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Reflective Journal Format for The Secret Life of Bees

Journal # _______________Chapter #_______________  Pgs. _______________

Your Title (“    ”)  for this chapter: _________________________________________________ 

Fill in the chart with as much detail as possible in all three columns.

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Reflective Journal Format for Night by Elie Wiesel

Journal # _______________Chapter #_______________  Pgs. ______________

Your Title (“    ”)  for this chapter: _________________________________________________ 

Fill in the chart with as much detail as possible in all three columns.

                                                                            
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Bridge to Successful Writing:

Although the writing process is usually presented as a series of clearly defined
steps—prewriting/planning, drafting, and revising-- this is meant as a model not a definitive
approach.  First of all, ideas do not always flow in a straight progression and many times 
the stages overlap.  For example, after completing a rough draft, a student may need to 
go back and do additional planning before revising. Also, formulating an introduction and 
conclusion can often occur after a thesis and body paragraphs have already been written.  
Seeing writing as a process can help you manage the task more efficiently and give you tools
for getting started and for reworking what you write. Revision literally means “re-seeing” 
and involves more than just fixing spelling and grammatical errors and making a "neater" 
copy of your paper..

The more you write, the better acquainted you will become with your personal writing process 
and with ways to modify it to suit various writing tasks. Writing is not easy, but it is important 
for your continued academic and personal success.

A rough draft and revised draft are required for each paragraph and essay you write. A rough draft is a work-in-progress,
a completed attempt at the assignment that is ready to be reviewed by your peers then revised and edited into final draft form.
Completed writing assignments need to be saved throughout the semester for inclusion in your semester writing portfolio which
will demonstrate your growth in this class.

Paragraphs:
The topic sentence has a What? (the topic or subject you are writing about) and a So What? (the controlling idea or
main point you want to make)
See pgs. 74-76 in Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers

Essays:
Essays are usually divided into three parts: the introduction (which contains your thesis), the body paragraphs,
and the conclusion

Thesis:
A thesis is the controlling idea for an entire essay. You will learn to locate a thesis as the last sentence of your introduction.

Titles:
Every paragraph and essay you write should have an original title.

Introduction:
This is the first thing your readers see and the interest level, tone, and purpose need to be established effectively. Here are some possibilities:
1. Begin with background information
2. Begin with a fact or statistic
3. Begin with a definition of a relevant term or concept
4. Begin with an anecdote (short story) that leads to thesis
5. Begin with a question
6. Begin with a quotation
7. Begin in the middle of the action. Fill in any necessary information later.
8. Begin with some sensory details
See pgs. 72-73 in Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers

Conclusion:
This is the last thing your readers see and your entire essay can be judged by the effectiveness of your conclusion.
Like an introduction, a conclusion is usually a full paragraph, though it will tend to be the shortest one in the essay.

Conclusion Possibilities:
1. Conclude by reviewing your key points or restating your thesis
2. Conclude by recommending a course of action
3. Conclude by making a prediction
4. Conclude with a relevant quotation
See pg. 81 in Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers

Revision Pointers:
1. Give yourself a cooling-off period between drafts
2. Try to work from a typed draft (rather than a handwritten one or looking at your work on the computer screen)
3. Read your draft aloud (you will often hear errors you can’t see)
4. Take advantages of opportunities to get feedback (peers, professor, Writing Center etc.)

Basic MLA Citation and Documentation Information:
(see also Rules of Thumb: A Guide for Writers pgs.141-149)

Use the following examples to document quotations from our texts for this course:

                                                                    Works Cited

Barreca, Gina. “Why Women Laugh.” The Short Prose Reader. 11th ed.

        Eds.Gilbert H. Muller. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2006.407-417.

Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. New York: Penguin, 2002.

Smith, Brenda D. Bridging the Gap. 8th ed. New York: Pearson, 2005.

Wiesel, Elie. Night. 1960. Trans. Marion Wiesel. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006.


                                                   MLA Format:

Using Microsoft Word, set up your essays in correct MLA format following these guidelines:
(NOTE: If you have Word 2007, go to "Insert", then "Header" and type information accordingly)

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Grading Rubrics:

Rubrics are tools for grading and evaluation.  Your performance on written assignments will be the primary 
source of your semester grade.  In general, your essays will be graded for focus, organization, development, 
grammar and mechanics, meeting minimum length requirements, and your overall ability to engage the assigned 
readings in a manner appropriate to developmental-level college work. I will use these rubrics as my tools for making 
a more objective assessment on your writing. They can also be useful for you as a self-evaluation checklist or for peer 
review. 
    
Eng. 84 Paragraph ESO Rubric (60 points possible)                                                 

Revised Draft
Peer Review            
Rough Draft                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Prewriting/Planning

Total=           /60 pts.

Eng. 84 Essay ESO Rubric (100 points possible)                                                                     

Revised Draft
Peer Review             
Rough Draft                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Prewriting/Planning

Total=           /100 pts.

Eng. 84 I-Search Essay ESO Rubric (200 points possible)