Wednesday, September 12th, 4:30 pm

Hello,

Below you will find a copy of the out of class essay #1 assignment, which was distributed and explained in class today.

Also, since I teach three 1A sections back to back, it is inevitable that a student question from one class will not be asked or addressed in another. Consequently, here a few things that at least ONE of the three sections discussed.

1. Your thesis statement need NOT be in a specific PLACE in your essay. It certainly COULD be the last sentence in the first paragraph, which is often seen, but it certainly does not HAVE to be there.

2.  Since part of the essay is narrative, it is perfectly fine to use the pronoun, "I." However, do NOT write sentences that begin with..."I think" or "I believe." It is obvious to the reader that it is YOUR experience so naturally YOU are the one thinking or believing. :)

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English 1A, Fall 2012, Sections 88, 89 and 16--Instructor: C. Fraga

Out of Class Essay Assignment #1--200 points possible

Assigned:  Wednesday, Sept. 12

Rough Draft Due (optional): no later than Friday, Sept. 21

Final Draft Due:  Wednesday, Sept. 26

Reminders:

·      Please underline your thesis statement.

·      If you submit a rough draft, please attach it to your final draft when you submit on Sept. 26^th.

·      This essay must follow MLA format for the set-up of your essay. No Works Cited page is required since you will not be conducting any outside research for this essay.

·      Your essay must be double-spaced and in Times New Roman font.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HOME

Essay Prompt: This essay asks you to employ your narrative, descriptive and analytical writing skills.

Consider your childhood and write about a place where you felt most comfortable, safe, happy and content. This place COULD be your actual house, or a room in your house, but it could be ANYWHERE. (your grandparents’ home; the school yard; the playground at a neighborhood park; Little League games; dance class; the tree house your dad built for you, etc.)

Your essay must include a detailed description of this place and the story of this place—what happened here? Why did this place bring a sense of comfort and safety and enjoyment to you? What did you do when you were at this place? And finally, why do you think it was so significant and memorable for you? Looking back, does this place in any way reflect or symbolize or help define who you are today? Why or why not? Be specific.

Your goal is for the reader to actually SEE this place and UNDERSTAND its importance and effect on you as a young child. Perhaps the reader will also get a sense of your personality, sensibility and passions.

REQUIRED LENGTH:

I do not believe in giving my students a specific page length requirement or word count requirement. Part of being a successful writer is knowing how to address a prompt accurately and fully and knowing when to stop writing. I WILL suggest that it would be challenging to complete this assignment in less than at least three Not impossible, but challenging.