Required Journal Entry 1: Me, A Writer?
Attitude: After reading Chapters 1 and 2 in your textbook, 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 inaccomplishing the course objectives. (1 paragraph, 6 sentences) Inventory: As part of this assignment, you’ll take the Learning Inventory quiz starting on page 32 in your textbook. 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, 6 sentences)
Required Journal Entry 2: Correctness in Writing
As you complete this assignment on writing correct sentences, consider the importance of correctness in writing. How do errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation affect the relationship between the writer and the reader of an essay? What are your strengths and weaknesses as a writer? (2 paragraphs, 5–7 sentences for each question)
Required Journal Entry 3: Prewriting and Thesis Statement
Brainstorm: Review the description of brainstorming in your textbook on page 111. Then write a list of all the social media and social networking websites and apps you might use to connect with friends and family and to meet people. Respond: What are some differences among the sites you listed? How would you categorize them? (1 paragraph, 5 sentences) Write a thesis statement: Review “Writing an Effective Thesis Statement” on pages 122–124 in your textbook. Then follow those guidelines to write an effective thesis statement based on the types of social media using the ideas you developed in the Brainstorm and Respond sections of this journal entry. Reflect: Explain the position you’ve taken in your thesis statement and identify the items from your brainstorming list or categories that you believe will best support your position. (1 paragraph, 5 sentences)
Required Journal Entry 4: Organizing and Drafting
Organize/Outline: Using your thesis statement and evidence from Journal Entry 3, select a method of organization from your textbook on pages 140–143. Choose one of the graphic organizers or formal outlines to organize your evidence so that it supports the position you take in your thesis statement in the most effective way possible. Include your outline in your journal. Reflect: Explain why you chose this particular method of organization over the other possibilities. Why do you believe it’s the most effective way to present your topic to your audience? (1 paragraph, 6 sentences) view full
Required Journal Entry 5: Revising
This journal entry requires you to review the rough draft of the essay that follows. As you analyze the draft according to each of the areas listed, identify what needs revision. For each area, explain why and how you would change the draft. (4 paragraphs, 5 sentences each) Analyze the essay’s Purpose and audience—Can you clearly identify the audience and the purpose of the essay? Thesis statement, topic sentences, and paragraphs—Is there a clear thesis statement? Are there paragraphs with topic sentences? Evidence—Has the author provided enough evidence to support the main idea of the essay? Organization—Are the author’s points organized well enough for a reader to follow easily? Rough Draft: Email vs. Letters Instead of using emails, mail a letter to your grandparents, an aunt or uncle, or another role model who’s older than you are. We live in a fast-paced world. We use computers to send emails and instant messages. Some, though, don’t live in that time zone. Forget all the fonts, emoticons, and abbreviations like LOL. You point and click, but some people want to hold something, unwrap a letter, and smell it. A crayoned picture smells and feels special; no scanner can do that. People’s senses want to be used. We live in a physical world, not a digital one. People can touch something that’s mailed. Sometimes it’s 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. For example, 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 someone the real thing. A letter exists in time and space. Even if someone emails you regularly, the surprise of a mailed letter provides something to cherish rather than to be deleted. Of course, family and friends may like getting through the Internet a photograph of you on the day of a special event. However, 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 cartridges or paper because you’ve given them what they need in the mail. Though 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. However, they sometimes bleep and blurp in a frustrating conversation, one that older persons can’t always hear or understand. One wrong click here and another there can mean mass destruction. They may get a paper cut from your letter, but even sucking on a finger while reading makes their experience more memorable and satisfying. The cut heals; the letter remains alive..
Required Journal Entry 6: Evaluation
Briefly summarize each stage of the writing process that you learned about in Unit 1 of your Successful College Writing textbook. Identify three elements you learned that you think will be the most helpful to you as you continue in this course. Explain why. (3 paragraphs, 6 sentences each)
Required Journal Entry 7: Description and Narration Prewriting
Choose a photograph that depicts an important event in your life. Describe: 1. In your journal, make a list of everything you see in the photo. Work from left to right and from the background to the foreground. 2. List two specific, concrete details for each sense that describes your experience of the event as follows: Sight Sound Smell Taste Touch Compare: Write one fresh, creative comparison (one simile or metaphor) for one of your details. Narrate: Sketch out the narrative details of your picture. 1. Scene—Where did the event take place? 2. Key actions—What events led up to the one depicted? Did anything significant happen afterward? 3. Key participants—Who is depicted in your photo? 4. Key lines of dialogue—What was being said at the time? By whom? 5. Feelings—What were you feeling at the time the photo was taken?
Required Journal Entry 8: Description and Narration
Narrate: Using the details you collected in Journal Entry 7, write the story to accompany the photo you chose to depict an important event in your life. Be sure that your story has a clear beginning, middle, and end, and that you use your dialogue and descriptive elements effectively to convey your feelings to your reader. (3 paragraphs, 6 sentences) Reflect: Does your photo tell an audience everything they would need to know about this event? What does your story provide that your picture can’t? Is the saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” true? (No specific length required)
Required Journal Entry 9: Comparison and Contrast
Brainstorm: Make a list of all the things you write each day such as texts, status updates, tweets, emails, reports, essays, and so on. Include all the people you write to or for such as friends, family, supervisors, instructors, clients, and so on. Organize: Rearrange the items into two groups that represent formal writing and informal writing and the audiences who receive each. Write: Compare and contrast the style of writing you use when you write to friends and family with the style you use when you write to your coworkers, supervisors, or instructors. How does your interaction with your audience change? Describe the differences in your tone and your spelling, grammar, and punctuation. (2 paragraphs, 6 sentences)
Required Journal Entry 10: Definition
Read the definition of plagiarism, including deliberate and accidental plagiarism, on page 602 of your textbook. Define: Prior to reading the definition in the textbook, what did you believe plagiarism meant? Explain where your definition matched or fell short of the textbook’s definition. (1 paragraph, 6 sentences) Reflect: How does this knowledge change the way you approach your coursework? (1 paragraph, 6 sentences)
Required Journal Entry 11: Cause and Effect
Brainstorm: List the causes that made you decide to return to school. Then add the short-term effects your decision has had on your life in the present. Finally, include the long-term effects that you hope your decision will have on your future. Organize: Review the graphic organizers on pages 466–467 in your Successful College Writing textbook. Choose the organizer that you think would best present the information you brainstormed to an audience of your fellow Penn Foster classmates and arrange your content using that format. Remember to include a thesis statement in your graphic organizer. (No minimum length requirement
Required Journal Entry 12: Evaluation
Review the patterns of development that you’ve learned and used in your essays and journal entries in this unit. Explain how each of these patterns of development or organizational methods will be useful to you in your upcoming courses and your future career. (Length open)
Required Journal Entry 13: Evaluating Your Sources
Describe when it’s appropriate to use sources in an essay. Why is it important to differentiate between facts, opinions, and bias when choosing sources for your research? (2 paragraphs, 6-8 sentences each)
Required Journal Entry 14: Organizing Your Information
Describe: Review pages 586–591 and 595–596 in Successful College Writing. Describe at least two ways to organize your information effectively. Choose the method that would work best for you and explain why. (2 paragraphs, 6 sentences each) Reflect: Take a look back to your response to Journal Entry 10. Briefly describe what counts as plagiarism. When is it appropriate to cite information? What information doesn’t need to be cited? (1 paragraph, 6–8 sentences)
Required Journal Entry 15: Using Your Sources Responsibly
Review the definitions of direct quotation, paraphrase, and summary in Chapters 23 and 24 in Successful College Writing. In your own words, define these terms. Then explain the most effective use of each of these three types of sources. (2 paragraphs, 6–8 sentences each)
Required Journal Entry 16: Planning Your Argument
Study the argument essay topics on page 180 in your study guide and choose your topic for your argument. This journal entry will help you begin to plan, research, and organize your paper. Please note that both topics are very broad, so you should narrow your chosen topic appropriately to suit your purpose and interest as well as the research and length requirements. Review “The Basic Parts of an Argument” on pages 501–507 in your textbook. Once you’ve chosen your topic and identified your issue, you need to develop support. According to your text, the three common types of support for an argument are “reasons, evidence, and emotional appeals.” Follow the process outlined below: I. State your claim A. Identify the type of claim (fact, value or policy). B. Explain your purpose or goal for your research paper. II. Identify your reasons A. Reason 1 B. Reason 2 C. Reason 3 III. Start your research to develop support for your claim (provide at least two examples of each): A. Support your reasons with evidence 1. Facts* 2. Statistics* 3. Expert opinions* 4. Examples* 5. Personal Experiences
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B. Identify your emotional appeals 1. Appeal to needs 2. Appeal to values * Cite your sources using MLA citation and documentation format (that is, parenthetical citations and a list of works cited). To research effectively and efficiently, use the Expanded Academic ASAP database in Penn Foster’s digital library. For more information about using Expanded Academic ASAP or other library resources, visit
https://community.pennfoster.e…Required Journal Entry 17: Recognizing Your Opposition
Identify: Identify and define the three ways you can recognize opposing views in your argument. In your own words, explain why it’s valuable to include the opposition in your essay. (1 paragraph, 6 sentences) Reflect: Read William Safire’s essay “Abolish the Penny” on page 541 in your textbook and review the graphic organizer on pages 543. In your opinion, does acknowledging his opposition strengthen or weaken Safire’s argument? Explain. (1 paragraph, 6 sentences)
Required Journal Entry 18: Course Reflection
Reflect: Review your journal, starting with your first entry and the learning inventory. Reflect on how knowing who you are as a learner has helped you with the course activities. Consider your progress as a writer through each journal entry and essay. How has your writing changed since you started the course? Identify the improvements you’ve made and the skills you still need to practice. (3 paragraphs, 6 sentences each) Evaluate: What goals did you set for yourself at the beginning of this course? Did you accomplish everything you hoped? Explain what you would have done differently, and describe the approach to writing you’ll use in your future assignments. (2 paragraphs, 6 sentences
