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Writing for a Specific Purpose and Audience
In this argument paragraph, you will write with a specifi c purpose and for a specifi c audience. Imagine
that you have finally met Mr. or Ms. Right but your parents don t approve of him or her. Specifically,
they are against your doing one of the following:
Continuing to see this person
Seriously dating this person and no one else
Moving in together
Getting married at the end of the school year
Write a letter to your parents explaining in detail why you have made your choice. Do your best to
convince them that it is a good choice.
Additional Paragraph
Assignments
Imagine that you have subscribed to an online dating service. Write a paragraph in which you
describe yourself. Your goal is to give interested members of the dating service a good idea of
what you are like.
17
This chapter will provide
additional writing assignments especially suited for practice at the beginning of the course
additional writing assignments for measuring progress at the end of the course
fi fteen additional writing assignments in all
This chapter contains a variety of paragraph writing assignments. The earlier assignments
are especially suited for writing practice at the beginning of a course; the later ones can be
used to measure progress at the end of the course. In general, more detailed instructions
are provided with the earlier assignments; fewer guidelines appear for the later ones, so
that writers must make more individual decisions about exactly how to proceed. In short,
the section provides a wide range of writing assignments. Many choices are possible,
depending on the needs and interests of students and the purposes of the instructor.
Your instructor may pass out slips of paper and ask you to write, in the middle of the slip, your name; in
the top left-hand corner, the best or worst job (or chore) you have ever had; in the top right-hand corner,
the best or worst instructor you have ever had; in the lower left-hand corner, the best or worst place you
have ever eaten in; in the lower right-hand corner, the best or worst thing that has happened to you in the
past week. The instructor may also participate by writing on the board. Here is one student s paper.
You should then get together with any person in the room whom you do not know, exchange papers,
and talk for a bit about what you wrote. Then the two of you should join another pair, with members of
the resulting group of four doing two things:
Mastering the first names of all the members of the group, so that, if asked, they could introduce
the instructor to everyone in the group.
Giving a mini speech to the group in which they talk with as much specifi c detail as possible
about any one of the four responses on their slips of paper. During or after this speech, other members of
the group should ask questions to get as full a sense as possible of why the experience described was
best or worst.
Finally, you should write a paragraph about any one of the best or worst experiences. The main
purpose in writing this paragraph is to provide plenty of specifi c details that show clearly why your
choice was best or worst. The paragraph on page 8 is an example of one students response to this
assignment.
Interview someone in the class. Take notes as you ask the person a series of questions.
How to Proceed
a. Begin by asking a series of factual questions about the person. You might ask such questions as
Where is the person from? Where does he or she live now?
Does the person have brothers or sisters? Does the person live with
other people, or alone?
What kinds of jobs (if any) has the person had? Where does he or she
work now?
What are the person s school or career plans? What courses is he or
she taking?
What are the person s favorite leisure activities?
Work at getting specific details rather than general ones. You do not want your introduction to
include lines such as Regina graduated from high school and worked for a year. You want to
state specific places and dates: Regina graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx
in 2008. Within a week of graduation, she had gotten a job as a secretary for a branch of the
Allstate Insurance Company located in Queens. Or if you are writing about a person s favorite
activities, you do not want to simply say, Regina enjoys watching TV in her few spare hours.
Instead, go on and add details such as Her favorite shows are 60 Minutes, The Colbert Report,
and C.S.I.
b. Then ask a series of questions about the person s attitudes and thoughts on various
matters. You might ask the person s feeling about his or her Writing ability
Parents
Boss (if any)
Courses
Past schooling
Strengths and talents
Areas for self-improvement
You might also ask what things make the person angry or sad or happy, and why.
c. After collecting all this information, use it in two paragraphs. Begin your introduction
to the person with a line like This is a short introduction to . Here is some factual
information about him (her). Then begin your second paragraph with the line New
let s take a brief look at some of s attitudes and beliefs.
Keep a journal for one week, or for whatever time period your instructor indicates. At some point during
each day perhaps right before going to bed write for fi f-teen minutes or more about some of the
specific happenings, thoughts, and feelings of your day. You do not have to prepare what to write or be in
the mood or worry about making mistakes; just write down whatever words come out. As a minimum,
you should complete at least one page in each writing session.
Keeping a journal will help you develop the habits of thinking on paper and writing in terms of
specific details. Also, the journal can serve as a sourcebook of ideas for possible papers.
A sample journal entry was given on page 15 in Chapter 1. It includes general ideas that the writer
might develop into paragraphs; for example:
Working at a department store means that you have to deal with some
irritating customers.
Certain preparations are advisable before you quit a job.
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