Tracking My issues in writing
Caijin Lin
Instructor: Pathe Sow
My top five issues in writing:
Grammar: Prepositions
Development
Organization
Conclusion
Reading comprehension
Due: October 20 through November 10, 2017
Project: Tracking My Challenges in Writing
Goal: the purpose of this online project is to help you solve some major issues that you identified
in the high school survey during STP 2017.
A popular Chinese proverb goes, Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to
fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.
My top 5 issues in writing:
1. Grammar: I have issues with prepositions.
a. Definition: Grammar is the way in which words are put together to form proper
sentences.
b. Issues: prepositions.
Definition: A preposition is a word or set of words that indicates location (in,
near, beside, on top of) or some other relationship between a noun or pronoun and other
parts of the sentence (about, after, besides, instead of, in accordance with). A preposition
isn't a preposition unless it goes with a related noun or pronoun, called the object of the
preposition.
Examples of prepositions:
1)Let's meet before noon : Before is a preposition; noon is its object.
3)We've never met before :There is no object; before is an adverb modifying met.
Ways of using prepositions:
1. At: located at a specific location.
2. In: located with boundaries.
3. On: located on surface.
4. To: moving toward to a specific place
5. Into: moving to an inside enclosed space.
After the examples that I fully understand how to use the prepositions properly in a sentence.
2. Development: My issue is that I do not know how to develop an essay very
professionally.
Definition: In general, essays have the same basic components: an introduction that sets
the stage for your essay, body paragraphs that discuss your ideas and arguments, and a
conclusion that wraps everything up. However, depending on the type of essay youre writing,
you may need to choose different organizational schemes.
a. How to build a professional essay in college
i. Pick a topic: choosing a topic that you like to write about
ii. Prepare an outline or diagram of your ideas: to make a draft how do you
going to write about the paper.
iii. Write your introduction about the topic: writing your introductions based
on researches.
iv. Write your thesis statement: the thesis statement is the main issue that you
will talk about in the rest of the paper.
v. Write the body( usually 3 paragraphs): to describe the issue that you are
working on. From different recourses.
vi. Analysis the thesis statement with each body paragraph: analysis the thesis
statement by providing examples from scholarly resources (peer
reviewed).
vii. Write the conclusion: a good conclusion is the summary of your paper,
keep in mind that you cannot add any new statements in the conclusion.
Additionally, in order to write a well organized college essay/papers. We need to
breaking ideas down, then building them up again.
break down the essay title into its component parts, and consider possible ways of
addressing them;
work with these component parts, as you select your reading and make relevant
notes;
build up the essay using the material you have collected; ordering it;
presenting and discussing it;
and forming it into a coherent argument.
3. Organization: My issue in organization is that I am not good at organize a paper.
Common issues in organization: One mistake beginning writers often make is to try and
outline their essays before theyve done any brainstorming. This can leave you frustrated because
you dont yet know what you want to say. Trying a few brainstorming techniques can generate
enough material for you to work with.
In order to improve the organization skills in writing, we need to
Follow the steps to organize your essay/papers.
a. Introduction: the topic that you working on
b. Thesis statement: Make this a unique observation, a powerful argument, an
interpretation of a particular work or event, or another relevant statement that is
not simply stating the obvious or summarizing a larger work.
c. Body paragraph 1 : The major issue that you are going to write about
d. Body paragraph 2 : The second issue
e. Body paragraph 3 : The third issue
f. Conclusion : Having a good conclusion to end up your statement and analysis
what you are talking about in this paper. No new statement!!!!!
In order to write a well organized essay, I will need to create an outline to identify the
issues and main idea so it will be easier when I am writing a paper.
4. Conclusion: My issue in conclusion is that I usually do not know how to form a good
conclusion that will earn a good grade and I do not know how to make my conclusion
longer when I need to write an eight pages long essay.
Ways to solve the conclusion issues:
a. Restate the main idea of your essay, or your thesis statement.
b. Summarize the three subpoints of your essay.
c. Leave the reader with an interesting final impression.
Example of a good conclusion:
Getting a better job is a goal that I would really like to accomplish in the next few years.
Finishing school will take me a long way to meeting this goal. To meet my goal, I will
also prepare my rsum and search for jobs. My goal may not be an easy one to achieve,
but things that are worth doing are often not easy (Purdue).
Explanation of this conclusion: Notice that the first sentence restates the thesis. The
second and third sentences summarize the essays subpoints. Finally, the fourth sentence
leaves the reader with an interesting final impression. No new information is presented in
this paragraph. Instead, the writer sums up what has been written so far and leaves the
reader with a last thought. While the content of the paragraph is very similar to the
introduction, the paragraph itself is not exactly the same. This is important. Even though
the goal of the conclusion is to restate a lot of the information from the introduction, it
should sound different because the conclusions purpose is slightly different from the
introduction.
5. Reading comprehension: My issue in reading is that I do not know how to paraphrase
the main ideas into my own words.
Define: is the ability to read text, process it, and understand its meaning.
How to improve your reading comprehension:
Taking notes, while not immediately exciting, is a good way to boost reading
comprehension. If you're reading for a class, try a notebook. Jot down what you
remember about each chapter, section, or even paragraph. Anytime a major event
happens, or a new character is introduced, or some odd detail sticks out, write it
down in your notes.
Try writing down characters and their relationships on one page and a basic
timeline for the story on another page. Draw a family tree, if it helps.
Read back through your notes occasionally, making sure they make sense. Wait a
day, then read your notes again. If your notes make absolutely no sense, you
know you either need to take more notes, or take better notes.
Keep your notes together so that you can refer to them later. If you jotted down
notes on loose leaf paper, put the paper into a binder, separated by tabs for each
different story. If you used a single notebook for your notes, create section
headings outlining where the notes for one story start and end.
Good example of a note:
References:
https://www.sbcc.edu/clrc/writing_center/wc_files/handout_masters/Using%20Prepositions.pdf
http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/probPrep.asp
https://www.fastweb.com/student-life/articles/essay-tips-7-tips-on-writing-an-effective-essay
https://www.wikihow.com/Organize-an-Essay
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/2/2/60/
https://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Your-Reading-Comprehension
