2. 4
1, May 26th Paragraph Rules and Persuasive Writing Style
2, June 2nd Writing Rebuttals and Thesis Statements and Making an Outline
3, June 9th CLASS CANCELLED
4, June 16th Peer Review and Writing an Outline
5, June 23rd Punctuation Basics and Writing an Outline
6, June 30th Narrative Writing Style
7, July 7th Using Linking Words to Organize Ideas
8, July 14th Writing Wrap-Up
3. Today’s Class
welcome quiz
setting goals for this workshop
English in writing
paragraph rules
persuasive writing
5
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/artificial-intelligence-brain-think-4389372/ shared under CC0
5. 7
B) I can shake off everything as I
write. My sorrows disappear, my
courage is reborn.
C) You fail only if you stop writing.
A) You may not write well
everyday, but you can always edit
a page. You can’t edit a blank
page.
https://www.erbzine.com/mag37/3734.html
https://www.allenandunwin.com/authors/p/jodi-picoult
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anne-Frank
10. Which text is spoken? How do you know?
A
Bonnie: What are you working on?...A new
shelf?
Erika: No,…I’m trying to decide whether to
tear down this wall.
Bonnie: Oh…seems risky.
Erika: Yeah…I’m not sure…not sure at all.
Bonnie: Good to take your time, then.
12
B
Bonnie: What are you working on? Are you
going to build a new shelf?
Erika: No, I’m not going to build a shelf
rather I’m trying to decide whether or not
to tear down this wall.
Bonnie: Oh! That plan seems risky.
Erika: Yeah, I’m not sure. I’m not sure at all.
Bonnie: Good idea to take your time, then.
11. 13
Do different cultures organize paragraphs in the same way?
No, for example some styles of Mandarin paragraphs, such as those between
friends, are structured differently than English paragraphs. The differences can be
illustrated like this:
https://www.nicepng.com/ourpic/u2q8a9u2r5o0i1u2_spiral-transparent-spiral-png/
12. 14
Do different cultures organize paragraphs in the same way?
No, for example some styles of Mandarin paragraphs, such as those between
friends, are structured differently than English paragraphs. The differences can be
illustrated like this:
Mandarin
Introduce different
ideas slowly and
introduce at the main
idea at the end.
English
Introduce the main
idea, give examples,
and return to the main
idea.
https://www.nicepng.com/ourpic/u2q8a9u2r5o0i1u2_spiral-transparent-spiral-png/
15. summary
17
We study writing because we use language differently than when we speak.
We study paragraph structure because the rules are different between cultures.
https://pixabay.com/photos/woman-typing-writing-macbook-865111/
18. 20
a paragraph
unity
have one idea per paragraph
include a topic sentence
coherence
present ideas in a logical order
use transition words/phrases
repeat key ideas/keywords
idea
development have five to eight sentences
20. 22
Generally, a paragraph has five to eight sentences and includes a topic sentence,
two supporting ideas, and the details for each idea.
Houseplants enrich your home although they require effort to keep alive.
A. Houseplants add to the décor and mood of a room
1. (the shape of the plant and the pot )
B. Houseplants need continual care
1. (stop pests, enough sunlight and water)
A persuasive paragraph is a little different, and includes a topic sentence (thesis
statement), two counter arguments, two rebuttals, and an idea of your own.
Any paragraph finishes with a concluding sentence that summarizes the
supporting ideas and restates the topic sentence.
21. 23
A rebuttal is a response that opposes, or contradicts, an argument, or statement.
Counter argument: Women aren’t as good at math as men which is demonstrated
in high school test scores.
Rebuttal: People’s performance will match expectations. If you tell a high school
student they are part of a high scoring group, their score will increase.
https://memegenerator.net/instance/60800750/jonah-hill-omg-the-face-we-all-make-when-we-think-of-the-perfect-rebuttal
23. 1. summarize opposing
arguments
2. rebut the opposing
arguments
3. make your own
arguments
25
1. show and not tell
2. explain the
significance of what
you’re describing
3. use the five senses
1. show how someone
changed over a
period of time
2. show your inner
thoughts/feelings
3. connect with your
reader
24. 1. summarize opposing
arguments
2. rebut the opposing
arguments
3. make your own
arguments
persuasive writing
26
1. show and not tell
2. explain the
significance of what
you’re describing
3. use the five senses
descriptive writing
1. show how someone
changed over a
period of time
2. show your inner
thoughts/feelings
3. connect with your
reader
narrative writing
25. 27
Persuasive Writing
1. explain the issue
2. state your thesis clearly
3. summarize counter arguments
4. make your rebuttals
5. make your own argument
https://imgflip.com/i/2fwz18
26. 28
Even before astronauts landed on the moon, we have been curious about space;
nevertheless, not everyone is in support of space exploration. Exploring space may transfer
our problems on Earth into a new arena; nonetheless, it is worthwhile to explore space
because of the valuable scientific information we will learn. Those opposed say that we
want to explore space to own it and exploit it rather than to learn about it. Additionally,
there are problems to solve on Earth first before we start investing time and money going
into space. Even if discoveries aren’t made with pure intentions, it doesn’t make the
knowledge gained any less useful. Realistically, the attention and money devoted to space
exploration wouldn’t be redirected towards eliminating issues such as poverty and disease.
Gaining knowledge about the universe is valuable and will help humans better understand
the physical and chemical forces on Earth. We are exploring space so we will bring the
worst, our greed, and the best, our intelligence, with us to this new frontier.
28. 30
1
• write down all your ideas
• write your topic sentence
2
• review and edit your outline – reduce the number of ideas
• review and edit your topic sentence
3
• write the first draft (don’t worry about perfection)
• take a break (15 minutes to a few hours)
4
•check your paragraph is balanced and make general edits
5
•read the second draft out loud (worry about perfection)
•send in your paragraph
29. 31
We will be following this writing process for each assignment in this series of
workshops – except for the first assignment!
We will go over an example of how to use this process, next week!
The process is here to help you, and to stop you from skipping any of the steps.
You may also have your own process, and I encourage to think about how the
two processes can be blended!
https://alistapart.com/article/order-out-of-chaos-patterns-of-organization-for-writing-on-the-job/
31. Writing task this week:
What should you do if someone
is listening to music without
headphones in a café?
Write an opinion paragraph, a
regular one, not a persuasive
paragraph.
33
https://makeameme.org/meme/your-music-is-5c3650
32. 34
Although bossing around strangers is uncomfortable, people should feel at ease asking
someone to turn down their music in public spaces. The person listening to music
might not realize how loud their music is. Additionally, they might not know that their
music is irritating other people in the café. Most people know that making noise in a
public space is rude, but they might do it anyways because they want to listen to their
music. Whether they know it or not, if you approach them politely, then you’re not being
rude. Make sure to ask, not demand, for them to turn down the volume – this is important.
It’s a Canadian cultural norm not to tell other people how to behave, but enforcing good
behaviour is alright if done politely.
supporting idea one: the person might not be aware of what they’re doing
supporting idea two: people know it’s rude so being reminded won’t be a shock
33. 35
Send your teacher your homework on Skype by Monday at 11:59 pm
Send your teacher a paragraph and your evaluation guidelines – you don’t need an
outline! The purpose of this assignment is to start writing and to start thinking
about how you write!
https://pixabay.com/photos/dictionary-focus-book-word-text-1149723/ shared under CC0
34. 36
Definitions and sentences adapted from the online Longman, and Merriam-
Webster dictionaries.
Paragraph descriptions and examples (slide 12 to 15) taken from Paragraph Power:
Communicating Ideas Through Paragraphs by George M. Rooks.
https://pixabay.com/photos/dictionary-focus-book-word-text-1149723/ shared under CC0
I want to be more confident writing work emails.
I want to improve my sentence structure.
I want to be able to understand a newspaper article more easily.
The written one is longer and more formal because we don’t have any additional information given by the context of having a conversation – no body language, or tone, or surroundings. A conversation is actively made by two people and by watching two people have a conversation you can tell what their relationship is, if they like each other, and what they’re thinking. Most of this isn’t communicated though words.
Most writing, and definitely when you want to appear professional, is more formal than spoken English. You don’t want to write spoken English and you don’t want to speak written English.
Speaking in fragments, the ellipsis show that there is spaces in the spoken conversation.
The written one is longer and more formal because we don’t have any additional information given by the context of having a conversation – no body language, or tone, or surroundings. A conversation is actively made by two people and by watching two people have a conversation you can tell what their relationship is, if they like each other, and what they’re thinking. Most of this isn’t communicated though words.
Most writing, and definitely when you want to appear professional, is more formal than spoken English. You don’t want to write spoken English and you don’t want to speak written English.
The written one is longer and more formal because we don’t have any additional information given by the context of having a conversation – no body language, or tone, or surroundings. A conversation is actively made by two people and by watching two people have a conversation you can tell what their relationship is, if they like each other, and what they’re thinking. Most of this isn’t communicated though words.
Most writing, and definitely when you want to appear professional, is more formal than spoken English. You don’t want to write spoken English and you don’t want to speak written English.