Overview
This is directions and expectations for the First Paper – Rough Draft.
Objectives
Upon completing this chapter, students will be able to:
• Objective 1 Write the Rough Draft of the First Paper (Ritual)
• Objective 2 Read, understand, and implement the concepts found in Survival Chapter One
Reading
Read Chapter One in Survival. Read the following directions. Carefully.
Chapter Highlights
The basics of essay writing reviewed in Survival.
Assignments
First paper Rough Draft – “Ritual”
Reviewing the Basics of Writing a Persuasive Essay – Survival, Chapter 1 (Essay
Topic: Arguing for or against a Familiar Ritual)
In Survival, Chapter 1, you will be reviewing the essay writing skills you mastered in
College Writing I. The exercises in Chapter 1 take you step-by-step through the process of
writing your first argumentative essay for this course. Be sure to read this chapter
carefully, even though you may be familiar with most of the concepts the chapter
presents. This first essay is to be written on the topic of “Rituals” as described below:
Select a familiar ritual, and argue for or against the value it represents. . . . “for
OR against.” You may not take both sides; you may not remain neutral; you may
not just describe the ritual. Examples of “a ritual” include the high school prom,
Christmas gift giving, a fraternity initiation, a wedding, a bar mitzvah, a funeral
ceremony, a 4th of July celebration, etc.
Week # Two: First Paper (Ritual) Assignment
Bunker Hill Community College
Week # Two: First Paper (Ritual) Assignment
Remember that your essay is not to be simply a description of the ritual you have
chosen. It must also convince your audience (your classmates and your
instructor) that the ritual you describe IS or IS NOT valuable and that it DOES or
DOES NOT provide an important function or worth within the culture and for the
people who practice it. Important: stress the value or worth of the ritual.
Be sure to follow Survival’s step-by-step exercises for planning and drafting this first
persuasive essay. . . . PLANNING and drafting. You need to plan the structure of the
essay – just like an architect needs to plan the house he is building – before it gets built.
You do not need to submit the exercises, but your draft that is due by the end of the week
should reflect careful thesis planning (i.e., a “divided thesis”) a clear organizational
strategy, and well developed paragraphs. Specifically, your draft must include the
following:
• Five paragraphs, including an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a
conclusion.
• An engaging opening sentence at the beginning of your introduction. (See
Survival, pp. 27-28).
• A divided thesis statement at the end of the introductory paragraph. (See
Survival, pp. 19-21).
• Body paragraphs of at least eight sentences each, with clear Topic Sentence,
Primary Support Sentences and Secondary Support : This is important – and may be
the most difficult concept your are expected to employ. (See Survival pp.31-34).
• Sentences with details, facts, figures, examples. (See Survival, pp. 31-34).
• A conclusion that follow the guidelines provided on p. 35 in Survival.
One further requirement for this paper is that you incorporate information from at least
one secondary source. The easiest way to meet this requirement is to look up the
definition of the word “ritual” in a dictionary. Even though you may be able to define a
ritual in your own words, the dictionary is your “secondary” source of information. You may
quote the definition directly from the dictionary, but you must be careful to give credit to
the source by providing a “lead-in” to your quote AND a parenthetical citation. For
example, your “lead-in” might read like one of the following:
According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, a ritual is defined as
“. . . . . . .”
Bunker Hill Community College
Week # Two: First Paper (Ritual) Assignment
or
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary gives the following definition of a
ritual: “. . . . . . . . . ”
You must also provide a “parenthetical citation” for each quotation, paraphrase, or
summary from secondary source material. Follow the guidelines in Hacker/Sommers text.
At the end of your paper you need to provide bibliographic information about the source
that you cited in your paper in a list of your “Works Cited.” For example, if your paper
includes a definition that you obtained from The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, you
would identify that source in a Works Cited page at the end of your paper. Your
bibliographic information about that source would begin with the term, “Ritual” and include
the dictionary title, the date of publication and/or date of electronic update, the date you
accessed the information, and the electronic address (url) enclosed in angle brackets.
More detailed information about citing sources and listing those sources in a
“works cited” page will be included in later assignments. But refer to
Hacker/Sommers text for a dictionary entry; follow the model’s order, format, and
information closely.
Two points to conclude: no submission should be a casual or careless effort, I should be
spending my time TEACHING you what you don’t know – not editing for things you already
know – but failed to do. (I will not be “correcting” your errors; editing/revision is your job).
Second, evidence the writing which is taught here – not what you brought with you – or
which you have read elsewhere; wonderful papers which do not evidence the concepts
taught here will likely receive an F for a grade. You are expected to evidence good thesis
statements, good topic sentences, and paragraphs developed with primary and secondary
support sentences.
Use Hacker/Sommes to learn how to document correctly – in citations AND on the Works
Cited page. This is your teaching tool for this, but if you have questions, please ask.
Submit your draft by the end of this week. I will be teaming you with a peer review partner
for paper exchange by early in Week 3. Be on time with this draft (to get full credit and full
advantage of your peer review). Make it your “best effort.”
First Paper – Assignment (to repeat the important concepts listed above)
Your draft (as described in more detail above) that is due by the end of the week should
Bunker Hill Community College
Week # Two: First Paper (Ritual) Assignment
reflect careful thesis planning (i.e., a “divided thesis”) a clear organizational strategy, and
well developed paragraphs. Specifically, your draft must include the following:
• Five paragraphs, including an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a
conclusion.
• An engaging opening sentence at the beginning of your introduction. (See
Survival, pp. 27-28).
• A divided thesis statement at the end of the introductory paragraph. (See
Survival, pp. 19-21).
• Body paragraphs of at least eight sentences each, with clear Topic Sentence,
Primary Support Sentences and Secondary Support : This is important – and may be
the most difficult concept your are expected to employ. (See Survival pp.31-34).
• Sentences with details, facts, figures, examples. (See Survival, pp. 31-34).
• A conclusion that follow the guidelines provided on p. 35 in Survival. ****Note:
these are all skills taught in ENG111 – all of them should be in evidence here; MAKE THAT
HAPPEN! I’m available for questions about what you may not know or remember; be
present – through email and chat sessions. Your “attendance” is monitored and counts
toward your participation grade.
One further requirement for this paper is that you incorporate information from at least
one secondary source. Document – using both a lead-in AND a parenthetical
citation.
Also, you must include a Works Cited page. Format correctly in the text and in the
Works Cited page.
Paper formatting should be seen as important. This formatting includes: your heading,
correct page numbering, a centered title, double spaced text, 5-space paragraph
indents, a separate, numbered Works Cited page, etc. Use the paper model in
Hacker/Sommers for a model and a guide.
Participation Guidelines:
Option 1: Please write the draft of this paper and submit as a file attachment (e.g. Word file)
using the Assignment tool. Click Upload a file to select the file you want to submit to your
instructor for grading
