. She was and wasn’t Grandma.

Paragraph -- sentence order

Arrange for Main Ideas

1.  The rosary beads they’d twisted and looped around her knotty hands were her everyday amber ones, not the good wine-red ones she took out of their velvet case at Easter and Christmas – the ones Grandma herself would have chosen for this occasion. 

 

2.  Mrs. Mumphy and her daughter had gone to Grandma’s house to pick out her clothes. 

3.  She had on the green print dress she’d worn to our wedding.

 

4.  I forced my eyes up to her wax-museum face.

 

5.  Death or the undertaker had relaxed her facial muscles.

 

6. She was and wasn’t Grandma.

Paragraph 1 - Meaning

Six days before the sunset, two girls walked into town.  The dog was small and brown; he sat patiently waiting by the tree for the green side.  But, how many times must it be returned before it can be eaten.  Matter as we have seen, can exist in three forms.  However, blood was the elixir that sustained his dark, dark life.

In one of Watson's most famous experiments, he and his second wife conditioned a boy named Albert to fear a white rat.  At the beginning of the study, Albert was unafraid of the animal and played with it freely.  While Albert was doing so one day, Watson deliberately frightened the child by sounding a terrifying noise behind him.  Albert was startled and began to cry.  Thereafter, he avoided the rat and cried if it was brought close to him.

(Adapted from:  McConnell, J.   (1986).  Understanding Human Behavior.  Holt, Rinehart, and Winston:  Fort Worth  P, 268)

Paragraph 1 - Meaning

Six days before the sunset, two girls walked into town.  The dog was small and brown; he sat patiently waiting by the tree for the green side.  But, how many times must it be returned before it can be eaten.  Matter as we have seen, can exist in three forms.  However, blood was the elixir that sustained his dark, dark life.

In one of Watson's most famous experiments, he and his second wife conditioned a boy named Albert to fear a white rat.  At the beginning of the study, Albert was unafraid of the animal and played with it freely.  While Albert was doing so one day, Watson deliberately frightened the child by sounding a terrifying noise behind him.  Albert was startled and began to cry.  Thereafter, he avoided the rat and cried if it was brought close to him.

(Adapted from:  McConnell, J.   (1986).  Understanding Human Behavior.  Holt, Rinehart, and Winston:  Fort Worth  P, 268)

Humanities Focus -- Art

Links -- Reading

Web Links

Writing Narration and Description
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/narrative.htm

Mary Seymour's "Call Me Crazy But I Have to Be Myself" originally appeared in Newsweek.
www.newsweek.com

Writing a Cause-and-Effect Essay
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/composition/cause_effect.htm

Christy Haubegger's "The Legacy of Generation Ñ" originally appeared in Newsweek.
www.newsweek.com

Writing a Comparison and Contrast Essay
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/CompAnalysis.html

Writing a Classification Essay
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/mgarcia/writfils/modclass.htm

Writing About a Process
http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/process.html

Writing a Definition Essay http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/definition.html

Building Persuasive Arguments http://www.nutsandboltsguide.com/arguments.htm

Writing Lab, Experiment, or Field Reports
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/LabBact.html

• A comprehensive sample field report rooted in observation for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of Maryland. http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nhsda/2k2FieldObsW.pdf
• A sample test report related to hybrid cars: "Evaluation of a Toyota Prius Hybrid System."http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/E-TOYOTA-Prius-03.htm

Writing About Literature and the Arts
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/ReadingPoetry.html

Letter of Application
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/apessay.html

For online resources for employment
http://college.hmco.com/english/vanrys/business_writer/1e/resources/web_links03.html

Webpage design tips

• Sun Microsystems guide to writing for the Web http://www.sun.com/980713/webwriting/
• For another example of a well-designed Web site, visit www.upwritepress.com
• This About.com site discusses how to create a Web site that will be accessible to readers from a variety of countries and cultures. http://webdesign.about.com/od/writing/a/aa080800a.htm

Analysis of webpages

• student-designed website
• academic website
• nonprofit agency website
• business website

OWLs
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

MUDs, MOOs, and MUSHes
http://www.marshall.edu/commdis/moo/

Message Boards
http://www.quicktopic.com/teachers.html

Mailing Lists
http://www.mste.uiuc.edu/listservs/subjectsearch.html

Chat Servers
http://chat.yahoo.com/

Instant Messaging Services
http://www.icq.com/

Blogs
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/globalvoices

Analytical Writing -- Scientific vs. Humanistic

Analytical Writing

Scientific Humanistic Epistemology Discover the truth Create meaning Human Nature Determinism Free will Value Priority Objectivity Emancipation Purpose of Theory Give universal laws Give rules for interpretation Research Methods Experiment and Survey Textual analysis and ethnography Standards for Evaluation Explanation of data Prediction of future Relative simplicity Testable hypotheses Practical utility Understanding of people Clarification of values Aesthetic appeal Community of agreement Reform society

Reader-Response Form

Reader-Response Form

Writer’s name: ________________________________

Reader’s name: _______________________________

As the writer, my major concerns/questions for my readers are:

Reader, please respond to each question.

1. What is the writer’s topic?

2. What is/are the dominant impression(s) the writer seems to be making? If there is a sentence that states the dominant impression, write it here. If there is not a sentence that states the dominant impression, write what you believe it is.

3. Has the writer used a subjective or objective perspective? What makes the choice of perspective work well in the essay?

4. What makes the opening effective? How might it be made more effective?

5. What do you find to be most effective about the essay as a whole?

6. Discuss the level and breadth of detail used—where does the writer use language effectively? Where does she/he use sensory images? Which senses does the writer appeal to? Where has the writer used active verbs?

7. Make some suggestions for increasing the level and breadth of detail. Please make specific references to the essay.

8. What two or three specific questions do you have for the writer?

9. Please circle any words that you suspect are misspelled or are typos—DON’T CORRECT THEM!

10. Indicate with “frag” any sentence fragments you suspect or find.

11. Indicated with “r-o” any comma splices or fused sentences that you suspect or find.

12. Please check off each of the following items that apply:

_____ proper heading (you, me, class, date)

_____ a title that describes the contents of the essay

_____ 2 full pages minimum length

_____ a good opening gambit

_____ appeals to all the senses

_____sight

_____sound

_____smell

_____taste

_____touch

_____ uses strong verbs

_____ uses at least one simile or metaphor

Narrative Essay Writing

Narrative Essays

As a mode of expository writing, the narrative approach, more than any other, offers writers a chance to think and write about themselves. We all have experiences lodged in our memories which are worthy of sharing with readers. Yet sometimes they are so fused with other memories that a lot of the time spent in writing narrative is in the prewriting stage.

In this stage, writers first need to select an incident worthy of writing about and, second, to find relevance in that incident. To do this, writers might ask themselves what about the incident provided new insights or awareness. Finally, writers must dredge up details which will make the incident real for readers.

PRINCIPLES OF WRITING NARRATIVE ESSAYS

Once an incident is chosen, the writer should keep three principles in mind.

1. Remember to involve readers in the story. It is much more interesting to actually recreate an incident for readers than to simply tell about it.

2. Find a generalization which the story supports. This is the only way the writer's personal experience will take on meaning for readers. This generalization does not have to encompass humanity as a whole; it can concern the writer, men, women, or children of various ages and backgrounds.

3. Remember that although the main component of a narrative is the story, details must be carefully selected to support, explain, and enhance the story.

CONVENTIONS OF NARRATIVE ESSAYS

In writing your narrative essay, keep the following conventions in mind.

• Narratives are generally written in the first person, that is, using "I." However, third person ("he," "she," or "it") can also be used.

• Narratives rely on concrete, sensory details to convey their point. These details should create a unified, forceful effect, a dominant impression.
  

• Narratives, as stories, should include these story conventions: a plot, including setting and characters; a climax; and an ending.

from http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/narrative.html

BioPoem

1 Line 1: First Name

1.1 Gail

2 Line 2: Three or Four adjectives to describe the person

2.1 Friendly

2.2 Protective

2.3 Supportive

2.4 Caring

3 Line 3: Important Relationship

3.1 Grandchildren

3.1.1 Most important relationship

3.1.2 Never wants to break this bond

4 Line 4: Two or three things, people or ideas the person loves

4.1 Making things

4.1.1 For Husband

4.1.2 For Others

5 Line: 5: Three feelings the person experienced

5.1 Joy

5.1.1 Giving Birth

5.1.2 Watching grandchildren come into the world

6 Line 6: Three fears the person experienced

6.1 Love

6.2 Death of those I love

6.3 Losing Life

7 LIne 7: Accomplishments

7.1 Raising 3 children by herself

7.2 Going Back & Finishing High School

7.3 Change life for the better

8 Line 8: Two or three things the person wants to see happen or wants to experience

8.1 Getting Married

8.2 Have large family dinners

8.3 Riding in a Rolls Royce

9 Line 9: Her residence

9.1 Oakland, CA

9.1.1 3170 High Street

10 Line 10: Last Name

10.1 Trumbo-Martin

Freemind Tutorial

Freemind Tutorial

Blogger Blog Tutorial

Blogger Blog Tutorial

Where do you stand with regard to critical thinking?

Where do you stand with regard to critical thinking?

FEET: What do I stand for as a foundation of critical thinking?

STOMACH: What upsets me about critical thinking?

HEART: What do I love about critical thinking?

HANDS: What do I feel about critical thinking?

EARS: What do I hear about critical thinking?

EYES: What do I see about critical thinking?

BRAIN: What do I think about critical thinking?

Where do you stand with regard to critical thinking?

Where do you stand with regard to critical thinking?

FEET: What do I stand for as a foundation of critical thinking?

STOMACH: What upsets me about critical thinking?

HEART: What do I love about critical thinking?

HANDS: What do I feel about critical thinking?

EARS: What do I hear about critical thinking?

EYES: What do I see about critical thinking?

BRAIN: What do I think about critical thinking?

Welcome

Welcome to this blog for Written Communication B Fall Semester at http://wcombfs.blogspot.com