NOTE: The rough draft will be graded for your attempt at completing the essay ahead of time, and NOT for including all of the criteria that will be used to evaluate the final draft. If you score well on the draft, that is simply credit for working toward a more formal response to the assignment. I will also provide general comments about how to create a strong final draft where appropriate, if needed.

Details:

Rough draft length: 2 complete MLA formatted pages (approximately 500 words minimum) that respond to the essay assignment as laid out below (the same assignment as the final draft). You may not have all of the components complete, but most of them should be present if not all in some form.

Overview:

This essay gives you the opportunity to share a story about reading or writing: a meaningful, powerful, unforgettable, unpleasant, proud, negative, or positive moment, person, or occurrence that shaped your beliefs or feelings about writing or reading. Maybe a teacher embarrassed you or shamed you in class in front of your peers. Perhaps a family member praised your writing. Maybe you earned a great grade, a bad grade, or won an award around reading or writing. Maybe a special book made you love reading, or maybe an assigned reading made you hate it. Whatever the case, you have been thinking about a story that you'd like to tell about one moment related to literacy that shaped your current view of reading or writing. Do not try to tell your entire history, but instead focus on one important moment, event, or person.

Purpose:

The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with the opportunity to apply the skills that you have been developing to a narrative (rather than research or analysis), and use those skills to organize and shape your story. Another purpose is for you to understand that a clear writing, even personal stories, benefit from focus, support, and a main point. Another purpose is to provide you with an opportunity to support your ideas with personal evidence. Finally, another purpose is to provide you with the opportunity to work with one another on the process of writing, and the understand writing as a process.

Skills:

Learn and practice: editing and revision, reflection techniques, crafting an narrative theme, the application of source support/appropriately using evidence, composing clear, focused claims, and writing a narrative about reading and writing using an introduction, body paragraphs, a summary, and reflection, as well as a conclusion.

Tasks & Instructions

• Compose an research essay with the following components: (the pages are approximate, but use this structure)
• Page 1
  • 1st paragraph
    • Introduces the topic, who you are now, your views on reading OR writing, and states a main point with sub/suppoting points (at least 5 sentences)
  • 2nd paragraph
    • Shares a scene about the moment, person, event that your point is based on. Includes details such as:
      • Your age, grade in school (if appropriate), name of school, place you lived (city, state), time of year and/or day of the week (the details of the setting). Describes the place it happened. Shares any proper names, nicknames, and their relationship or connection to you: a teacher, friend, family member, mentor, etc. Remember that I will not know these details, so include them. But only include details that are relevant to the story. The color of someone's t shirt or the music that was playing is only helpful if it contributes to the story.
• Pages 2 - 4 (minimum)
  • Body paragraphs (6 sentences minimum)
    • Each contains a clear, specific topic sentence that supports the main point
    • Each contains evidence (details and specifics) that supports the paragraph's topic and the essay's main point
• Last page/conclusion
  • 1st paragraph: (5 sentences, minimum)
    • Summarizes the evidence and details that your story shared
    • Refers directly back to the essay's main point
  • 2nd paragraph: (5 sentences minimum)
    • Explains how this moment shaped your attitudes about reading OR writing. Be very clear and explain fully. The conclusion also answers the question "So What?" (As in: So what does the reader learn about you, or take away, or gain from reading this essay? What's the message?)

Additional notes for success in writing this essay:

• Use "I" first person
• Use past tense
• Reflect and make the essay meaningful throughout.
• Use all FIVE senses (not just visual details)
• Be sure to include logistical details, such as names, dates, times, seasons, ages, city, state, neighborhood, business names, school names, class names, etc. Any detail that will help us understand the situation fully, include!
• Replace any pronouns such as it, this, that, anything, thing, etc. with specific information instead.
• Use active voice rather than passive voice for more lively, clear writing.
• Use transitions between sentences, paragraphs, and ideas

You should follow the formula outlined here, and the notes provided, for success. I am more interested in your content, so I have laid out the essay's structure for you to use.

By completing this assignment you will have worked toward the following module level learning objective:

• Compose rough and final drafts of Literacy Narrative essay

Assignment 2:

Literacy Narrative Essay self review form

Submit Assignment

For this assignment, you will complete the Essay self review form pasted in below. It includes a list of the criteria for the Literacy Narrative Essay assignment. You will write/type in you essay's components as a check on how well you are addressing those criteria. You may cut and paste the questions, then also include the answers. You may also create a document with the questions and answers and attach it. Please, whatever you choose to do, include the questions as well as the answers. You may not have them all completed yet, but many should be at least in the works or in place.

If you do not yet have the item in place, write what you plan on including. You must complete the entire form in some way to receive full credit.

ENG W131 Reading, Writing, & Inquiry

Dr. Coaplen

Literacy Narrative Essay Structure & Organizational Guide Sheet

Rough Draft Due: Sunday, November 25th

• 500 words minimum for length credit

Final Draft Due: Monday, December 3rd

• 750 words minimum for length credit

Please refer to this guide as you draft your essay. This form will also be used for your self-review. You must complete this self review form to be able to have the option to revise for a higher grade after turning in the final draft of essay 3 on December 3rd. I will grade your final draft only after this assignment has earned at 10/10. This policy is in place to require you to properly outline this essay before you compose and submit the final draft. I hope to encourage you to succeed by requiring you to do well on this self review form assignment.

Include and answer the criteria/questions in BOLD below. Scroll down to see all 4 questions in full.

• Compose an Literacy Narrative essay with the following components: (the pages are approximate, but use this structure)
• Page 1
  • 1st paragraph
    • Introduces the topic, who you are now, your views on reading OR writing, and states a main point with sub/suppoting points (at least 5 sentences)

1. What is this essay's main point and sub/supporting topics?

• 2nd paragraph
  • Shares a scene about the moment, person, event that your point is based on. Includes details such as:
    • Your age, grade in school (if appropriate), name of school, place you lived (city, state), time of year and/or day of the week (the details of the setting). Describes the place it happened. Shares any proper names, nicknames, and their relationship or connection to you: a teacher, friend, family member, mentor, etc. Remember that I will not know these details, so include them. But only include details that are relevant to the story. The color of someone's t shirt or the music that was playing is only helpful if it contributes to the story.

2. What is this essay's scene/moment that will set the stage for further exploration of the main point and subtopics?

• Pages 2 - 4 (minimum)
  • Body paragraphs (6 sentences minimum)
    • Each contains a clear, specific topic sentence that supports the main point
    • Each contains evidence (details and specifics) that supports the paragraph's topic and the essay's main point

3. Write each body paragraph’s topic sentence and support/details here:

• Body paragraph 1:

Support/Details 1:

Support/Details 2:

• Body paragraph 2:

Support/Details 1:

Support/Details 2:

• Body paragraph 3:

Support/Details 1:

Support/ Details 2:

• Last page/conclusion
  • 1st paragraph: (5 sentences, minimum)
    • Summarizes the evidence and details that your story shared
    • Refers directly back to the essay's main point
  • 2nd paragraph: (5 sentences minimum)
    • Explains how this moment shaped your attitudes about reading OR writing. Be very clear and explain fully. The conclusion also answers the question "So What?" (As in: So what does the reader learn about you, or take away, or gain from reading this essay? What's the message?)

4. What are you considering as the essay's final message? What is the answer to "So What?"

• NOTE: You should follow the formula outlined here for success. I am more interested in your content, so I have laid out the essay's structure for you to use. You are also welcome to use the first person/"I" throughout the essay.

Assignment 3:

What did you learn from composing your draft? What went well? What could have gone better? How did competing the self review form affect your process of working on the essay toward a final draft?

For this discussion, consider the questions above and/or discuss where you draft is in stage of completion, how the self review relates to where your work is with the essay, and compose a list of at least 3 to do items to complete before your submit your final draft. Feel free to compose a longer list of things to do if that's helpful. Personally, I love lists, because then I get to cross off my completed work.