PAPER #1: DESCRIPTION DUE:
18 September 2008
Let's get descriptive! English
101 with Professor Russell
ASSIGNMENT: Taking a cue from the readings in Chapter 4 of the Patterns for a Purpose text, write a descriptive essay in which you descriptively describe an experience based on one of the following prompts:
¥ If you recently visited a place you knew as a child -- or if you can do so now -- describe the place to convey your feelings upon revisiting it. [See N. Scott Momaday's "The Homestead on Rainy Mountain Creek", pages 119-121.]
¥ To express your feelings and relate your experience, do what Alfred Kazin does [in his essay "My Neighborhood", pages 124-126] and describe the neighborhood where you grew up. Your description should convey whether you liked the neighborhood, disliked the neighborhood, or had conflicting feelings about it.
¥ Describe your favorite season to express your feelings and/or relate your experience. Be sure to include a dominant impression and details that explain why the season is so pleasant for you. [See Rick Bass's "A Winter's Tale", pages 129-132.]
¥ If you have experienced considerable pain, describe what you went through. For example, you can describe having a broken leg, a migraine headache, or a sports injury. Your purpose can be to relate your experience, to express your feelings about it, and/or to inform your reader of what the experience was like. [See Annie Dillard's "The Deer at Providencia", pages 135-138.]
¥ In paragraph 7 of "Struck by Lightning", pages 141-146, Gretel Ehrlich describes an approaching thunderstorm. To entertain your reader, describe a time just before or after a particular weather event: a spring shower, an ice storm, a thunderstorm, a hurricane, a flash flood, or some other occurrence.
¥ Choose a prompt from page 152.
Be sure to read/review pages 105-110 in the Patterns for a Purpose book, which should encourage your writing to be expressive, specific, and original (free of clichŽs).
REQUIREMENTS: This paper should be typed, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, in 12-point, Times New Roman font. Be sure to include a proper heading (your name, my name, the course, the date) and header (your last name and the page number). Your paper should have a dynamic title (that is, something other than "Paper #1"). Do not include a cover page. Your finished work should be 3Ð4 pages in length.
DEADLINE: This paper is due in class on Thursday, September 18, 2008. If for some reason you are not in class, you will be expected to e-mail your paper in MS Word format to me at rar239@nyu.edu before 11 A.M. on 9/18/08.
English 101
Professor Russell
PAPER #1: Grading Criteria
NAME
____________________________________
GRADE ______
FORMATTING: 30 points
Heading (upper left: name, teacher, course, date)
Header (upper right: last name and page number)
Double-space
1-inch margins
12-point, Times New Roman font
__________ points
CONTENT: 40 points
Work on details
Specific nouns, verbs, and modifiers, appealing to the appropriate senses
Vary sentences/sentence structure
Details to fulfill purpose or combination of purposes (meaning)
Show don't tell (describe don't dictate)
Arrange details in a (more) suitable order
Interesting title (indicates paper's content)
__________ points
GRAMMAR/SPELLING 30 points
Standard grammar and spelling
Appropriate word choice; use specific language
Avoid unnecessary words (including "so", "very", "thing", "ended up", "talked
about", "basically", "truly", "the reason is...because", "good", "bad", "it")
Avoid wordiness and run-on sentences/comma splices
Be careful of confused words and mindful of common errors (e.g. "there" vs.
"their" vs. "they're")
Note standard idioms
Correct your use of plurals and possessives; pronouns
Subject-verb agreement and proper, consistent verb tense
Watch punctuation: commas, colons, semicolons, dashes, etc.
__________ points