This I Believe assignment (07)
ENG 3UI
J. Rice, The Bishop Strachan School
Adapted from assignments created by Marti Nelson, Houston, TX and Kyle Stevens, Dallas, TX
The “This I Believe” series on NPR is found at http://thisibelieve.org
Expository Writing Oct. 2007
Personal Narrative
As you have discovered through your summer reading and through the essays in the “This I Believe” series, individuals often explore and express their identities through articulating their beliefs about the world and what is important in their own lives.
Assignment:
You will write a belief statement of your own. Like the pieces on NPR, yours will relate to a particular experience (or set of related experiences), one that somehow required you to recognize and define a deep-seated belief you hold. The belief must be clearly articulated as a single-sentence statement at some point in the essay.
Reflect upon the experience as you write, using your reflections to shape your text. Use details, memories, perceptions, and ideas that can be gathered up then arranged with purpose. Was there a trigger moment in the experience? Did the belief develop gradually or suddenly? How does the belief provide a framework for other aspects of your life?
This is a personal piece, which means first-person expression is expected and it is informal in tone, but special care should be taken to use highly evocative language that is rich in detail.
While your primary modes are definition and narrative, keep in mind other expository modes that will provide your reader with a sense of structure, and you with different ways to develop your ideas. You may want to take one of the NPR pieces you read as a model for your structure and development.
Tips:
Keep purpose in mind. What do you want the reader to get out of reading your piece?
Keep tone in mind. How do you want the reader to perceive you, your experience, and your beliefs?
Choose your words that will make a difference as you construct your piece; diction matters.
Make efforts to construct sentences and paragraphs in ways that will catch your reader’s attention and serve your purpose.
Be particularly mindful of how your piece opens and closes. What kinds of choices have you made in connection with those portions of your essay?
Consider the placement of your belief statement. Where will it have the best effect?
Length: no less than one, no more than two pages
Formatting: 1.5 spacing, 1-inch margins, 12-point Times font (no exceptions – please see the document on Blackboard under Course Information about expectations for formatting a submitted assignment)
Instructions for submitting: submit a completed e-copy to Assignments AND print a hard copy of the same document before the start of class on the due date. For work to be considered on time, both these elements must be completed. Late or incomplete work is registered against your work habits.
This is the first of two expository writing pieces in this unit. Formative feedback will be given before you choose which written piece to submit for evaluation later in the unit. The rubric will be posted to help you make the choice between the two and use it to revise your selection.
This assignment addresses the following Ontario Ministry of Education expectations for ENG3U:
Reading and Literature Studies:
1.1. read a variety of student- and teacher-selected texts from diverse cultures and historical periods, identifying specific purposes for reading
1.5. extend understanding of texts, including increasingly complex or difficult texts, by making appropriate and increasingly rich connections between the ideas in them and personal knowledge, experience, and insights; other texts; and the world around them
Writing:
1.1. identify the topic, purpose, and audience for a variety of writing tasks
1.4. identify, sort, and order main ideas and supporting details for writing tasks, using a variety of strategies and selecting the organizational pattern best suited to the content and the purpose for writing
2.2. establish a distinctive voice in their writing, modifying language and tone skilfully and effectively to suit the form, audience, and purpose for writing
2.3. use appropriate descriptive and evocative words, phrases, and expressions imaginatively to make their writing clear, vivid, and interesting for their intended audience
2.4. write complete sentences that communicate their meaning clearly and effectively, skilfully varying sentence type, structure, and length to suit different purposes and making smooth and logical transitions between ideas
3. applying knowledge of conventions (spelling, vocabulary, punctuation, grammar) in drafts and revisions
J. Rice, The Bishop Strachan School
Adapted from assignments created by Marti Nelson, Houston, TX and Kyle Stevens, Dallas, TX
The “This I Believe” series on NPR is found at http://thisibelieve.org