Writing 102 Overview

Introduction

Now that you have mastered the basic skills of written and oral communication, it is important to note that there are also specific rules of writing for different purposes. In your future career, you will need to know how to write appropriately to be successful. Whether sending an email to a boss or potential employer, drafting a contract, writing a project proposal, crafting a literary masterpiece, or simply sending a note to a friend, your competency in writing leaves an impression.

In the Writing 102 module, we will take a look at the three main types of writing: narrative, informative, and persuasive. Writers use narrative writing to craft a story or personal experience. Expository writing explains the working behind a scientific issue or historical occurrence. Persuasive writing convinces the audience on a certain issue or concern. The various forms of writing require different styles, elements, and rhetorical strategies. As a summative assessment, you will create a writing portfolio that showcases the different writing types.

Essential Questions

How might I use informative or explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts?
How might I craft persuasive arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts?
How can the narrative writing style be used effectively to develop real or imagined experiences or events?

Key Terms

Introduction Paragraph - The first paragraph in an essay that grabs the reader that should connect the writer's topic and ideas to a historical or current event to provide general perspective and context.
Thesis Statement - A short statement, usually one sentence appearing at the end of the introduction, that summarizes the main point or claim of an essay, research paper, etc., and is developed, supported, and explained in the text by means of examples and evidence.
Topic Sentence - One sentence revealing the specific topic of your paragraph—this is a broad sentence that allows for entry into subdivision of argument.
Development Sentence - Occurs after the Topic Sentence and provides a perspective on the topic that will allow for an understanding of the importance of the evidence that will follow—your opinion, thought, or idea regarding the topic.
Evidence - All words, ideas, facts or data used from another source (other than the brain) that backs up or supports the statements and opinions stated by the writer—must be cited properly.
Analysis Sentence - Explains why the evidence is important and how it connects to thesis. Do not simply restate or summarize the evidence.
Conclusion Sentence - Last sentence in the body paragraphs that carefully links the ideas that have been proven and provide the reader with some sort of critical evaluation of the overall importance of the argument.
Transition Sentence - The transition sentence helps the reader see the connection between the pieces of evidence included in the paragraph. This usually can be captured as a comparison or a contrast (similarly...on the other hand...this is further supported by).
Conclusion Paragraph - Final paragraph in the essay. Do not summarize the ideas in the essay or the introduction. Provide a call to action. Give your readers something extra to think about—discuss why your points are important or what else needs to be researched.
Ethos - An appeal to ethics, and it is a means of convincing someone of the character or credibility of the persuader.
Logos - An appeal to logic, and is a way of persuading an audience by reason.
Pathos - An appeal to emotion, and is a way of convincing an audience of an argument by creating an emotional response.
Source Citation - The complete publication information for a source that a writer uses for evidence in an essay'.
Parenthetical Documentation (In-Text Citation) - The short version of the Source Citation (often the author's last name and page number) that appears in parenthesis at the end of the evidence and refers readers to the complete Source Citation in the Works Cited.
Works Cited - A list of sources that you have incorporated within your paper by using the ideas, information, and quotes of others.
Bibliography - A list of sources that you have read (but not necessarily used in your paper) to find support for your paper.
Primary Source - The original material that is the focus of the essay (mainly found in literary essays).
Secondary Source - The materials used to support your claims about the primary source.
Narrative Essay - A genre of essay that tells a story.
Expository Essay - A genre of essay where the writer explains, informs, or defines a topic, using facts, statistics, and examples.
Persuasive Essay - A genre of essay that attempts to convince the reader to accept the writer's point of view or recommendation
Rhetoric - The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other writing techniques.

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