Day 1

Tues. Oct. 29

• Intro to Session 2

• Watch / re-watch “All About Essays” part 1 + in-class writing. Practice:

  • Observation

  • Brainstorming ideas

  • Explaining a single idea in a paragraph

  • Reading out loud + sustained attention

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Homework

➤ read “how class works”

Read this carefully. This covers all the basic questions people are likely to have about class policies. I won’t talk about it in class so it’s your responsibility to read it on your own.

➤ Watch “all about essays”

Watch my amateur mini-documentary “All About Essays,” parts 1, 2, and 3.

➤ They Say, I say: Review Intro, Read Chapter 4

Reread these passages in the Introduction: pp. 1-9 (up to “Court Controversy, but … ) and pp. 15-16 (just the last section, “Putting in Your Oar”).

Read all of Chapter 4.

➤ Read (or review) “Ways of REasoning” from American Ways

Those students who took EAP101A with me have already read this. If you’ve already read it, review it; if you haven’t read it, read it.

Questions to consider while reading / watching

What do these people say (or what would they say) about the following questions:

• What is the fundamental reason for writing essays? What is most essential or important about this form of writing?

• What role does — or should — essay-writing play in a young person’s education?

• What is a good essay? How do we know when we’re doing this well?

➤ Speaker tasks

Each speaker should summarize the main points of the reading / viewing in 2-3 minutes. Focus on the points that you think relate to the three questions above. We’ll use this as a jumping off point for a discussion about these three questions.

• Minara: “All About Essays”

• Susie: They Say, I Say intro and Chapter 4

• Chunheng: “Ways of Reasoning”