Hello,
As I am looking over the (very few) rough drafts of essay 3 I received on Wednesday, it occurs to me that I need to remind you of something I have discussed in class briefly and have written on several of your other essays.
The issue is about tense.
When you are writing about something you have read or viewed, it is much better to write about the contents of the article or film in present tense. This eliminates wordiness and really helps to engage the reader.
For example:
Here are a few sentences written in past tense:
Kien began the story of his journey on his fifth birthday. Throughout the book we saw him turn into a young man. He not only developed physically but mentally as well. Kien remembered his mother, Khuon, as a beautiful woman, but she came across as selfish most of the time. She seemed to pay more attention to herself than she did to Kien and his brother, Jimmy.
REVISED--IN PRESENT TENSE
Kien begins the story of his journey on his fifth birthday. Throughout the book, readers see him turn into a young man. He develops both physically but mentally. Kien remembers his mother, Khuon, as a beautiful woman, but she is also selfish. She pays more attention to herself than she does to Kien and his brother, Jimmy.
If you feel you need more explanation, please ask me in class and I will be happy to explain further.
ALSO, a few of you asked me yesterday if I was planning to extend the rough draft due date (which was yesterday) for out of class essay 3.
In all fairness, I am not going to extend the due date.
By this time in the semester, if you have not learned some time management skills, giving you an extension is not going to aid in that endeavor. :)
(The workload for this course is not huge. However, many of the assignments require PLANNING, TIME and REFLECTION.)
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