 How
to Improve Your Writing
SESSION 9
This
free Online Course
Developed by: Melissa Fry, M.Ed. English. To obtain college level instructional support
for this course contact
Melissa Fry melissa.fry@kctcs.edu.
Content:
Journal
Throughout this course
you will be asked to generate journal entries.The purpose of these entries is to get your brain warmed up
and your creative juices flowing. You
may or may not end up using your journal for writing later in the course;
however, the main focus on this exercise is to get you writing.
Journal entries should be ½ to 1 page in length. You should not worry
about proofreading at this point. Simply
let your words flow. A journal
topic will be posted daily; however if you do not like the topic simply
free-write on your own topic of choice.
Journal # 8 If today was the last day of your life, how would you want to spend
it and why?
Homework
Assignment # 7
asked you to review the correct format for apostrophes and
quotation marks.
Please complete this additional practice on using apostrophes:
The True Story of Superman
(1) Sometimes, thing’s just don't work out right.
(2) That's how the creator’s of Superman felt for a long time.
(3) Superman's first home wasn't the planet Krypton, but Cleveland.
(4) There, in 1933, Superman was born.
(5) Jerry Siegels story, "Reign of Superman," accompanied by
Joe Shuster's illustrations, appeared in the boys own magazine, Science Fiction. (6)
Later, the teenager’s continued to develop their idea. (7) Superman would come to Earth from a distant planet to
defend freedom and justice for ordinary people.
(8) He would conceal his identity by living as an ordinary person
himself. (9) Siegel and Shuster
hoped their characters strength and morality would boost peoples spirits' during
the Great Depression.
(10) At first, the creators weren't able to sell their concept; then, Action
Comics Henry Donnenfield bought it. (11)
In June of 1938, the first Superman
comic hit the stands. (12)
Superman's success was immediate and overwhelming.
(13) Finally, American’s had a hero who wouldn't let them down!
(14) Radio and TV shows, movie serials, feature films, and generations of
superheroes' followed. (15) While others made millions from their idea, Siegel
and Shuster didn't profit form it’s success.
(16) They produced Superman for Action Comics for a mere fifteen
dollars a page until they were fired a few years later when Joe Shusters eyes
began to fail. (17) They sued, but
they lost the case. (18) For a long
time, both lived in poverty, but they continued to fight.
(19) In 1975, Siegel and Shuster finally took their story to the press;
the publicity won them lifelong pensions. (20)
The two men's long struggle had ended with success.
CHECK ANSWERS FOR
APOSTROPHE EXERCISE
The True Story of Superman
(1) Sometimes, things just don't work out right.
(2) That's how the creators of Superman felt for a long time.
(3) Superman's first home wasn't the planet Krypton, but Cleveland.
(4) There, in 1933, Superman was born.
(5) Jerry Siegel’s story, "Reign of Superman," accompanied by
Joe Schuster’s illustrations, appeared in the boy’s own magazine, Science Fiction. (6)
Later, the teenagers continued to develop their idea.
(7) Superman would come to Earth from a distant planet to defend freedom
and justice for ordinary people. (8)
He would conceal his identity by living as an ordinary person himself.
(9) Siegel and Schuster hoped their character’s strength and morality
would boost peoples spirits during the Great Depression.
(10) At first, the creators weren't able to sell their concept; then, Action
Comics Henry Donnenfield bought it. (11)
In June of 1938, the first Superman
comic hit the stands. (12)
Superman's success was immediate and overwhelming.
(13) Finally, Americans had a hero who wouldn't let them down!
(14) Radio and TV shows, movie serials, feature films, and generations of
superheroes followed. (15) While others made millions from their idea, Siegel
and Schuster didn't profit form its success.
(16) They produced Superman for Action Comics for a mere fifteen
dollars a page until they were fired a few years later when Joe Schuster’s
eyes began to fail. (17) They sued,
but they lost the case. (18) For a
long time, both lived in poverty, but they continued to fight.
(19) In 1975, Siegel and Schuster finally took their story to the press;
the publicity won them lifelong pensions. (20)
The two men's long struggle had ended with success.
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QUOATION MARKS
-Quotation marks indicate dialogue, emphasis on a
specific word, or signify citation of a source other than your own.
-Each time the individual speaking changes, begin a
new paragraph
“John,” Mary yelled, “Where are you? We need to get on the road
before the traffic gets completely out of hand.”
“Honestly, Mary!” John snapped.
“We have plenty of time.”
-Pay close attention to punctuation rules for
quotation marks:
:
(colon)
Always outside of quotation marks
;
(semicolon)
.
(period)
Always inside of quotation marks
,
(comma)
?
(question mark)
Inside quotation marks if dialogue
Outside quotation marks if emphasis
!
(exclamation point)
·
Jenny asked, “when will you keep your promise?”
·
When will you keep your “promise”?
CHECK HOMEWORK ANSWERS
A-10
1.
Our country’s future, as well as the world’s depends on everyone
working for a cleaner environment.
2.
“Once you understand the problem,” Professor Jones explained, “you
find it’s worse than you could have possibly expected.”
3.
“Can we help?” asked the captain.
4.
It’s a shame that my dog had its leg injured in the accident.
5.
All the player’s bats were eaten by the cranky beaver.
Chapter 19: Asking Question and
Finding Answers
Your
last writing assignment is to write a 2-3 page informational essay.
The topic can be on anything (a social issue, a great vacation site, a
personal hobby, a specific breed of pet, etc.) as long as you fulfill the goal
of informing your reader. Save
convincing or persuading for Composition II.
Another requirement of this assignment is to do some research.
You are asked to utilize at least two outside sources for support and to
document these sources through MLA documentation. First things first, you need to decide on a topic.
Chapter 19 is an excellent place to start.
Page 308 lists valuable guidelines for choosing a research topic.
These are only guidelines of course and as a writer it is your call as to
what topic you decide on.
Once
you decide on a topic, the library is a great resource of information.
Page 309 lists some of the possibilities available to writers. This information will also be covered in the video, Discovering
the Library. Another possible
resource for information is a personal interview.
Pages 322-326 have excellent suggestions for conducting an effective
interview.
The Internet
Your
textbook on page 319 has the following definition of the Internet:
A worldwide computer and a
supercomputer network, the
INTERNET
has evolved from ARAPANET, a network created in
1969
for university computer researchers to exchange files and share
data.
As the NET’s potential for the open exchange of information
became
recognized, network sites increased and commercial on-line
services
began offering access to general subscribers.
By 1989, the
INTERNET
had become a global vehicle for ideas and information
of
all kinds. Today’s INTERNET connects more that 20 million
computer
users.
The
internet can be an invaluable source for research.
As a writer you must make sure to narrow down your topic and to verify
that information comes from a reliable source.
Review avenues of research you can explore on the Internet in your
textbook.
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Please complete Assignment # 8 which will review use of ellipses,
italics, parentheses, brackets, and dashes.
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