Thanks for Your Hard Work!

Thank you for being such a respectful and attentive bunch through our eight weeks together. You all kind of make me want to homeschool my kids. Everyone in our class has improved at persuasive writing (which was the point, right?).

Here is the content for our last class for future reference. I will work with you on your papers until they are done.

Today's topic was using the tool called "metaphor." Jesus used metaphor in the parable of the sower as well as his other parables. Our metaphor for metaphors was frosting. Frosting is useful in making cake look better and taste better. It also makes it stick together and makes you remember the experience. Good metaphors do the same thing for your persuasive writing.

Here are some important things to remember when you are puttimg metaphors into your writing:

1. It has to be within the reader's experience.
2. It has to be simple.
3. It has to serve your thesis (rather than overpower your thesis).

Assignment for November 14

Now it looks like you are getting the hang of thesis-writing and outlining. Gotta lay a good foundation.

Here is what I want you to do for next week:

• Fix your papers like we discussed in class and e-mail the revision to me.
• For the new essay, create a great outline in the form I have taught you (you must answer the why or the how with your main heads).
• Write a great paper around that outline, with the thesis and points clearly visible in the paper.
• Post both on your blog and send them to me.

Please do not proceed with writing unless the outline is good, or you will need to start over.

New Assignment for 11-7-2006

Thank you for completing your drafts and for brainstorming. Now for some more recreation...

1. Brainstorm some more.
2. Nail down your next topic and post a new thesis and outline on your blog (in proper format).
3. Make corrections to your first essay based on my comments and e-mail them back to me.
4. Make a decision about where you will send your essay.

You should eventually post your final draft on your blog (I will tell you when the draft is final).

An Essay Example

Here is a link to an essay for your review. I obviously try to write it like I teach it.

Svendsen's marriage essay

Extension (stay of execution?)

I have decided that I do not want a finished copy of your essay yet. Please work through the corrections I have suggested and we will give it at least another week. All other assignments are the same.

Multi-tasking

Now we prepare for life in the big city. Your assignment for next Tuesday (10-31-2006) is:

1. Bring me your finished essay (with corrections made from my comments).


2. Make a decision on where you wish to send your essay for publication.


3. Make at least one blog entry containing your brainstorming thoughts for your next essay (different topic, rough draft due 11-7-2006).

This is practice for those days in the future when you will have to focus on more than one unrelated subject at once (college subjects, projects at work, projects at home, family responsibilities, church responsibilities).

Writing a Good Paragraph

Here are some ideas to consider while you are writing the body of your papers. After you have a water-tight thesis and outline (something we do not all have yet) and a good introduction and conclusion in mind, you need to put some healthy flesh on the skeleton.

Remember that you can create beauty and stay simple at the same time. Complexity in an essay is rarely a thing of beauty. Think bicycle, not space shuttle.

As each of your main points is independent of the others, each of your paragraphs should be independent. Further paragraphs should support the main thesis and systematically develop the main heads. Remember that a "I" must have a "II," and an "A" must have a "B." A well-developed outline will be structured like this without actually including the letters and numbers in the essay.

Here is an example of the paragraph structure you should consider:

Acme widgets have become the industry standard [paragraph summary]. More American homes have our widgets in their tool drawers than any other widget [support]. Hakim Olson of the Widget Manufacturers Union has called our widgets "the most common resident of the American junk drawer" [support]. Even foreign manufacturers are racing to produce what our research and development team perfected ten years ago [support]. We are not content, however, with popularity alone [transition to another independent paragraph].

Acme widgets also [note the connection to the previous paragraph] boasts superior quality of materials [new paragraph summary]...

We will discuss this more in class. Experiment as you write. Be an artist and a wordsmith. See what looks good and sounds good when you read it.

Start Writing!

For next week you need to post on four different days as you prepare to spill your brains onto paper. Please bring your rough draft on Tuesday (10-24).

It is VERY IMPORTANT that you review your notes and make sure your thesis and proposition line up with the style I taught you. You will save yourself a lot of headache and re-writing if you follow that instruction.

Here is the link to that marriage counseling essay. It might bless you and your parents.

Now That You Are Warmed Up...

We will plan to meet on Tuesday, October 17 at 3:00 P.M. in my office. Here is your assignment, should you choose to accept it (and I will talk to your parents if you do not):

1. Brainstorm about a thesis and content for a two-page (double-spaced) essay that you will soon submit to a local, regional or national periodical for publication. Bring your brainstorming sheet to class.
2. Create and bring to class a rough outline for your essay.
3. Create a new blog entry describing the process and results of your brainstorming (more than a couple of sentences)
4. Create a link from your blog to this one.

Blog help

Thanks for the good class time yesterday. Just in case you missed the place to start editing your blog, you need to go to the blogger website. I recommend you switch to the beta version as soon as possible. If you are at a loss as to where to find a persuasive essay to analyze, try World Magazine or the Harris twins' blog.

Welcome, homeschool persuaders!

You have found our class blog. Here is your assignment due for our October 12 (Thursday) class:

1. Bring to class one good example of a persuasive essay in print (you may print something off the Internet) that you have read.
2. Analyze the essay and answer this question: What are five elements that make this an effective persuasive writing? Make this your first blog entry (posted before you come to class).