Day 11
Hi everyone!
Today we looked at your homework paragraphs from Monday. I explained proper formatting for homework assignments, and answered questions about the feedback notes on your individual paragraphs, as well as how to use the feedback to make your future homework results better. I also discussed the importance of clarity (as opposed to “smartness”) in your writing, and why “advanced” vocabulary is more dangerous than specialist vocabulary for writing in a second language. Finally, I discussed the problem of positive and negative nuances for adjectives, and how they change in specific contexts in English. Finally, I talked about issues in using Korean words in English, and the necessity of explaining unfamiliar concepts (especially in a cross-cultural situation) for international readers. (For example, explaining what a hakwon (학원) is for someone who has no idea about Korean society.)
Today was a big day for homework! I’ll explain it in three sections.
1. Textbook Homework:
I asked you to do the following for tomorrow:
- On page 169, read the Writer’s Note and complete Activity 9.
- On page 170, read the Grammar note on Prepositions of Location, and complete Activity 11 on page171. (Use places and landmarks in your neighborhood.)
- Finally, for Activity 12, complete Example Paragraph 63, including the Post-Reading questions on page 173.
Tomorrow we’ll finish this Unit and move on to Process Paragraphs (Unit 7).
2. Paragraph Blog Homework:
For the next two days, you will be using Activity 8 (on page 167) as your model for the paragraph blog. You will write one paragraph today, and one tomorrow, which describe the same thing, and which are mostly the same (like Example Paragraphs 61 & 62 are almost the same). The main difference will be that one paragraph has adjectives with a positive meaning, and convey a positive feeling; the other will create a negative feeling by describing the same thing using adjectives with a negative nuance.
You may start either with the positive paragraph, or the negative: it’s up to you, just write the opposite paragraph for your next one.
3. Hand-In Paragraph Homework:
Your second typed, hand-in paragraph is due next Monday (11 January 2016). You will hand it in at the beginning of class.
For this assignment, please write a Descriptive Paragraph: use at least three of the five senses, as well as using some adjectives and a simile and/or a metaphor.
The topic of the paragraph is something specific to your culture (i.e. Korean culture, or in Saadi’s case, Saudi Arabian culture) that a person from somewhere else might not know about or understand unless you explain it. Your joi\b is to describe the thing, so that a reader from another culture on the other side of the Earth will have some idea about it after reading your paragraph. You may choose any topic except kimchi.
Some example topics I mentioned in class:
- a hakwon classroom
- hanbok
- dalk dori tang or some other specific Korean food
These are only examples. As I said in class, be creative and try to choose something unique and interesting, especially from the point of view of writing a descriptive paragraph.
This will be your last solo typed paragraph for the class, though I am planning to give you one group project to submit in our last week of class. Since it’s your last solo homework project, try to spend some time making it as good a paragraph as you can!
Here are a few templates you can use:
The first two are for the most recent version of MS Word, and the last is for older versions of Word. They should work with MS Word and Open Office alike, but it’s specifically designed for MS Word. If anyone would liek a template for Open Office, just email me by Thursday at 5pm and I’ll get one posted sometime over the weekend. Alternately, have a look at William Shunn’s Short Story manuscript formatting guidelines. Shunn does a good job of explaining everything, and though the top of the first page is a little different from what I showed you, it would be acceptable as long as you replace the address and phone number with your student number, and the course name and section number and professor’s name.
That’s it! See you tomorrow!