ENG 099: Modal Paragraphs

ENG 099 serves as remediation for academic discourse models, among which are various ways of treating a given subject. To that end, students will write, in class, four paragraphs, one each in the following rhetorical modes:

• Definition- what a given type of thing is

• Classification- a given item belongs or does not belong among the type provided

• Contrast- one of two items is a superior example of the type

• Causation- why a given type exists

Each paragraph after the definition builds upon the foundation laid by the definition; students are advised to keep their definition paragraphs handy so that they may be used as references.

When written initially in class, the modal paragarphs will not be graded, although they will be critiqued in terms of form and content. Students are expected to use the offered critique to improve their writing. This will be necessary in a general sense, as well as for inclusion of clean, revised copies of the paragraphs to be included in the final portfolio; also included in the portfolio will be a short (two- to three-page) essay derived from one of the four paragraphs.

Any and all information deriving from outside sources must be acccounted for appropriately. Acceptable standards for doing so appear on the Purdue University Online Writing Lab for more information regarding those standards, here; be sure to follow MLA rules. FAILURE TO ACCOUNT FOR SOURCES IS PLAGIARISM AND WILL BE DEALT WITH HARSHLY.