Comp
101 Assignment Sheet |
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| Topic Choices |
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| 1. Remember a place, a sanctuary, where you used to go to be alone. What was it like? When did you go there? Have you been back there recently? If so, how had it (or you) changed? |
| 2. Describe a place that is special. Give a clear picture of both the place and your feelings about it. Be sure that your audience comes to understand why the place is special. |
| 3. Describe your hero or villain (someone you know well). Provide enough vivid, descriptive details for your audience to understand why you feel the way you do about this person. Focus on a dominant impression & 3 characteristics to support your impression. |
| 4. Describe an automobile. (Luxuriously expensive, high-performance dream car or basic transportation) Show its "personality." Make the audience feel as if they are riding in it with you. |
| 5. Describe what you like or dislike about your current neighborhood (or from your childhood). Who were your neighbors? What did the street look like? Be very reflective and describe the "feel" of the place? |
| 6. Go through old family photographs. Find one of yourself taken at least five years ago. Describe the person in the photograph. What was that person like? What did he or she do, think, say, sound like, look like, hope, or dream? The point of view is the older you looking back reflectively... |
| 7. Describe a place that frightens you. Allow readers to understand and share your fright. |
| 8. Prefer your own idea? Discuss it with Mrs. Kennedy before beginning the writing process. |
Directions--500-750 word descriptive essay. The choice of details in a description depends on a writer's purpose & the reader's needs. Brainstorming yields more details than a writer can use. Select those that advance your meaning. Use objective details to provide a clear, exact picture with subjective details to convey a dominant impression. All details are at a level that is concrete & specific enough to convey an unmistakable picture. Most often description works best at the lowest levels of abstraction & generality. E.g.
Vague Details:
at high speed, a tiny office, some workers, a high salary Order details in a clear sequence. Follow a spatial or general-to-specific order—whichever parallels the angle of vision readers would have if viewing the item. Sometimes the details are arranged according to the dominant impression desired. Spend considerable time generating ideas, writing several prewrites. Complete a Planning Guide & keep your audience and purpose in mind as you write each draft. Keep all drafts. Show all editing marks. Organize essay around a clear, sharply focused, underlined thesis that is expressed in one sentence. Amply support your topic ideas with concrete examples and/or facts. Gain your reader's interest in your beginning paragraph. Be creative. Aim for a smooth conclusion which returns effectively to your thesis. Work your ideas concisely & directly. Read each draft aloud before revising. Your "picture" should be clear to all readers, not just to yourself. |