Assignments

Patricia Allen
Dr. Sylvia Shoemaker
English 82A
Writing Activities
September 29, 2007

Chapter 3 – Planning
1. Author Ken Macrorie claims that “Good writing is formed partly through plan and partly through accident.” Do you agree? Why or why not? Relate Macrorie’s idea to your own writing experiences. How carefully do you plan? How much do you leave to accident?

Author Ken Macrorie claims that “Good writing is formed partly
Through plan and partly through accident.” I agree with this statement because you can sometimes plan too much and put a lot of unnecessary information that might overwhelm the reader. Good writing requires understanding your subject, and just allowing yourself to be creative with your own thoughts and ideas.
Once you began, you will accidentally stumble across putting words together that will flow from the heart. Depending on the subject matter dictates whether or not I plan or not. I prefer not to, however, there are times when I am left with no choice and have to. I leave most of my writing to accident. The nature of my past writings has been for personal satisfaction and didn’t require much planning. I know my future writings will require planning and I eagerly await the challenge.
Patricia Allen
Dr. Sylvia Shoemaker
English 82A
Writing Activities
September 29, 2007

Chapter 4 Drafting

3. Imagine that you are a journalist asked to write an article about a wedding, a funeral, or another significant event you have experienced. Choose one and sketch out a plan for your article, including the main writing moves you would use. More specifically, explain what type of information you would include at each stage of your writing.


The title of my paper would be “The Big Game”
Opening
I would begin by asking questions of who enjoys sports, what is your favorite sporting event and how often do you get a chance to go and experience the excitement at a professional game watching your favorite team play.

Middle
My middle would include my excitement at first hearing I would be attending my favorite sporting event. I would include what led up to the day of the event, such as shopping for team colors, tailgate party and also who attended the “Big Game with me.
Patricia Allen
Dr. Sylvia Shoemaker
English 82A
Writing Activities
September 29, 2007

Chapter 4 Drafting page two

Closing
My closing would include the outcome of the game; my thrill at becoming victorious in the end. I would also relay my feelings of satisfaction of the overall outcome. My final analysis as to whether or not the ticket prices were really worth it.

Patricia Allen
Dr. Sylvia Shoemaker
English 82A
Writing Activities
September 29, 2007


Chapter 5 The Writing Process


Revising Review the opening and closing paragraphs of one of your essays. Then come up with fresh and different approaches for those paragraphs using the information on pages 67-68 as a guide.


Old opening paragraph
Many of us have heard the phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Even the simplest picture can sometimes send out a powerful message. The picture I chose to write about was taken from a book written by Anna Deavere Smith entitled Twilight Los Angeles, 1992. The book shared small stories of people and their experiences, written in their own words, after what some people called one of the worst riots in the history of Los Angeles. America witnessed a video of four white police officers brutally beating a black man on national television. The officers were tried and found not guilty, the city exploded with three days of burning, looting and killing. The riot scarred Los Angeles and got the attention of the entire world.

Chapter 5 page two
New opening paragraph
Can you judge a book by its cover? How important is it for you to have illustrations when reading a book? Can you sometimes tell what’s going through a person’s mind just by looking into his eyes? Can you look at a picture and understand what’s happening without reading any background material? A picture taken from the book “Twilight”, by Anna Deavere Smith, can easily be seen as a simple meaningless picture; however, it can have a powerful message hidden within.

Old closing paragraph
The huge gash on his forehead stretching from the top of his hairline down to the right side of his eyebrow indicates he was wounded during the riot. Are there other wounds that are not visible? Are they buried deep inside? Has he given up or is he looking at a new way to begin? Once again, his eyes shows there are many untold stories. What was the real reason for the riots? Were people just fed up? Will people such as the man in the picture ever have a chance at the American Dream or will he just continue and witness injustices simply because of the color of his skin. The man’s eyes in the picture are no different than any of ours, they function the same, therefore he should be viewed the same and treated as such.
Chapter 5 page three

Closing paragraph

The gash on the forehead of the man in the picture, not only shows pain and injuries incurred during the riot, but it can also symbolic of the pain of everyday life of this man in today’s society. We live in a society that sends many negative images to the world of people of color. No one other than the man knows of what’s really going on inside. Will he ever have a chance at the American Dream or will he just continue living day by day simply just getting by.



Patricia Allen
Dr. Sylvia Shoemaker
English 82A
Writing Activities
September 29, 2007


CHAPTER 6 EDITING AND PROOFREADING


Combine some of the following ideas into longer, more mature sentences. Write at least four sentences, using page 85 as a guide.

1. Dogs can be difficult to train; training includes having patience which is also a necessity.
(Repeating a key word or phrase to emphasize an idea.)

2. Dogs like to please their owners; a well-trained dog is a pleasure to its owner and to others.
(Use a semicolon (and a conjunctive adverb if appropriate).

3. Contrary to what many people believe, dogs can be difficult to train.
(Use an introductory phrase or clause.)

4. Dogs can be difficult to train, but also like to please their owners.
(Use correlative conjunctions (either, or; not only, but also) to compare or contrast two ideas in a sentence.


Patricia Allen
Dr. Sylvia Shoemaker
English 82A
Writing Activities
September 29, 2007


Chapter 7 The Writing Process


Choose one of your recent writing assignments and us the instructions on page 100 to assess the quality of your formatting and page design. Edit and redesign the paper as needed. In this assignment I took my writing, changed the font, text size and indented my paragraphs making it visually pleasing to the eye
If Eyes Could Talk

Many of us have heard the phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Even the simplest picture can sometimes send out a powerful message. The picture I chose to write about was taken from a book written by Anna Deavere Smith entitled Twilight Los Angeles, 1992. The book shared small stories of people and their experiences, written in their own words, after what some people called one of the worst riots in the history of Los Angeles. America witnessed a video of four white police officers brutally beating a black man on national television. The officers were tried and found not guilty, the city exploded with three days of burning, looting and killing. The riot scarred Los Angeles and got the attention of the entire world.




Chapter 7 page two
One of the pictures in the book can easily be viewed as a simple
meaningless picture. It is of a Hispanic middle aged man lying down with a
pillow neatly placed behind his head. The black and white illustration shows only the pillow, the solemn face of the man, and his upper chest area with a sheet nicely draped across the middle of his chest. The flowers that border the pillow and the relaxed serene expression across his face indicate it is a possibility he might be home in his familiar bed. I can also visualize his wife, kids, brothers, sisters and a host of loving family members at his bedside eagerly awaiting the right moment to bring out the Mariachi Band.

The thing that intrigues me most about this picture is the man’s eyes. His exhausted, weary eyes appear to be in deep thought, possibly thinking of the love of his family and relief that everyone has survived this tragic event. Or, are they portraying he has finally accepted the harshness of all that has happened and just lay there disgusted?
The huge gash on his forehead stretching from the top of his hairline down to the right side of his eyebrow indicates he was wounded during the riot. Are there other wounds that are not visible? Are they buried deep inside? Has he given up or is he looking at a new way to begin? Once again, his eyes shows there are many untold stories. What was the real reason for the riots? Were people just fed up? Will people such as the man in the picture ever have a chance at the American Dream or will he just continue and witness injustices simply because of the color of his skin. The man’s eyes in the picture are no different than any of ours, they function the same, therefore he should be viewed the same and treated as such.Patricia Allen
Dr. Sylvia Shoemaker
English 82A
Writing Activities
September 29, 2007

Chapter 8 One Writers Process


1. Review Angela’s writing process. How does it compare with your own writing process on a recent assignment.

One of the differences in my essays versus Angela’s essay is that she kept a working bibliography. I could have easily included one in my writing since my picture was taken from another source. Angela researches her topic whereas my information was taken from one source and my personal memories. When doing her second revision, she asked the help from her peer. I read mine over and over to my husband who helped me in choosing certain words and with to overall sound to my essay. It might have been better if he had used a pen and wrote his thoughts on paper. I did edit and proofread my material before presenting it to the instructor. I think in the future I will print and make my revisions on paper rather than using the computer, because it allows me to look over my paper and see my changes from beginning to end.