Length: 3-5 pp., Times 12 Font, 1″ margins, double-spaced, with descriptive essay title
Due: Rough Draft this Sunday/Final Draft Next Sunday
In this composition, students will write several paragraphs on a chosen topic by employing one or more rhetorical modes as paragraph organization strategies. Topic sentences for paragraphs and transitions between sentences and paragraphs must clearly announce, using appropriate words and phrasing, one of the following rhetorical modes, which should develop and unify each paragraph: process, description, comparison, contrast, illustration, definition, classification, narration, cause/effect. At least three different rhetorical modes should be readily identifiable in three different paragraphs. Also required will be basic essay structure with an introduction, thesis/topic statement, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. There must be a bare minimum of five independent paragraphs, each of which must contain a bare minimum of five complete sentences, preferably with various compound, complex, and simple sentences. Successful transitions must be made between sentences and paragraphs. Special attention will be paid to sentence structure/correctness, paragraph unity/development, and essay structure. Issues in grammar, mechanics, and punctuation will also be addressed through revision, illustrating writing as a process. The composition should formatted in Times 12 font and be double-spaced with one-inch margins.
