Next week, we're going to do presentations on one of the papers you've written this term.  You need to select the assignment you found most interesting and create a PowerPoint that represents the ideas in your paper.

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A formal definition is based upon a concise, logical pattern that includes as much information as it can within a minimum amount of space. The primary reason to include definitions in your writing is to avoid misunderstanding with your audience. A formal definition consists of three parts.

1. The term (word or phrase) to be defined
2. The class of object or concept to which the term belongs.
3. The differentiating characteristics that distinguish it from all others of its class

For example:

• Water (term) is a liquid (class) made up of molecules of hydrogen and oxygen in the ratio of 2 to 1 (differentiating characteristics).
• Comic books (term) are sequential and narrative publications (class) consisting of illustrations, captions, dialogue balloons, and often focus on super-powered heroes (differentiating characteristics).con
• Astronomy (term) is a branch of scientific study (class) primarily concerned with celestial objects inside and outside of the earth's atmosphere (differentiating characteristics).

Although these examples should illustrate the manner in which the three parts work together, they are not the most realistic cases. Most readers will already be quite familiar with the concepts of water, comic books, and astronomy. For this reason, it is important to know when and why you should include definitions in your writing.

When to Use Definitions

• When your writing contains a term that may be key to audience understanding and that term could likely be unfamiliar to them
  "Stellar Wobble is a measurable variation of speed wherein a star's velocity is shifted by the gravitational pull of a foreign body."
• When a commonly used word or phrase has layers of subjectivity or evaluation in the way you choose to define it
  "Throughout this essay, the term classic gaming will refer specifically to playing video games produced for the Atari, the original Nintendo Entertainment System, and any systems in-between."Note: not everyone may define "classic gaming"within this same time span; therefore, it is important to define your terms
  
  
• When the etymology (origin and history) of a common word might prove interesting or will help expand upon a point
  "Pagan can be traced back to Roman military slang for an incompetent soldier. In this sense, Christians who consider themselves soldiers of Christ are using the term not only to suggest a person's secular status but also their lack of bravery.'

Additional Tips for Writing Definitions

• Avoid defining with "X is when" and "X is where" statements. These introductory adverb phrases should be avoided. Define a noun with a noun, a verb with a verb, and so forth. 
• Do not define a word by mere repetition or merely restating the word."Rhyming poetry consists of lines that contain end rhymes."
  
  Better:
  
  "Rhyming poetry is an artform consisting of lines whose final words consistently contain identical, final stressed vowel sounds."
  
  
• Define a word in simple and familiar terms. Your definition of an unfamiliar word should not lead your audience towards looking up more words in order to understand your definition. 
• Keep the class portion of your definition small but adequate. It should be large enough to include all members of the term you are defining but no larger. Avoid adding personal details to definitions. Although you may think the story about your Grandfather will perfectly encapsulate the concept of stinginess, your audience may fail to relate. Offering personal definitions may only increase the likeliness of misinterpretation that you are trying to avoid.

From:  ​https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/622/01/

​Writing Assignment #3:  Cause-and-Effect Research Essay
 
Assignment:  Your third writing assignment will involve writing a cause-and-effect essay that establishes the consequences (benefits or problems) associated with your research topic.
 
Specifications:

• Your essay needs to clearly incorporate the conventions of cause-and-effect writing discussed in your textbook
• Your essay needs to include body paragraphs that follow the M.E.A.L plan, an introduction, and conclusion
• Your paragraphs should include appropriate connecting devices
• Your essay needs to be word-processed, double-spaced, with standard margins and fonts

 
ROUGH DRAFTS:   Due on Blackboard before class on 10/13/15   

Assignment:  Create a bibliography that contains your three research articles.  Your bibliography must be formatted in APA style.

In this Information Age, it is important to pay attention to issues of information literacy in traditional, media, and computing arenas. I use the term information literacy to mean the ability of people to:

• know when they need information
• find information
• evaluate information
• process information
• use information to make appropriate decisions in their lives

The Internet has added a new dimension to traditional information literacy issues - especially in the exploding growth of the World Wide Web. Nearly a mix between all other media, the Web democratizes information ownership, provision, and retrieval. The federal government is leading the way in publishing its vast array of information on the Web. On many campuses every student may publish a webpage.The Web allows us to speak directly to the purveyors of information in every imaginable field. Few reference librarians, teachers, publishers, or other mediating forces stand between us and information on the Internet, and specifically, the Web. While this does have great advantages in expanding our information base and providing more accurate and timely information at the "click of a mouse," it also means, perhaps, more intellectual effort on the part of the information consumer to develop valuable critical thinking skills and to evaluate the sources, quality, and quantity of that information. It also means serious attention should be paid to intellectual property and appropriate use issues.

The Web is not a huge book written by multiple authors. There is no definitive table of contents for the Web and no definitive index. To some it seems more like a giant reference collection.

While it is true that many fine reference materials are available on the Web, it is not an encyclopedia. Encyclopedias have subject experts writing refereed articles that pass through editors and style guides before publication. The Web has these same experts, and many non-experts, creating non-refereed Web pages on a vast array of topics at a vast range of quality and depth. Some people consider the Web to be a digital library full of materials of varying quality and format.

The Web is not one large digital library. Libraries have trained professionals who carefully evaluate, select, organize, and index materials from credible sources.

The Web IS an electronic repository for books, data collections, encyclopedias, libraries, AND any disparate piece of text, graphic, or sound byte that someone chose to put online. And some of it is inaccurate, biased, out-of-date, shallow, and inappropriate for academic use.

In evaluating information on the Internet, one should consider many of the same elements that would be considered when selecting resource material in other formats, and a new one: permanence. As when judging any kind of publication, much is subjective. However, keeping the following elements in mind will assist users to identify resources of value to meet their information needs.

- Scope- Authority and Bias- Accuracy- Timeliness- Permanence- Value Added Features- PresentationCiting Sources Using the MLA Handbook

Citing Sources Using the APA Style Manual

Citing Sources Using the Chicago/Turabian Style: Notes System

Citing Sources Using the Chicago/Turabian Style: In-Text Parenthetical Method (Author-Date)

Other resources for information literacy and Web site evaluation. Includes a link to the University of Maryland Libraries one-pager on Evaluating Internet Resources.

Originally published May 1996 by Lida L. Larsen, Assistant Director, Collegial Relations and Information Services, Office of Information Technology, University of Maryland, College Park. Revised April 2006.

Review and Quiz: ​http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/pronouns.htm

Review and Quiz: ​http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/sv_agr.htm

Assignment:  Each student needs to select one of the following readings from chapter 3 of "Subjects and Strategy" and complete the "Discussing the Craft of Writing" questions at the end of the text.  Only one student per reading.

• Russell Baker, "Discovering the Power of My Words," pp. 50-54
• Anne Lamott, "Shitty First Drafts," pp. 55-59
• Linda Flower, "Writing for an Audience," pp. 60-63
• William Zinsser, "Simplicity," pp. 64-68
• Susan Orlean, "On Voice," pp. 69-71
• Stephen King, "Reading to Write," pp. 72-77

Thou Shalt Not Commit Logical Fallacies https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com

A thesis statement is one of the greatest unifying aspects of a paper. It should act as mortar, holding together the various bricks of a paper, summarizing the main point of the paper "in a nutshell," and pointing toward the paper's development. Often a thesis statement will be expressed in a sentence or two; be sure to check with your professor for any particular requirements in your class--some professors prefer a more subtle approach!

Students often learn to write a thesis as a first step in the writing process, and they become loathe to change their claim. Scholars of writing, however, find that a fully formed articulation of thesis to be one of the final steps in writing. Professional writers usually weigh their initial claim in light of new evidence and research; student writers should do the same.

Mapping

The thesis statement can help "map" a paper, as it suggests an order or direction for the paper's development. A thesis statement, for example, might read:

Judy Syfer's essay "I Want a Wife" exaggerates the marital expectations facing women in our society today.

The following sentence could continue:

Those expectations include managing a household, maintaining a career, and having a good relationship with a spouse.

In this example, the thesis statement suggests an obvious path for development in "marital expectations." The writer develops the paragraph by exploring the term "marital expectations." Three following paragraphs, for example, would logically discuss 1) household responsibilities, 2) careers, and 3) marital relationships.

The Weak "I will show" thesis

Writers new to college prose often include such statements. Generally, faculty do not like them and they rarely appear in academic prose. Not using an "I will show" statement goes beyond avoiding the first person, a rule that is changing even in scientific writing. Nevertheless, a good thesis in a well structured introduction does not need to state "I hope to show why medieval teenagers lacked personal freedom." That point will be apparent to readers soon enough; see the example below for how to improve this type of statement.

How? Why?

A good thesis statement often answers these questions. You may encounter a thesis statement that reads:

The lifestyle of a teenager in the Middle Ages was very different from the lifestyle of most modern American teenagers.

So what? Why should a reader continue? In what ways are the lifestyles of the youngsters different? Better versions of this statement might be:

Because of the relative freedom enjoyed by young people today, the lifestyle of modern American teenagers is very different from the lifestyle of teens in the Middle Ages. (This version at least says why the difference exists)

A young person in the Middle Ages had very different expectations about marriage, family, and personal freedom than do young adults today. (This version of the statement emphasizes the Medieval, not modern, teenager, but it still does not present an argument to be defended)

This revision of the statement above does present a point "worth making," a point one could contest or support with data:

A young person in the Middle Ages had fewer options for marriage, family, and personal privacy and freedom than do young adults today. (The essay could go on to support what the "options" were and why they were limited)

An even more detailed version of this thesis could "map" the paper for a reader:

Young people in the Middle Ages, who were considered young but responsible adults by the age of sixteen, had fewer social choices when compared to modern American teenagers. Unless they followed a religious calling, medieval teenagers had to contend with an arranged marriage and bearing children while living without what we would consider personal privacy or freedom.

Note how this statement takes more than a single sentence to make its point. Both of the thesis statements above are improvements because they do not simply state the obvious: they give a reason why or how we can accept the thesis statement. If you want a second example about how to get from an assignment to a thesis statement, we have prepared a detailed example from a paper about Gulf War.

Using the thesis while writing

This type of thesis serves another useful purpose: the writer can check the body of the paper against it, since it promises a reader what will follow. If the body contains other information, such as other major reasons for the difference cited, then the thesis may need to be revised to include it.

Questions to consider

• What is the main idea of your paper in twenty-five or fewer words?
• What is the assignment asking? How can you answer that question AND focus on a small area of investigation?
• What "code words" (such as "relative freedom" or "lifestyles") does the draft of my thesis statement contain? Are these words adequately explained?
• As you read over your paper, have you supported the thesis or disgressed? Where? How?