EGL-1010 Essay 1: Analytical Summary
100 points
Assignment: You are tasked with providing an overview of an article dispelling a popular myth about writing. Your audience includes the instructor, classmates, and any writer in general. Your job is to give them an overview that summarizes the article and then analyze its main points. Select three points from the article to analyze. You may consider the concepts valid, significant, and timely. On the other hand, you may consider the points inaccurate, flawed, and need more support. You may also find some points to be valid, yet one point needs improvement. In writing this essay, you have two purposes:
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Summarize the content of the article to your audience: What “bad idea about writing” is this author seeking to dispel? What are the author’s main points? What evidence does he or she use to support his/her claims?)
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Provide your analyses on this article’s main points: What points seem valid or inaccurate? Is any point inaccurate or not convincing? Did the author provide enough support, and what supports were used? Did the writer use the right tone? Did the writer effectively dispel a myth about writing? Explain.
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Select one of the following assigned essays from Bad Ideas about Writing (linked in Canvas):
“Some People Are Just Born Good Writers” – Jill Parrot
“Failure Is Not an Option” – Allison D. Carr
“There is One Correct Way of Writing and Speaking” – Anjali Pattanayak
“African American English is Not Good English” – Jennifer M. Cunningham
“Official American English Is Best” – Steven Alvarez
Use the following template for drafting your essay (this starts on the following page). Notice that your paper needs to be in MLA format- using Times New Roman, size 12 font, double-spaced, your last name should be on the top right corner with pagination, etc. Remember to edit and revise before submitting the final copy. Remove all “prompts” and guidelines from your paper.
Name:
Course:
Date:
Assignment:
Title:
(Remember to remove all prompts/guidelines for your Final Copy)
(Paragraph 1: Introduction) (Hook– discuss the topic and get the reader interested)
(Background/Context/Lead-in– discuss the idea that an author wrote about the topic, and his or her view is similar or related to your idea.) (Summary of the article you are writing about. Mention the title, author’s name, and the main point.) (Thesis– discuss your evaluation of the article and highlight three points from the article that you find interesting. You may find three valid points, or two valid points and one inaccurate concept- depending on the article.)
(Paragraph 2: Support 1) (Topic Sentence)
(Idea)
(Cite)
(Explain)
(Defense of thesis: wrap-up this point)
(Paragraph 3: Support 2) (Topic Sentence)
(Idea)
(Cite)
(Explain)
(Defense of thesis: wrap-up this point)
(Paragraph 4: Support 3) (Topic Sentence)
(Idea)
(Cite)
(Explain)
(Defense of thesis: wrap-up this point)
(Paragraph 5: Conclusion) (Summing up sentence)
(Brief summary of points)
(Restate thesis using different words)
(Add afterthought or extension)
Works Cited
(If you used outside sources, you must alphabetize them and list them in MLA format)