Proofing Advice and Reminders

Hi Class…remember that you must turn in Essay 3 on Thursday.

Proofing Advice:

1. Buy a friend a cup of coffee and have them read over your essay and make comments.
2. Pay a friend/colleague a nickle for every mistake or problem that they find.
3. Read your essay out loud. Enunciate each word. If something is wrong, your ear usually picks it up.
4. Read “backwards.” This is a technique used by professional editors: starting at the end of your essay, read each sentence in reverse order (don’t read the words in reverse order).
5. Revise each topic sentence to reveal exactly what the paragraph is trying to claim/assert.
6. Replace all weak verbs; change passive verbs to active verbs.
7. Make sure that your topic sentences are aligned with your thesis. Do they help support your overall thesis? They should.
8. Make sure that your thesis, topic sentences, and your conclusion speak to each other–that they are linked. Revise as needed.

 

For Thursday: in a folder please make sure to put the following:

-All drafts
-Peer Reviews (2)
-Assignment details
-Photocopy or print-out of each direct quotation source (minimum 5)
-Final Draft: Essay on top of the Annotated Bibliography (stapled and with page numbers)

 

Good luck and I’ll see you Thursday.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Student Sample: Essay 3

This student essay was written for my ENG 1101 class in 2012. Note that this sample essay is good, quite good, but it is not perfect. I think that it may be instructive to study this essay in order to understand what a sincere and significant effort can produce. Please note my margin notes; I’ve put them  on the essay to help you see where this writer faltered–where you can make improvements that this writer missed.

Student-Sample-Essay3-2012

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Some guidelines for conducting an interview

Hi Class,

Obtaining information by direct questions is a form of primary source material, so you may want to conduct a short interview with a person connected to your topic/site. You may conduct the interview in person, by email, or by phone.

Conducting an Interview:

1. Determine your purpose, and be sure it relates to your research question and perhaps even your hypothesis.

2. Set up the interview well in advance. Introduce yourself cordially and professionally. State who you are and why you want to conduct an interview.  Specify how long it will take, and if you wish to record the session–always ask permission to record or photograph.

3. Prepare a written list of factual and open-ended questions. Brainstorming or freewriting can help you come up with questions. Leave plenty of space for notes after each question. If the interview proceeds in a new or different direction, don’t panic, let the person speak. Do not feel that you have to be prepared for every question or response.

4. Record the subject, date, time, and place of the interview.

5. Thank the person that you interview (in person or by email). Be professional in all interactions.

6. Very important: right after the interview, sit down and rewrite your notes and reflect on the interview. If you do not do this now, you will forget vital information. Do this while it is fresh.

Cheers,

Sean

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Annotated Bibliography–A Student Sample

Hi Class,

Here is a student sample of a “B+” Annotated Bibliography.

Student-Sample-Annotated-Bibliography-2014

Note: The interview (primary source) does not need to be completed by Tuesday.

-Prof. Scanlan

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

OOoops, I made a mistake about Tuesday’s homework

Hi Class,

Sorry! I thought on Tuesday, April 29  you were to turn in the topic summary and 5 questions–but that is due on Thursday, May 1. I apologize for that mistake.

We will have another library day on Tuesday. Please meet in class.

To repeat: The topic summary and 5 key questions are due Thursday  (I will call this assignment Journal 6 for accounting purposes).

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Spring Break Journal Assignment

Hi Class,

I hope that your Spring Break is going marvelously! For our return on Thursday, April 24th, please have Journal 5 ready: Read Deak and Egan in our textbook and then write 250 words on which of the two writer’s is harder to understand and why. Typed, double-spaced. Also, please bring your books to class.

Do you have an idea of Essay 3? Email me your ideas. I have already approved several ideas.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Reflecting Sunlight

IMG_20140405_161331

04/05/2014

I took this photo of Bronx County Hall of Justice on East 161 Street on my way home from school. The sun reflection on the windows of this court building had hit me while I was walking. The symmetrical windows frames creates many noticeable and plain to see rectangles and trapezoids, while the refection makes a unbalance. Mood of this photo is peaceful cause of the reflection of clouds and the sun reflecting off the windows.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

The Run to Class

IMG_20140325_142932

3/25/2014, The Run to Class

This photo was taken in front of the City tech campus on the corner of
Johnson Street and Jay Street. On my way to the school, I’ve noticed how most of the environment looked straight and orderly even the people had a order look to them to my position in the street. One side had people leaving and the other had students walking to the building. Sadly, when I took the photo I moved the camera in a hurry to get to class on time. But it ended up really good, the framing of the camera contradicts the cracks in the cement   I could imagine the person holding the camera following or running  like in a chase scene in a movie.

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Tower in Binghamton, New York

essay

I took this photo on April 05 between Henry st and Chenango st, Binghamton new York,  while traveling to Akron, Ohio. From where I was standing, inside the greyhound station. I could notice the height of the Habitat For Humanity tower right in front of it, there is  the floating united states flag. near the tower I could also see few buildings about a block away. It looks really quiet , I stood there for about 10 minute but I saw nobody walking around, beside cars moving around, there was really  no activity.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Street of East New York

Walking down 101st street

While walking home from school, I was thinking of a what type of photo to take for a project I had coming up. I decided to take a photo of the street I was walking down. The sidewalk was filled with snow and the tree’s had no leaves. The sky was cloudy and looked like it would drop more snow any second. The street was filled with parked cars and the road was clear of snow.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment