Class Notes from Wednesday

COMMON PROBLEMS WITH ASSIGNMENT #4

1. edit…sloppy editing is not tolerated.

2. possessive apostrophes

3. When you first mention an authority, use the first name at first mention and then only the last name after that.

4. plagiarism: the standard is simple:
3 words

The procedure for when you are caught plagiarizing.
Letter to Dean of Students, a hearing, possible dismissal from university.


5. commonly confused words: then/than effect/affect


Possessive Apostrophes:
The student’s performance suffered as a result of his incessant texting.
The new technology’s impact on surgery cannot be overstated.
The students ran to the library, their favorite place.
The library was the students’ favorite place.


Than
Than is a conjunction used in comparisons:
Louise is smarter than my cat.
English 110 is more important than you might think.
Is she taller than you?
Yes, she is taller than I.

Then
Then has numerous meanings.
1. At a point in time
I wasn't ready then.
Will you be home at noon? I'll call you then.

2. Next, afterward
I went to the store, and then to the bank
Do your homework and then go to bed

3. In addition, also, on top of that
He told me he was leaving, and then that I owed him money
It cost $5,000, and then there's tax too

4. In that case, therefore (often with "if")
If you want to go, then you'll have to finish your homework.
I'm hungry!
Then you should eat.


Affect
To have an influence on or effect a change in: Inflation affects the buying power of the dollar.
1. To act on the emotions of; touch or move.
2. To attack or infect, as a disease: Rheumatic fever can affect the heart.

Effect
1. Something brought about by a cause or agent; a result.
2. The power to produce an outcome or achieve a result; influence: The drug had an immediate effect on the pain. The government's action had no effect on the trade imbalance.
3. A scientific law, hypothesis, or phenomenon: the photovoltaic effect. |
4. Advantage; avail: used her words to great effect in influencing the jury.
5. The condition of being in full force or execution: a new regulation that goes into effect tomorrow.
6. Something that produces a specific impression or supports a general design or intention: The lighting effects emphasized the harsh atmosphere of the drama.
7. A particular impression: large windows that gave an effect of spaciousness.
8. Production of a desired impression: spent lavishly on dinner just for effect.
9. The basic or general meaning; import: He said he was greatly worried, or words to that effect.


Assignment #5: THE INTRODUCTION
Due Monday

Do not cite any sources in this. It is all your writing.

In addition to what we already said, there are two keys to writing a good introduction:


1. catch the reader’s attention.

There are many ways that technology has changed in recent years.
Cell phones have impacted students in various ways.
Technology has advanced rapidly in recent years.



2. THESIS:
This may not be the exact thesis you end up with, but you should start to formulate your idea, your big argument that will guide your whole essay. It states what you will prove!
--your thesis must be arguable.
--your thesis is your interpretation based on the ample reading you have done.

Thesis Statement Examples
Example of an analytical thesis statement:
An analysis of the college admission process reveals one challenge facing counselors: accepting students with high test scores or students with strong extracurricular backgrounds.

The paper that follows should:
• explain the analysis of the college admission process
• explain the challenge facing admissions counselors


The Gulf War was caused by many different forces.
(can you disagree?)


Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.
(can you disagree?)

HERE’S A GOOD EXAMPLE:

In historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.'s essay “The Crisis of American Masculinity,” Schlesinger writes the following:
What has happened to the American male? For a long time, he seemed utterly confident in his manhood, sure of his masculine role in society, easy and definite in his sense of sexual identity. The frontiersmen of James Fenimore Cooper, for example, never had any concern about masculinity; they were men, and it did not occur to them to think twice about it. Even well into the twentieth century, the heroes of Dreiser, of Fitzgerald, of Hemingway remain men. But one begins to detect a new theme emerging in some of these authors, especially in Hemingway: the theme of the male hero increasingly preoccupied with proving his virility to himself. And by mid-century, the male role had plainly lost its rugged clarity of outline. Today men are more and more conscious of maleness not as a fact but as a problem. The ways by which American men affirm their masculinity are uncertain and obscure. There are multiplying signs, indeed, that something has gone badly wrong with the American male's conception of himself.




How do you get your thesis statement to such a place?



If you start with this,

Texting technology has impacted students negatively.

The next move might be to narrow and be more specific, like this:

Texting is addictive, and this addiction is especially harmful to high school students.

You might then move to this:

The addictive nature of texting, coupled with its negative impact on high school students, should inspire the U.S. government to set an age limit on texting. No one under 21 should be allowed to text.