Day 7
Tues. Sept. 17
“Voice” in essays: quoting and paraphrasing
Practice developing ideas
Homework
➤ check that your essay follows rules #1 and #2
Handout: Weaving together different voices in your writing
Rule #1: Quotations must be the exact words of the person you’re quoting.
Rule #2: Anything not in quotation marks must be in your own words.
In addition:
Delete all clichéd sayings. The only quotations that should be in this essay are direct quotations from things you read and people you talked to.
When you’re expressing someone else’s ideas in your own words, make sure it’s clear that it’s their idea, not your idea. Usually this means including a voice marker (“he writes,” “she says,” “he believes,” etc.) — see the handout for examples.
If you don’t have any quotations, one quotation. Make it a good one — something memorable that someone else said or wrote.
Make sure your quotations include voice markers. It should be clear who is saying that thing.
➤ Write two more paragraphs
Add two more paragraphs at the end of your essay.
Make the first paragraph be a response to someone you talked to in class today, someone who believes something different than you do. (A good way to begin this paragraph might be, “Some might argue that __________.”) Explain what that person (or a person like them) believes—and explain it in detail. Then explain what you’d say to that person. (Note that you don’t have to disagree—you could agree! If you do, say why you agree.)
In the second and final paragraph, answer the question: If what I’ve just said is true, then what else is true? What are the implications of my idea? (Another way to think about this is, Why does my idea matter? Why is it important? If language learners and language teachers understood this clearly, what might they do differently?)
➤ Read Mackey, “Wanting it Enough”
As you read, ask yourself the question: How do these ideas relate to what our “successful language learners” said in their interviews? Do you see any connections?
➤ 2-minute ORal summaries
Ruihan: Orally summarize Mackey.
Cammie and Summer: Orally summarize the main points you made in your essay.
Remember: Talk to us, don’t read to us. Speak in your own words. When you’re quoting, make it very clear to us that you’re quoting by saying “Quote . . . endquote.”
