Course Recap for Monday March 16, 2015

Final Paragraph Portfolio

We have completed the following paragraphs so far this semester.

1. Description-Homework-Significant Person or Place
2. Illustration-In-Class-Commercial
3. Definition-Started In-Class-Slang Word
4. Your Choice-Homework-Good and/or Bad Music
5. Cause and/or Effect-Homework-Break-up
6. Process-Homework-How-To

All of these assignments should have been completed in Google Docs.  For your portfolio, you are going to revise 4 of the 6 paragraphs based on my comments.  Make your changes right in the Google Document.  They will automatically be saved, and I will be able to go back to previous drafts to see how well you revised your paragraph.  Do not just change one word and consider that a revision.  I want to see that you seriously sat down and asked yourself, how can I make this better.  I gave you pointers on each one, but you may make changes that I did not suggest.  

If you never submitted a draft to me for any of these assignments, you cannot do a revision.  Each paragraph will be worth 25 points. 

You may also revise the following blog posts for extra credit.

1. Compare and Contrast-Blog-Best Friend
2. Classification-Blog-Three types of ____I enjoy

Make sure that whichever paragraph you revise, that it follows the rules and organization for the specific text structure.  I should know exactly what type of paragraph you are writing from the first two sentences.  Use the appropriate signal words and pay attention to my comments.

It is important that you master each text structure and understand its uses, so you can pick the right types of paragraphs for your essay based on the information that you want to convey.

Here is a brief reminder of each text structure and what they mean

• Description:  describes a specific noun using sensory details (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touches)
• Definition: tells what something is.  gives broad overview of a noun.  generalized
• Illustration: when you have specific examples you want to give to prove or illustrate your point
• Classification: when you want to take a group of things and break them into smaller categories.  when you're talking about the types, or classes, or categories, or groups certain things belong to.
• Compare and Contrast-when you want to talk about the differences (contrast) and/or similarities (compare) between two things
• Cause and Effect-when you want to talk about the reasons something happens (causes) or the consequences of a specific happening (effects)
• Process-when you want to explain how something is done.

See Text Structure Examples underneath Class Documents for examples of each.

Homework

• Read Sister Flowers Identify the text structures within the piece.  Then suggest a text structure that isn't included in the piece that you think would fit and what information you would put in it. (Due Wednesday)
• Revision of Paragraphs from today for extra credit (due Wednesday)
• Work On Final Paragraph Portfolio (due next Monday)