What Do I Wish From Barack Obama?

Please look at the issues below and pick one that you can write about. Today's topic is "What do I wish from Barack Obama?" Choose one issue to write an expository essay about on your blog. First, complete your outline in Microsoft Word. Then, write your essay in a Word document with your name on it. Make sure you use Spell Check. Finally, copy your essay into your blog post by clicking on "Edit Html" and then right clicking to paste it in.

Here are the issues you can choose from:

*Strengthening America overseas

*Plan to end the Iraq War

*Create a healthcare system that works

*Energy and the environment

*Improve our schools

*Protecting the Homeland

*Immigration and the border

*Honoring our Veterans

*Cleaning up the Washington culture of corruption

*Improve gun control to eliminate crime

*Give funding for embryonic stem cell research

*Preserve women's rights of reproductive choice

If you have a different issue that you wish from Barack Obama, please see me. Good luck!

Life-Changing Event...

Today's assignment is to write a narrative essay about an occasion/event that changed your life or way of thinking about something. Please review the guidelines for narrative writing below:

What is a Narrative Essay?

When writing a narrative essay, one might think of it as telling a story. These essays are often anecdotal, experiential, and personal—allowing the student to express herself in a creative and, quite often, moving way.

Here are some guidelines for writing a narrative essay:

If written as a story, the essay should include all the parts of a story.
This means that you must include an introduction, plot, characters, setting, climax, and conclusion.

When would a narrative essay not be written as a story?

A good example of this is when an instructor asks a student to write a book report. Obviously, this would not necessarily follow the pattern of a story and would focus on providing an informative narrative for the reader.

The essay should have a purpose.

Make a point! Think of this as the thesis of your story. If there is not point to what you are narrating, why narrate it at all?

The essay should be written from a clear point of view.

It is quite common for narrative essays to be written from the standpoint of the author; however, this is not the sole perspective to be considered. Creativity in narrative essays often times manifests itself in the form of authorial perspective.

Use clear and concise language throughout the essay.

Much like the descriptive essay, narrative essays are effective when the language is carefully, particularly, and artfully chosen. Use specific language to evoke specific emotions and senses in the reader.

The use of the first person pronoun ‘I’ is welcomed.

Do not abuse this guideline! Though it is welcomed it is not necessary—nor should it be overused for lack of clearer diction.

As always, be organized!

Have a clear introduction that sets the tone for the remainder of the essay. Do not leave the reader guessing about the purpose of your narrative. Remember, you are in control of the essay, so guide it where you desire (just make sure your audience can follow your lead).

Good luck!

Parents Are/Are Not the Best Teachers...

Today you will be working on a persuasive essay. Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Parents are the best teachers. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. You will work on your outline in Microsoft Word before you begin writing your first draft in your blog. Your title for your blog post will either be Parents Are the Best Teachers or Parents Are Not the Best Teachers, depending on whether you agree or disagree with the original statement. Please follow the format below when writing your outline. Remember, every great architect starts with a plan. YOU are the architect for this essay, so plan it wisely.

PERSUASIVE ESSAY OUTLINE

I. Introduction- thesis statement (topic sentence)
A. Reason #1
B. Reason #2
C. Reason #3
D. Tie it all together, making the reader want to read the rest of your essay; perhaps, use a question to capture the reader’s attention

II. Reason #1
A. Supporting detail #1
B. Supporting detail #2
C. Supporting detail #3
D. Offer an opposing viewpoint to Reason #1 and transition into Reason #2

III. Reason #2
A. Supporting detail #1
B. Supporting detail #2
C. Supporting detail #3
D. Offer an opposing viewpoint to Reason #2 and transition into Reason #3

IV. Reason #3
A. Supporting detail #1
B. Supporting detail #2
C. Supporting detail #3
D. Offer an opposing viewpoint to Reason #3 and transition into your Conclusion

V. Conclusion- restate your Introduction
A. Reason #1
B. Reason #2
C. Reason #3
D. End with an effective closing that makes your reader want to change his/her mind and adopt your viewpoint as their own

Good luck!

Expository Essay Guidelines...

Please check your post from yesterday and make sure your essay on "A Skill Everyone Needs," follows the format below. Since it was an expository essay, it's important to make sure you've followed the guidelines below. Good luck revising! When you're done editing yesterday's post, you can go ahead and publish it again.

Introduction
• Hooks the reader and captures his or her attention
• Contains the topic sentence of the essay
• Briefly states 3 or more main ideas which will be
explained in body of paper

Body
• Longest section of the essay
• Contains 3 or more fully developed paragraphs
(one paragraph to support each main idea stated in
the introduction)
• Each paragraph contains a topic sentence and at
least 4 to 5 supporting detail sentences
• Transition words and phrases help move reader
from one idea to the next (Ex: also, in addition,
another reason, etc.)

Conclusion
• Brings closure to the essay
• Briefly restates 3 the main ideas (without repeating
the exact words in the introduction)
• May end with strong statement or an appeal to the
emotions

A Skill Everyone Needs...

This is today's writing prompt:

What is a very important skill a person should learn in order to be successful in the world today? Choose ONE skill and use specific reasons (3) and examples (3) to support your choice.

The title of your post should be, "A Skill Everyone Needs."

Adding a Gadget/Becoming a Follower...

Today we're going to work on adding a specific gadget to our blogs, such as a Favorite Authors list. Right now, I need you to do the following:

1. Log in to your blog.
2. Click on "Layout."
3. Click on "Add a Gadget."
4. Scroll down to where it says, "List," and click on the "+" sign.
5. Enter this information-
Title = Favorite Authors
Number of items to show in list = 10
Sorting = Sort Alphabetically
Add list item = enter the name of one of your favorite authors; add at least FIVE
6. Click on "Save."

There you go! You've just added a gadget to your blog! You will see that there are several types of gadgets to add. We will NOT be adding pictures of ourselves or our classmates for safety purposes. We are also going to limit the amount of information we share on the World Wide Web. It's important to keep in mind that everything you write here is visible for anyone to see on the Internet. Therefore, we will remain private as much as we possibly can. Do NOT adjust your own profile information until we work on that as a class.

Now, let's figure out how to become Followers of our favorite blogs. On your sidebar, you have a list of your classmates' blogs you can read. Go to the ones you like the most and scroll all the way to the bottom of it. Click on "Follow this blog." When you get to the next screen, click on "Follow publicly as..." It will show up on your "Dashboard" as one of the blogs you follow and will let you know when that person updates their posts.

Voila!

The Best Day Ever...Narrative Essay Practice...

Today's assignment is for you to write a narrative essay about ONE time when everything went right for you. Your title for this blog post will be, "The Best Day Ever." Be sure to include specific details, descriptions, and reactions in your essay. Let's review what a narrative essay is.

What is a Narrative Essay?

When writing a narrative essay, one might think of it as telling a story. These essays are often anecdotal, experiential, and personal—allowing the student to express herself in a creative and, quite often, moving way.

Here are some guidelines for writing a narrative essay:

If written as a story, the essay should include all the parts of a story.
This means that you must include an introduction, plot, characters, setting, climax, and conclusion.

When would a narrative essay not be written as a story?

A good example of this is when an instructor asks a student to write a book report. Obviously, this would not necessarily follow the pattern of a story and would focus on providing an informative narrative for the reader.

The essay should have a purpose.

Make a point! Think of this as the thesis of your story. If there is not point to what you are narrating, why narrate it at all?

The essay should be written from a clear point of view.

It is quite common for narrative essays to be written from the standpoint of the author; however, this is not the sole perspective to be considered. Creativity in narrative essays often times manifests itself in the form of authorial perspective.

Use clear and concise language throughout the essay.

Much like the descriptive essay, narrative essays are effective when the language is carefully, particularly, and artfully chosen. Use specific language to evoke specific emotions and senses in the reader.

The use of the first person pronoun ‘I’ is welcomed.

Do not abuse this guideline! Though it is welcomed it is not necessary—nor should it be overused for lack of clearer diction.

As always, be organized!

Have a clear introduction that sets the tone for the remainder of the essay. Do not leave the reader guessing about the purpose of your narrative. Remember, you are in control of the essay, so guide it where you desire (just make sure your audience can follow your lead).

Good luck! Happy writing!

Photos and Links...

Today, we're going to work on uploading a photo to our blogs. First, we'll find a photo depicting something in nature. Then, we'll save it to our computers. After that, we'll upload it to our blogs. Voila!

We will write a haiku about our picture. The first line has five syllables; the second line has seven syllables; the third line has five syllables. It does not have to rhyme at all.

Here is my example:

Maui is lovely

It is where I was married

on this waterfall

If time permits, we'll work on creating links to each other on our blogs.

Her Smile...

Today's assignment is to write a narrative using this as your first sentence:

When I looked at her smile, I knew she was up to something.

Start your narrative with that sentence and begin writing.

25 Things I Want to do in my Lifetime...

1. Visit Yellowstone
2. Get a second Masters degree
3. Live to see my grandchildren
4. Go back to Hawaii again
5. Write a book
6. Remodel my kitchen
7. Travel throughout Europe
8. Take my kids to Norway
9. Have another baby
10. Pay off my mortgage
11. Make stuffed artichokes
12. Find time to do some artwork
13. Become independently wealthy
14. Take my kids to Great America and I don't want to be too old to do it
15. See all 50 states
16. Take my kids on their first aiplane ride
17. Move to the Portland, Oregon area
18. Grow old with my husband
19. Become a Grandma
20. Visit my sister more often
21. Figure out why my basement gets water and have the means to fix it
22. Have long hair again, just so I can chop it off
23. Make sure I never get betrayed again
24. Have a vacation home
25. Remember what's most important