PA#3: Introductory Paragraph, Knocking Down the "Straw Man" (Introduction by Contradiction)

Choose a topic of your own and write an introductory paragraph using the basic pattern found on p. 14 - 15 of TSIS, both the second and third editions, (Assignment #1). Use the italicized words to structure what would essentially become an introductory paragraph to a larger essay.

Post your paragraph by Tuesday 1/31 at 5 PM, and bring a hard copy to class on Wednesday.

PA#2: Claim, Explanation, Evidence by Example

Hello, students,

Paragraph Assignment #2 – Basic Downshifting

Post the following paragraph in the comments section below by Sunday at 5 PM and bring a hard copy to class. In the meantime, observe your environment. Look around. Take some notes.

 Define and describe a problem here at Ohio Wesleyan. Start with a topic sentence that defines the problem. Then describe the problem in more detail in subsequent sentences. Finally, give a detailed example of the problem. Use the details to illuminate the description above.

 Write a well-developed paragraph that follows the basic downshifting pattern we will discuss in class. Sometime over the weekend, post your paragraph to the blog as a "comment" to this assignment. Also, BRING A HARD COPY THE PARAGRAPH TO CLASS on Monday so that we can read them outside of class.

We will follow that basic pattern on all the paragraphs you write during the first weeks of the semester:

 

Day 1: Draft the paragraph. Blog it ASAP.

Next class day: Discuss the previous paragraph and assign the next one.

PA#1 – Welcome to the Blog

Dear Students,

Welcome to the our English 105 blog. Before you leave, click on “Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)” at the bottom of the page. 

For your first paragraph assignment, you will be interviewing (and be interviewed by) another student in the class.

Please write a paragraph about that student. Make sure that you capture something -- not everything -- important about your colleague. Don't try to say everything. Narrow the focus to one critical quality.

That focus will allow you to provide the kind of evidence and detail that makes the paragraph real and engaging.

For example, let's say the student is on the golf team. Surely, the student experienced one moment that ensured that he or she would be a golfer forever. Describe the student's interest, but make it real to the reader. Capture that moment.

Post the paragraph here as a comment to this assignment by Th/1/26 at 5 PM. Bring a hard copy to class on F/1/27.