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Assignment I: Diagnostic
essay/Writing sample
Due: Friday,
September 17, 2004
This first assignment
asks you to write a short, two or three page double-spaced essay, from
which I can learn a little bit about you and your previous experience(s)
with writing, what your idea of "argument" is, in particular, after reading
Chapter 1 of Writing Arguments, and what you might want to research
in this course.
Your essay should
have an introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction should state
what you will talk about in the paragraphs that follow; in other words,
let your reader know what they can expect as they read your work. The
essay should briefly address the following questions:
Can you briefly
tell me a little bit about yourself? For example: What are some of your
interests? What is your major? What do you do in addition to school that
may add to your workload?
What writing courses
have you taken in the past? Or, what sort of writing have you done in
the past? (For example: creative writing, report writing, writing for
a school paper, and so on.)
What are your feelings
about writing, and how do you feel about sharing your work with others?
How do the goals
of this writing course compare, in your mind, with those of other writing
courses you might have taken before? How do they differ? Here, you can
transition into a brief discussion of what it means to focus on the idea
of "argument," as discussed in Chapter 1 of Writing Arguments.
After reading Chapter
1, what are your initial ideas regarding what you'd like to focus on in
this course? In other words, start thinking about some final paper topic
ideas that relate to your major program, or a major that you're interested
in pursuing.
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