What should good college writing do? Your answer to that question will be the thesis for your paper. You will lead into that thesis with an introduction, develop it fully in supporting paragraphs, and conclude with a conclusion that wraps up what you have written.
You have read three expert sources on this topic: Graff and Birkenstein, Thonney, and Williams and McEnerney. These experts on the topic should be used to help you support the claims you make to support your thesis. Cite them where appropriate to defend your claims about what good writing should do. When you think their wording is important, quote these writers directly (but briefly). Otherwise, just paraphrase what they say. As in Thonney’s essay, you will use both in-text citations and full references at the end when you refer to any outside source.
Audience: Imagine incoming college students as your primary audience. Imagine me, your writing teacher, as your secondary audience. Thus, you must both provide advice on academic writing (for fellow students) and model its best practices (for me).
Format: 3-4 pages not counting references, 12-point Times New Roman font. Remember to choose either MLA or APA documentation style, but don’t mix them up. Links to MLA and APA are in the course. Cite Williams and McEnerney as a website, Thonney as an article in a scholarly journal (remember the name of the journal is TETYC for Teaching English in the Two-Year College), and Graff and Birkenstein as a book. The pdf I provided is the first edition. The rest of the info you need for Graff and Birkenstein is on the title page in the pdf.
Review the materials in the Conventions of Academic Writing folder on thesis statements, topic sentences, and anatomy of an essay in preparation for this assignment. And consult the Peer Review Worksheet below, as I will use it as my grading criteria. Remember you can always change your topic sentences and thesis to fit what you discover through the process of getting your thoughts into written form.
Save at least an hour at the end of your writing process to proofread your essay for errors. When you are done, upload your paper to the Turnitin link below.