Today in class we wrote our first official essay (smile). Students in both classes labored intensely over their arguments. Paper tearing and in C-113, the fan was all to be heard. Students reluctantly turned in their essays as their names were called.

In the first class, I am not certain at this writing whether or not the second class will do the same, I received essays which were not double spaced. These essays in the future will receive -0- (zero) credit.

The assignment, to write a narrative essay on the topic "RESPECT." There were two options:

A. Write a 250-500 word essay response to Farai Chideya's My Word article. The response is a critique of her central argument. Use 2-3 citations to support your position.

B. Define "respect." Use your life experiences as evidence. You can also incorporate Chideya's as evidence, and use your article as well. Cite both in the works cited or bibliography.

Here is the article in MLA for the final page. Students are to set the paper up according to MLA guidelines for an essay: double spaced, 1 inch margins, a header beginning on page 1 and heading.

Works Cited/Bibliography (choose 1)

Chideya, Farai. "My Word: On Respect: Diary of a mad, sad, and ultimately glad black woman." Newsweek. 9 Oct. 2005: 28. (This is supposed to be a hanging indent, but I cannot show it here. Italics is used instead of underscore.)


Homework

There are three handouts. One was optional, but I think I will make it mandatory. Read How to Mark a Book. In The Writing with a Thesis package, skim the entire selection and read the first 10 pages. Do not do the exercises. We will complete those in class.

Bring the Initial Planning Sheet to class tomorrow. We will use this outline for all of our essays. If you write on it, you still have to type the answers to the questions. More on this later.