Sequence 3 Writing Assignments
The following Sequence 3 sample assignments are included here:
- Short Assignment: Project Proposal
- Short Assignment: Annotated Bibliography
- Writing Project 3: An Informed Opinion
- Additional Sequence 3 Writing Suggestions
Short Assignment: Project Proposal
Due: xx
Your final piece of writing should be approximately 2 pages.
Proposals are a genre of writing that cuts across many academic and professional settings. The ability to propose an idea and articulate what it is you plan to do is thus an essential skill for any writer. The content and arrangement of a proposal shifts depending on its purpose. But, in general, your goal is to explain to your reader (1) what you are going to do, (2) how you are going to do it, and (3) what you think you might find. In this way your reader is able to see if your project is do-able, publish-able, or in many settings, fund-able.
For this assignment, you should describe what you anticipate to be your position and/or plan to argue in Writing Project 3 and how you plan to carry out the project. Remember that your writing is usually much stronger when you are working on a topic that genuinely interests you. For this proposal, I am giving you a clear outline of what you should include. Don’t include the following as headings in your proposal, though—just use them to guide you as you write.
Section 1: Research Question
Your Research Question should do the following:
- Identify a question that emerges from your desired major
- Describe how you arrived at your question and explain why your question is important to you (i.e., tell the story behind your question)
- Provide some keywords (or phrases) related to your question that you can use as search terms for your research
Section 2: Abstract
An abstract is a short summary of your project. In many academic and professional fields, you are asked to submit an abstract (to a conference, a publication, a reviewer, etc.) before you have written the whole paper. In the abstract, you should move beyond stating the question you will investigate. You must state what your argument is (or what you think it will be). Focus primarily on your main claim and primary support. Tell the reader your methods for making the argument—what type of research you will do and what type of evidence you will use. This should be no more than 175 words and should be written in the future tense (“I will,” “I hope,” “I plan,” etc.). It’s okay if your final paper turns out to be somewhat different from what your abstract proposes.
Section 3: Contribution
When you submit a project proposal, the most important question to answer can be, “So what?” People want to know why this project matters. In this section, then, you should briefly explain why this project is important (to you, to someone else, etc.).
Adapted from an assignment designed by Stephanie White
Short Assignment: Annotated Bibliography
First Draft Due: xx
Final Draft Due: With your portfolio
For your third portfolio, you’ll include an annotated bibliography. There are three goals for this assignment:
- To show off all the research you are doing for Project 3
- To help you practice the art of summary
- To get practice doing an annotated bibliography
Your annotated bibliography will include the formal citation of each source that you used for this project, followed by an annotation. These annotations sometimes take longer to write than you’d expect, so get started today and be sure to ask me if you’re unsure about how to approach this assignment.
An annotation is “a note of explanation or comment added to a text or diagram” (from the Oxford American Dictionary). In a bibliography, an annotation isn’t a review or a complete summary of the source. That would take too long for you to write and for your readers to read. Instead, it’s a brief explanation about what the source is and what is useful about it, either for you or for your intended readers. You can write annotations for any kind of source: books, articles, paintings, diagrams, interviews, etc.
A basic annotation in this assignment shouldn’t be longer than 3 to 5 sentences. For each annotation include
- A full citation in the citation format you’re using for your project (ex. MLA),
- A 2- to 3-sentence summary or description of the source,
- A 1- to 2-sentence statement about what this source is useful for.
You can also include some information on the author or sponsor of the source. What are the author’s credentials or affiliation? Or, if your source is not by a single author, what group or organization takes the role of author? For this assignment, don’t look for this information in another source. If you did, you’d have to cite that source, too! Only include this information if it’s immediately available in the text you’re describing.
Here are some important things to remember when writing an annotation:
- Write in present tense.
- Put the focus on the source, not on your project. These annotations should be useful to anyone who is doing a project similar to yours.
- Use direct quotes from the text when they’re helpful, but not exclusively.
- Use examples to support your claims. Don’t just say “This is a useful source.” Instead, say, “This is a useful source because…”
[You might want to include a relevant example here.]
Writing Project 3: An Informed Opinion
Your final project will address an issue or question and help you develop a position in relation to it. You can use many kinds of research to complete this project. The goal is for you to get practice doing research, writing with research, and doing the kinds of intellectual work commonly expected in college and beyond.
You will need to do more in this assignment than make a pro/con argument about something you already feel certain about. Use this assignment to learn something new and stretch your understanding. Be curious.
For this project, you’ll practice using the rhetoric and research methods of your potential major. If you are unsure of your major, choose a field that interests you. This assignment is a great opportunity to get to know it better. For example, if you’re interested in sociology and in the topic of autism, you might investigate sociological understandings of autism, using interviews to get multiple perspectives and experiences, and then develop a position, based on your scholarly research about social factors that affect how people with autism are treated. If you dream of being a sports journalist, you could research the history of sports journalism and consider the way traditional and social media affect coverage by analyzing a specific sport or event and surveying fans to gather perspectives on the different modes. These are just two examples. Get curious and get creative. If you’re not sure your idea fits the assignment, let’s talk about it.
Organizing questions:
What methods or sources can I use to investigate and deepen my understanding of an issue or question I care about? How will research inform my views on my issue or question? How will research and my writing choices help me develop a position and support it?
Goals:
Gain experience in selecting, narrowing, and focusing a topic and research question.
Build on your research skills and strategies.
Gain experience with different research genres.
Learn strategies for critiquing, evaluating, and interpreting researched ideas.
Gain practice in drafting and revising in response to peers and your instructor.
Learn how to support an informed and credible opinion or point of view.
Continue to practice planning, drafting, and revision.
Tasks:
Choose and explore a topic you can form an opinion on.
Try different research methods for finding other people’s positions on your topic.
Consider the different perspectives you’re working with and how to summarize them.
Draft an essay that includes summary and analysis of others’ positions on your topic.
Present your own position in a credible, well-supported argument.
Include citations for your research.
Portfolio and Writer’s Memo
You’ll complete the project in the form of a portfolio, while will include:
A Writer’s Memo
All planning, brainstorming, and research notes or worksheets
All drafts of your project
All feedback you received, from me and your peers
The final 5-page revision of your project
The Writer’s Memo serves as a coversheet to your project. In the memo you should describe your purpose and strategy in writing this project and ask any questions about the writing that you may have yourself. This is your opportunity to provide some context for the writing but also a chance to ask your reader directly about the effectiveness of the piece.
Assessment:
I’ll give you a letter grade for your portfolio, which will be based on
[Describe your grading criteria]
Presentation:
We’ll spend the last weeks of class doing presentations on these projects. I’ll give you more information about these soon.
Dates:
Draft 1 due:
Draft 2 due:
Portfolio due:
Conferences:
We’ll have two for this project: one for planning, and one for revision.
Conference 1: ______________________@___________
Conference 2: ______________________@____________
Adapted from an assignment by Stephanie White
Additional Sequence 3 Writing Projects
We often view the final sequence of English 100 as a kind of “capstone” to the entire course. Final projects are wide, varied, and creative, bringing together the many pieces of writing, rhetoric, and analysis that students have practiced throughout the course including narrative and descriptions, analysis, research summary, synthesizing conversations etc. With that in mind you want to think thoughtfully about what type of projects you want students to engage in. This can go beyond a simple and traditional research paper where students simply argue a “hot button” topic; a paper that general is particularly ripe for plagiarism or AI-writing assistance. Here are some additional suggestions to get you started:
- Encourage students to think about the community needs around them, asking them to make an argument about an important or significant issue on the UW campus or in their peer group. This can include very local forms of research such as interviews with students and teachers, while also including more in-depth analysis of secondary research as well. Asking students to focus on an issue present to them, gets them thinking more strategically about making arguments that are specific and focused as opposed to more abstract and unwieldy. In addition to laying out the specific issue and problem, students can begin moving toward possible solutions drawing from their specific research.
- This is a great opportunity to offer students the option of doing a multimodal project. One of the great strengths of multimodal work is that it brings together research and analysis in layered and complex ways. In the past teachers have asked students to create websites, blogs, brief videos or documentaries, podcasts, etc. Design Lab is a wonderful tool on campus to help support your work in this type of project and they are always happy to consult with you.