Attitude: Describe your attitude toward completing this
course. As part of the description, explore how your feelings
about being required to take a composition course may affect
your performance in accomplishing the course objectives.
(1 paragraph, 5 sentences)
Inventory: Explain what you learned about yourself as a
writer working through the inventory exercise. Discuss
two ways you want to improve as a writer and why.
(1 paragraph, 5 sentences)
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 2:
PREWRITING
Brainstorming: Brainstorm about specific positive and
negative effects computers have had on your personal,
professional, and academic life. Create a one-page list of
your ideas.
Thesis: Based on your brainstorming, write a one-sentence
working thesis statement that focuses on the impact of
computers related to a single area of your life (personal,
professional, or academic). The thesis should be one you
could develop into an essay of about one page (250-300
words), directed to readers of your local newspaper. Don't
draft the essay in your journal, however. You need only your
list from brainstorming and your working thesis statement.
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 3:
DRAFTING
This entry builds on the brainstorming and thesis you
developed for Journal Entry 2.
Evidence: Identify three different types of evidence you
could use to develop your working thesis from Entry 2. Use
specific information from your brainstorming list, as well as
any other ideas that come to you. (Length open)
English Composition 52
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 4:
REVISING
This journal entry requires you to review the rough draft of
the essay below. Analyze the draft according to each of the
areas listed, identifying what needs revision. For each area,
explain why and how you would change the draft. (4 para-
graphs, 5 sentences each)
Analyze the essay's
¦ Purpose and audience
¦ Thesis statement, topic sentences, and paragraphs
¦ Evidence
¦ Organization Rough Draft: E-mail vs. Letters
Instead of using e-mails, mail a letter to your grandparents.
We live in a fast-paced world. We use computers to send
e-mails and Instant Message. Nana doesn't live in that time
zone. Forget all those fonts and emoticons or abbreviations
like LOL. You point and click but Grandpa wants to hold
something, unwrap a letter, and smell it. A crayoned picture
smells and feels special, no scanner can do that. Their
senses want to be used. He lives in a physical world, not
an invisible one. Grandparents can touch something that's
mailed. Sometimes as if touching the ink or pencil on paper
helps them touch the writer. A picture can be held and used
in so many ways. I get to see how my grandkids' handwriting
is changing as they grow. I know how they feel just from the
way they write the words.
A letter gives your grandparents the real thing. A letter exists
in time and space. Even if Grandma and Grandpa e-mail you
regularly, the surprise of a mailed letter provides something
to cherish rather than to be deleted. Of course, they like get-
ting through the Internet a photograph of you on the day of a
special event. But a printed photograph can be put into an
album or used for a bookmark or posted on the refrigerator
for regular review. They don't have to worry about color car-
tridges or paper because you have given them what they need
in the mail. Sure, they may have a hard time reading your
handwriting. A letter is a tangible way to remind them that
you care enough to take the time and effort to communicate
with them and them alone.
The convenience and efficiency of computers can't be matched
by regular postal service. But they sometimes bleep and blurp
in a frustrating conversation your grandparents can't quite
hear or understand. One wrong click here and another there
can mean mass destruction. They may get a paper cut from
your letter, but sucking on a finger while reading makes their
experience more memorable and satisfying. The cut heals;
the letter remains alive.
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 6:
NARRATION
Outline one specific time in your life when you felt extremely
stressed by the pressure to succeed in your studies, perform
on the job (if applicable), and spend time with family and
friends. As needed, prewrite on the topic in your notes file,
but don't submit that work. For this journal entry, use the
following labels to sketch out the details for your narrative of
that time. (Open)
Scene
Key actions
Key participants
Key lines of dialogue
Feelings
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 7:
DESCRIPTION
Think of an experience in which you faced an important test
(either in school, work, or a personal situation). As needed,
prewrite on the topic in your notes file or notebook, but don't
submit that work.
Sensory Details: For this journal entry, list two specific,
concrete, original details for each sense describing that
particular testing event (Open):
¦ Sight
¦ Sound
¦ Smell
¦ Taste
¦ TouchComparison: Write one fresh, creative comparison for one of
your details (one simile or metaphor).
Evaluation: For which of the five senses was it easiest to
write sensory details? For which was it most difficult? Why?
(1 paragraph, 5 sentences)
Lesson 3 77
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 8:
ILLUSTRATION
Think about what life is like when you're able to keep a
healthy balance among all your responsibilities-studies,
career, family, friends, and your own needs. Remember
specific times you struggled to achieve this balance. Through
each experience you learned something that helped you
better balance being a student with the other demands of
your life. Prewrite on the topic as needed in a separate file
or notebook, but don't submit that work. Feelings and situations: First, list several words describing
how you feel about this balancing act (at least 10 words).
Then, for three of the words, identify an example from your
experience that illustrates your feelings. Use a different expe-
rience for each word. (3 paragraphs, 3 sentences each)
Thesis: Based on this exploration, write a one-sentence
working thesis for an essay of three pages (around 600 to
800 words). The essay would inform an audience of fellow
Penn Foster students about handling the stress of distance
education with other responsibilities. (1 sentence)
English Composition 98
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 9:
COMPARISON AND CONTRAST
Reread Abigail Zuger's "Defining a Doctor, with a Tear, a
Shrug, and a Schedule" on pages 410-413. Describe an expe-
rience you've had with a doctor or other medical professional.
(1 paragraph, 5 sentences)Compare/Contrast: List the similarities and the differences
of your own experience, showing how they match up with
the work of the two doctors described in Zuger's article.
(2 paragraphs, 5 sentences)
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 10:
CLASSIFICATION AND DIVISION
Review "Generating Ideas" on pages 432-436. Using either
Method 1 or Method 2, explore the reasons students may be
tempted to cheat on one or more assignments in their college
program. Whichever method you choose, identify the principle
of classification or division and devise a set of categories or
parts in which you list the examples, situations, or other
details you would use to describe each category or part.
You may simulate a graphic organizer. (Open)
Lesson 4 107
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 11:
DEFINITION
Prewrite: Examine the term cheating as it relates to one
of the following contexts: your career, your family, or your
personal needs. Don't write about cheating as it relates
to academic studies. Explore the meaning of cheating by
describing the feelings you associate with the term, the
history or etymology of the word (check a dictionary), and
distinguishing characteristics with supporting details. Also,
use negation and exceptions. (1 page, open)Define: Freewrite an extended definition of cheating based
on your prewriting. To develop that definition, use another
pattern of development. (2 paragraphs, 5 sentences each)
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 12:
ARGUMENT
Analyze: Review "How Much Is That Kidney in the Window?"
by Bruce Gottlieb on pages 578-581 and "‘Strip-Mining' the
Dead" by Gilbert Meilaender on pages 582-586. Respond to
the two viewpoints using either the compare/contrast or the
classify/divide pattern of development. Review Chapters 12
and 13 if necessary. (Open, list)
React: React to this thesis: A still-living human body and a
newly dead body should be treated with the same degree of
respect and dignity. Don't immediately choose to agree or dis-
agree. Instead, explore in the entry your feelings and beliefs,
both agreement and disagreement, until you reach a point
of conviction, showing yourself coming to a place where you
strongly agree or disagree. (3 paragraphs, 5 sentences each)
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 13:
WEB SITE EVALUATION
First, identify or make up a particular career need you've
faced or might face, such as earning a promotion at your
current job, switching jobs, or entering the job market.
Then, reread "Choosing and Evaluating Useful Sources,"
pages 648-653, and "Improving Your Reading of Electronic
Sources," page 660. Next, examine each of the following
two sites: and
Argue in favor of the site
you believe is most relevant for your career need and most
reliable. As you discuss specific reasons to support your
thesis, use the terminology and criteria for electronic sources
discussed in the textbook. Include with your evidence
why the other site isn't as satisfactory for your purpose.
(5 paragraphs, 5 sentences each)
English Composition 152
clarify that it's not your work, but it also helps to blend
the material together. Pay attention to the proper punctuation
of quotations.
Pages 711-712. As you revise your paper, be prepared to
cut any material that doesn't provide support and evidence
for your thesis and lead to a clear conclusion. Remember to
let your writing "rest" between revisions so you'll see what it
actually says, and not what you intended it to mean.
Pages 712-716. As you prepare your final draft, pay special
attention to
¦ Formatting: Note the seven criteria listed on
pages 712 and 715.
¦ The flowchart: See Figure 20.3 on pages 713-714.
¦ Editing and proofreading: A list of tips is on
pages 715-716.
Pages 716-734. This is a reference section to use in com-
pleting your research paper in the Modern Language
Association (MLA) style for citing sources.
Pages 734-747. This reference section provides American
Psychological Association (APA) conventions for citing sources
in research papers.
Pages 747-756. Study the "Students Write" feature, which
is an example of a properly documented research paper. Pay
close attention to the margin notes.
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 14:
NOTES AND CITATIONS
Reread "Writing Summary Notes," "Writing Paraphrases,"
and "Avoiding Plagiarism" on pages 683-688. Also review
both the MLA and APA formats for citing Internet sources on
pages 729-734 and 745-747. Go to
Scroll down to the section Job Search Tools. Click Career
Advice from the bulleted list. Choose one of the following
articles: under Job Search: "Using Keywords in Your Job
Search"; under Getting Hired: "Why Should I Hire You?" or
"Five Ways to Negotiate a Better Job Offer . . . Despite the
Economy." Actively read and reread that article several times.Summary: Summarize the article. (1 paragraph, 3-5 sentences)
MLA format: Write an accurate citation for the article using
MLA format.
APA format: Write an accurate citation for the article using
APA format.
REQUIRED JOURNAL ENTRY 15:
COURSE REFLECTION
Reflect: Reread what you wrote for Journal Entry 1: "Me,
a Writer?" Compare and contrast your attitude then with
your attitude now. Reflect on how knowing who you are
as a learner helped you with the course activities. Reflect on
ways you've changed as a writer, reader, and/or thinker
throughout the course. (3 paragraphs, 5 sentences each)
Evaluate: Evaluate this English Composition course.
Explain what you found most helpful, least understandable,
and/or least helpful. Suggest ways to improve the course so
it better accomplishes its objectives for college students.
(2 paragraphs, 5 sentences each)