There isn't anything due tomorrow so don't worry about seeing this so late. Technical issues prevented me from an earlier post. However, this is not the norm...
We talked about significant life events and how you can shape those events into a narrative. Your narrative should have all of the elements of a compelling story--characters (I'm thinking you will somehow be involved, just sayin'...) setting, conflict, vivid details, concrete imagery, complications, climax, resolution, etc. Dialogue is always useful as long as your dialogue moves the plot or develops the characters. Otherwise, it's dead weight.
When you write your narrative, remember that the college essay prompt asks you to connect the event to your future plans.
Remember that creativity is good, embellishment for narrative purposes is acceptable, misrepresentation is bad, and plagiarism is straight up reprehensible. Thus, embellishments like appropriate dialogue that isn't necessarily word-for-word historically accurate could be just fine, whereas autobiographiction in the vein of James Frey's A Million Little Pieces would be so misrepresentational of you (and you are trying to sell "you" to a potential college admissions officer) as to be unacceptable. Plagiarism is simply the attempt, whether successful or not, to pass off someone else's work as your own. This is never okay, as CNN's Fareed Zakaria found out this past fall (2012).
DUE SOON...
Thursday: First draft of the college admissions essay narrative due in class.
Also due Thursday: 20 sentences -- each using one vocabulary term and providing enough context as to make sure I know that you know how to use the words...
Friday: First vocabulary test on list one. Make sure you study the word list on quizlet.com!
COMING UP...
Message Board alerts -- I'll post on the daily message board when you need to respond, but get in the habit each night of posting a comment letting me know you've seen this. Next week it will begin counting as a homework grade. (February 4)
We talked about significant life events and how you can shape those events into a narrative. Your narrative should have all of the elements of a compelling story--characters (I'm thinking you will somehow be involved, just sayin'...) setting, conflict, vivid details, concrete imagery, complications, climax, resolution, etc. Dialogue is always useful as long as your dialogue moves the plot or develops the characters. Otherwise, it's dead weight.
When you write your narrative, remember that the college essay prompt asks you to connect the event to your future plans.
Remember that creativity is good, embellishment for narrative purposes is acceptable, misrepresentation is bad, and plagiarism is straight up reprehensible. Thus, embellishments like appropriate dialogue that isn't necessarily word-for-word historically accurate could be just fine, whereas autobiographiction in the vein of James Frey's A Million Little Pieces would be so misrepresentational of you (and you are trying to sell "you" to a potential college admissions officer) as to be unacceptable. Plagiarism is simply the attempt, whether successful or not, to pass off someone else's work as your own. This is never okay, as CNN's Fareed Zakaria found out this past fall (2012).
DUE SOON...
Thursday: First draft of the college admissions essay narrative due in class.
Also due Thursday: 20 sentences -- each using one vocabulary term and providing enough context as to make sure I know that you know how to use the words...
Friday: First vocabulary test on list one. Make sure you study the word list on quizlet.com!
COMING UP...
Message Board alerts -- I'll post on the daily message board when you need to respond, but get in the habit each night of posting a comment letting me know you've seen this. Next week it will begin counting as a homework grade. (February 4)