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Major Writing Assignment 1 Note: It is essential to follow the Writing Process; do not skip steps as this will cost you time in the long run

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Major Writing Assignment 1 Note: It is essential to follow the Writing Process; do not skip steps as this will cost you time in the long run. Topic: Characteristics of successful students OR What characteristics are essential for success in college, career, and in life. Audience: Teens through adults Assignment: (Minimum of 4 typed pages; maximum 6 typed pages: Times New Roman, 12, default 1” margins) Identify qualities or characteristics that successful students exhibit or need to develop. Select 4-5 of these characteristics and write an essay in which you discuss each of these characteristics and to what extent you exhibit them. • • • • • • • • Begin by reading the directions carefully. Begin brainstorming by making a list of different characteristics or traits. Then select 4-5 that you feel you already have. Or select 2-3 that you already have and 1-2 that you need to work on. Once you have identified the characteristics you will be writing about, start jotting down ideas to develop these characteristics. You might want to have 4 pages – one for each characteristic when you brainstorm ideas. Review your notes and answers, group some ideas together, add more ideas or delete some ideas Analyze your notes, highlight or circle several ideas that you think are related and that you feel are important to you. ONLY choose those ideas and examples that you feel strongly about, quality ideas that your reader will find interesting or ideas that are not plain basic statements or universal truths. Based on your pre-writing and ideas, generate a working thesis statement following the formula: o Topic + your opinion + reasons why the reader should agree with you or accept your opinion OR o Topic + attitude + list of specific characteristics you will be discussing Create an outline before beginning to draft your essay. The outline format example is on the back of this document. Make sure you follow the MLA guidelines formatting your outline and your essay. Remember, the more you think, plan, and organize, the easier it will be to write the actual essay. I. Introduction A. Attention-getter/hook your reader – use a quote, an anecdote, a story, or some interesting facts B. Provide some general background about the topic C. State your Claim = thesis statement (the last sentence in your introduction) II. Body paragraphs. For this paper you will have 4-5 depending on how many characteristics you have selected A. Body paragraph 1 – focus on ONE characteristic ONLY 1. Topic sentence 2. Explain your characteristic; 3. Close your paragraph B. Body paragraphs 2-4 or 2-5 – follow the same pattern as you did for body paragraph 1 III. Conclusion – wrap up your paper. A. For inspiration look at your introduction and see how you bring closure to some of your ideas, B. restate your thesis statement/claim, C. summarize your body paragraphs in 1-2 sentences. D. If you are stuck, ask a friend to read your paper and tell you what it is about in his/her own words. Write those words down and see if you can get inspired ? Research Paper Rubric Criteria: Relevant Topic - You are responsible for choosing a topic. Look for inspiration in the new, laws which have recently passed, major court cases that have made headlines, current social movements, and topics in the powerpoints and/or text. o For federal govt classes, use this website for inspiration: Point s 30 https://www.isidewith.com/polls. o For Texas govt classes, lookup laws recently passed in our state, state and local politics and politicians, and the history and culture of Texas. - If your paper does not have a relevant topic, 30 points will be removed from your total score Example: Relevant NOT Relevant A paper on how abortion became A paper on how to perform an legal in the US abortion - You may write a persuasive (take a side and explain your argument) or an expository essay (not arguing a side but explaining your topic). Title Page - If your paper has no title page on the 1st page of your document or does not look simliar to the below example, 20 points will be removed from your total score: 20 Abstract Page - The abstract is no longer than ½ page long and summarizes what your paper will be about. - If your paper has no abstract page on the 2nd page of your document or does not look similar to the below example, 20 points will be removed from your total score: 20 o Essay - Your essay should: begin on the 3rd page; be double spaced; have 1” margins on all sides; and have 10 or 12 point font size. Acceptable font styles are times new roman, calibri, or arial. - Minimum of 5 pages; you will not be penalized for writing more than 5 pages - *If you write less than 5 pages: o 4 pages → 25 points deducted from your total score o 3 pages → 50 points deducted from your total score o 2 pages → 75 points deducted from your total score o 1 page or less → You will receive a 0/200 for the assignment Reference Page * 30 - Minimum of 5 sources; you will not be penalized for having more than 5 sources. You may use books, news articles, academic articles from the library research database, documentaries, interviews, etc. However at least 1 of your sources must be an academic article. - If your reference page has only: o 4 sources → 20 points deducted from your total score o 3 sources → 30 points deducted from your total score o 2 sources → 40 points deducted from your total score o 1 or no sources → 50 points deducted from your total score - Do NOT use wikipedia as a source. Acceptable websites include those that belong to web addresses ending in .edu, .gov, and some .org. - Your reference page should be labeled ‘References’ and should look similar to this: APA (American Psychological Association) format 20 - Your paper must be in APA format. Refer to https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/g eneral_format.html for rules and examples - If your paper: o is a mix of APA and another format → 20 points off your total score o is written completely in a format other than APA → 40 points off your total score Spelling and Grammar – increments of 5 points off will be deducted depending on severity of spelling/grammar issues Organization – increments of 5 points off will be deducted depending on severity of paper organization issues. Subtitle are encouraged but not necessary to receive full points. Total points earned (0/200 is lowest score possible): 30 20 200