October 23rd

1. Your 3rd Attempt is DUE TODAY!
2. You will go through the same scoring and proofreading process as you have done the previous 2 attempts.
3. Email Mrs. Cole the two averaged scores.
4. After you receive the feedback for your 3rd attempt, you will select ONE of the three narrative attempts that you want to clean up for a final draft to turn into Mrs. Cole.

As you are preparing your final narrative draft, I suggest doing the following:

• Reviewing the scoring guide carefully to make sure that you are demonstrating the requirements for this paper.
• Look over the sample writings from Johns Hopkins and compare your work to the sample works. 
• Review the descriptive writing techniques and make sure that your paper demonstrates proficient skill with these techniques.
• Review the narrative writing techniques from the reading... make sure that the components of narrative writing are obvious in your final draft. 

Your final draft is due to TURNITIN.com by Friday, October 27th at 7:29 AM.  You will turn in your 3 hard copy drafts when you come to class on Friday. Please staple these together.

October 17th

ATTEMPT #2

1. You will, then, read through your own paper and SCORE IT with the scoring rubric, keep track of your own scores on a separate piece of paper. 

2. Next, you will need to switch you paper with a partner.

YOU WILL BE HAVING TWO PROOFREADERS THIS ATTEMPT. 

 Proofreaders will follow the following instruction:

Proofreaders: 

1. The first read: You will start with the LAST sentence. You will read ONE sentence at a time until you are reach the top of the paper. Yes, you are reading the paper BACKWARDS. In this reading you are ONLY looking for grammatical and spelling errors, and sentence clarity.  Is there subject-verb agreement? Pronoun-antecedent agreement? Sentence mechanics are correct? Diction choices accurate? If you find an error, make a comment in BLUE. Do not fix the error. 

2. The second read: You will start at the TOP of the paper. In this read  you will be looking solely at CONTENT. Does the paper have a CENTRAL THEME? Is the evidence logical and sufficient to the theme? Is the evidence relevant? Does the entire paper support the requirement of the prompt? Does it sufficiently address the purpose of writing? Mark errors or comments in RED. 

3. The third read: You will start at the TOP of the paper. In this read you will be looking solely at STYLE and STRUCTURE. Is the tone appropriate for the audience and the content addressed. Is the a narrative complete with BEGINNING.. MIDDLE... END?  Does each section have a topic sentence that supports the overall claim? Does the paper utilize NARRATIVE OUTLINE? Does is utilize active voice? Does the author utilize critical narrative/descriptive techniques? Do they use effective transitions? Between sentences? Between sections?  DO THEY UTILIZE careful and strategic DICTION and SYNTAX? Mark suggestions and comments in GREEN. 

4. The fourth read: You will be, again, starting at the TOP of the paper. In this read, you will be looking solely at FORMAT. Has the author appropriately addressed MLA style guide? MLA Title?? Mark in PURPLE. 

4. In the fifth, and final, read. You will read through from top to bottom and read for the complete experience. Does the entire paper work together? Any last concerns? Mark in ORANGE. 

Pay specific attention to this proofing process. This is an excellent strategy to ensure that your final product achieves its intended purpose.  

AFTER you are done PROOFING. You will need to SCORE the paper with the specific narrative rubric. Please write the scores... PLUS the justification of their scores ON THEIR PAPER AND their scoring guide.  You will then give them an AVERAGE of the 7 scores.. (we struggled with this last round... Add up all 7 and then divide that number BY 7. Round up.)

LAST... email your 2 averaged scores to HRH COLE. 

FOR WEDNESDAY: Outline for attempt #3 due at the beginning of class on Wednesday. 

October 16th

1. Outline for narrative attempt #2 is due today.

2. Read pages 374-376, Carl Sagain's "Frederick Douglass: The Path to Freedom" in Reader for College Writers. 

Before reading:
 - Examine how Sagan uses dialogue effectively. Read his direct quotations carefully.
-  Think about what is the "path to freedom" that is discussed in this essay.
- Review discussed narrative and descriptive writing techniques.

After reading:
Go through the "Questions for Discussion" and "Thinking Critically" with a small group.

For Tuesday:
From your outline, and strongly referencing the John's Hopkins samples PLUS the scoring guide, write your draft for attempt #2. Hard copy is due on Tuesday for class. PRINT IT OFF BEFORE YOU COME TO CLASS.

October 12th

You will need to switch you paper with a partner. Proofreaders will follow the following instruction:

Proofreaders: 

1. The first read: You will start with the LAST sentence. You will read ONE sentence at a time until you are reach the top of the paper. Yes, you are reading the paper BACKWARDS. In this reading you are ONLY looking for grammatical and spelling errors, and sentence clarity.  Is there subject-verb agreement? Pronoun-antecedent agreement? Sentence mechanics are correct? Diction choices accurate? If you find an error, make a comment in BLUE. Do not fix the error. 

2. The second read: You will start at the TOP of the paper. In this read  you will be looking solely at CONTENT. Does the paper have a CENTRAL THEME? Is the evidence logical and sufficient to the theme? Is the evidence relevant? Does the entire paper support the requirement of the prompt? Does it sufficiently address the purpose of writing? Mark errors or comments in RED. 

3. The third read: You will start at the TOP of the paper. In this read you will be looking solely at STYLE and STRUCTURE. Is the tone appropriate for the audience and the content addressed. Is the a narrative complete with BEGINNING.. MIDDLE... END?  Does each section have a topic sentence that supports the overall claim? Does the paper utilize NARRATIVE OUTLINE? Does is utilize active voice? Does the author utilize critical narrative/descriptive techniques? Do they use effective transitions? Between sentences? Between sections? Mark suggestions and comments in GREEN. 

4. The fourth read: You will be, again, starting at the TOP of the paper. In this read, you will be looking solely at FORMAT. Has the author appropriately addressed MLA style guide? Mark in PURPLE. 

4. In the fifth, and final, read. You will read through from top to bottom and read for the complete experience. Does the entire paper work together? Any last concerns? Mark in ORANGE. 

Pay specific attention to this proofing process. This is an excellent strategy to ensure that your final product achieves its intended purpose. 

AFTER you are done PROOFING. You will need to SCORE the paper with the specific narrative rubric. Please write the scores... PLUS the justification of their scores ON THEIR PAPER.  You will then give them an AVERAGE of the 7 scores.. (Add up all 7 and then divide that number BY 7. Round up.)

LAST... EMAIL  your TWO SCORES  to HRH COLE. 

HOMEWORK for MONDAY: 
Round #2 outline is due on Monday. 

October 9th and 10th

1. You are working to complete your first narrative draft, which is due on Thursday, October 12th.

Utilize your resources carefully.  Use the samples and outlines to guide you. Review often the scoring guide.

Friday, October 6th

2. You have a first draft of your first college application essay due in class on THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12th. This is 700 words maximum. Remember to have the word count at the bottom of the paper. We have reviewed multiple examples of descriptive and narrative writing. We have examined the techniques of narrative and descriptive writing.

You will find your first "it is real now" narrative paper assignment/college entrance essay here: College Entrance Essay Attempt #1

3. Before you begin, you need to pick 3 essay samples from the Johns Hopkins link of "Essays that Worked"
JHU- Essays that Worked

Read and annotate the example of stellar college admission essays from Johns Hopkins. Put these findings in your notes.

In 2013, JH had over 20,000 applications and accepted close to 3,500. The admissions committed chose this essay as outstanding and memorable. WHY? What did it do that makes it so effective and productive?

While you study these samples, you will at the bottom what college admission officers had to say about the successful essays. Use this information.

4. Outline your first narrative piece. The prompt is designed to really make you think. Go through the question thoroughly before you start writing. This prompt is designed to show the University of Pennsylvania who you are. How can you show them who you are and why you will fit at their university?

Though we have studied multiple narrative works, I have provided a narrative template to assist you in writing this paper. This is to be used a guiding structure, but place your focus on developing the narrative and descriptive techniques in telling your story.

I have also placed some handouts on transitions, dialogue, and effective verbs under "writing instruction".   Remember proper MLA heading and formatting.

Your FIRST DRAFT IS DUE OCTOBER 12th!!!

Remember your writing goals are: Believable. Effective. Interesting.

Thursday, October 5th

SENIOR PICTURES WILL BE TAKEN ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12TH! 

1. Read and take notes on the SOAPSTONE analysis process. The link is found here: SOAPSTONE analysis

2. Do another reading of "Revolt of Mother" using the SOAPSTONE process. You are still examining the narrative techniques, but you are adding a level of the HOW and WHY.

This will help your examination of the text in your Socratic seminar.

3. For the Socratic seminar, you will have thoroughly annotated the use of descriptive/narrative writing techniques in Freeman's "Revolt of Mother" text. Remember you are identifying and evaluating the descriptive writing techniques... The HOW. The WHY!

Write 4 higher level questions asking the HOW and the WHY of these techniques.

4. We are studying this text as a sample of writing... we are not studying it for its overall literary/story purpose. We are looking at Freeman's writing style, so we can mirror the techniques as we work into our first paper. Study the techniques!!!

For FRIDAY:

1. Review the Personal Narrative Rubric. Look over the criteria on the far left column. This is what you will be targeting for in your writing. I WOULD... put these criterion in your NOTES!
Personal Narrative RUBRIC

2. You need to study/review/soak in the following Personal Narrative Outline example. PUT THIS IN YOUR NOTES: Personal Narrative OUTLINE
** This will be the outline format that we will be utilizing for the first paper.

3. Read the following student sample of a personal narrative: Student Sample- Personal Narrative