Writing for the College-Bound: Unit 0

Unit 0: A Preliminary Assessment

Since I haven’t worked with you extensively before in this context, my first order of business is to get a sense of where everyone is in terms of skills — broader compositional skills, and the nitty-gritty of grammar and mechanics. If this is repetition for you, bear with me: we’ll be off into new territory soon enough.

I’d like you to do the following assignment after the first class meeting. Post it to the Moodle Writing for the College-bound Introduction section forum by the deadline listed there so that I can give you some feedback before the following session. The assignment doesn’t look like much, but a good job will take you some time. Give it some real care.

Assignment:

Identify, describe, and then correct the errors in the following paragraph. Be complete and exact.
In eighteenth-century Japan, popular Kabuki actors were often celebrated in woodblock prints. These prints showed the actors in their most famous roles, for instance Ichikawa Danjuro V playing the role of Shibaraku. The crest on the actors costume indicated what family he belonged to. A costume with three concentric squares on it's sleeve means that the actor is an Ichikawa Danjuro, and the costume itself and the makeup on the actor's face told you who he was supposed to be playing. Someone playing Shibaraku always wear makeup which is made up of stripes of red and white. As well as a red costume with enormous sleeves and often a headdress in a fan shape. With such indications as this, it was easy, for theater-goers to commemorate their favorite scenes, much like having a poster of someone who you have seen in a movie.
Make an outline for a five-paragraph essay either attacking or defending the proposition that the space program should be continued. This should include an introduction, a conclusion, and three main points. List supporting examples for your arguments.
Write out the topic sentence of each paragraph of the outline.
Chose one of the paragraph topic sentences, and write your entire paragraph for just that topic.

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