Assignment #4: Four ways of looking at a mandatory composition essay

To recap what we discussed in class--this is sort of the equivalent of those "choose your own adventure" books. Work through the following steps, one at a time:

1. choose one of four possible essay topics

a. A fun activity that I enjoy doing
b. Writing about a place or event
c. Writing about a song
d. Describe your life ten years from now. Use research to describe current trends and how they might evolve in the future.

2. After you have chosen one of the above categories, choose a more specific topic (for example, if you chose "fun activity" then you should narrow it down to "soccer" or "wakeboarding" or something specific).

3. Once you have your topic narrowed down, your essay will be composed of three sections.

Section I: You will write about your subject from a personal perspective

Section II: You will look at your subject from a research perspective, providing background information, a historical perspective, the role of your subject in culture at large, etc.

Section III: Final analysis: in this section, you will try to make connections between your personal experiences and the research/historical perspective. How does your perspective differ from the historical/research perspective? How is it the same? What other insights have you learned from your experience and research regarding this subject?


The entire paper should be at *least* six pages, hopefully more.

The first rough draft is due by 5pm June 11th, submitted to Webct.

The Final draft is due 5pm June 18th, submitted to Webct.

Your final draft should include 2-4 sources, in APA style. More on this later

Your final draft should be intentionally designed, with appropriate font and layout decisions, and at least two photographs or illustrations.


Please draw upon our in-class discussion as well for ideas on how to complete this assignment.

posted by craniac @