English

Organizing an Academic Essay: Part II— Reverse Outlining Directed Learning Activity—Composition 08Essential Question What is a reverse outline, how do I create one, and why should I?Purpose Upon completion of this activity, students will be able to define the term “reverse outline” and will beable to reverse outline an academic essay.This DLA should take approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour to complete.Instruction According to Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL), reverse outlining is a way to take brief noteson complex information and to revise your own writing. Purdue’s OWL says:Some assignments ask you to read and analyze complex information. In these cases, reverseoutlining can help you distill the main ideas into short, clear statements. You may also use reverseoutlining to revise your own work. Reverse outlining follows a two-step, repeatable process:1) In the left-hand margin, write down the topic of each paragraph. Try to use as few words aspossible.When reading, these notes should work as quick references for future study or in-class discussion.When revising your own work, these notes should tell you if each paragraph is focused and clear.2) In the right-hand margin, write down how the paragraph topic advances the overall argument ofthe text. Again, be brief.When reading, these notes allow you to follow the logic of the essay, making it easier for you toanalyze or discuss later. When revising your own work, these notes should tell you if each paragraphfits in the overall organization of your paper. You may also notice that paragraphs should be shiftedafter completing this step.Be brief, particularly when rereading your own work. If you can’t complete each step in 5-10 words, theparagraph may need to be altered. You should be able to summarize the topic and the manner ofsupport quickly; if you can’t, revise the paragraph until you can.As you can see from the description above, reverse outlining can help you• Ensure you have stayed on track with your essay• Ensure you have responded to every task or question your professor has asked of you• Discover places where your argument might be weak or confusingExercise Reverse outline the essay “Do We Really Need Movie Ratings?” from the editors of the journal Cineaste.Follow the directions from Purdue’s OWL for reverse outlining.Review your answers with an instructor or tutor in the Virtual Writing & Reading Center. Be sure you cananswer the essential question above.“Do We Really Need Movie Ratings?” CineasteEver since the movies began, this hybrid art form has been considered slightly disreputable. After all, ittook until 1952 for the Supreme Court to rule that films deserved the freedom of speech guaranteesenshrined in the First Amendment. In addition, it took until 1968 for the notoriously hidebound MotionPicture Association of America to scrap the antiquated Production Code and to substitute acontroversial, and much-contested, ratings system. Ostensibly designed to inform, and implicitly warn,filmgoers-particularly parents-of violent or salacious “content,” the MPAA ratings have been, from theirinception, plagued by inconsistencies and contradictions.A cursory inventory of the last thirty-eight years of arbitrary, and occasionally slightly inane, decisions bythe MPAA reveals a string of follies and a trail of de facto censorship. To begin with, the “X” ratingsoriginally awarded to Midnight Cowboy and Medium Cool, classics that now seem far from sexuallyexplicit (both films were subsequently re-rated as “R”; the “X” category, with an unmistakablepornographic taint, was changed to “NC-17” in 1990) do not merely remind us of the shifting values thatinevitably influence what is deemed acceptable as artistic expression. There is little doubt that MediumCool was awarded a “political X” for an ideological orientation that was apparently considered tooincendiary for impressionable teenagers and that Midnight Cowboy was stigmatized for intimations of ahomosexual relationship between the two protagonists portrayed by Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight.Kirby Dick’s recent documentary expose, This Film Is Not Yet Rated (an interview with Dick is featured in[the Dec. 22, 2006] issue of Cineaste) proves that little has changed in the intervening years. Dick’sreportage wittily confirms that films highlighting heterosexual sex and full-frontal female nudity are farless likely to receive the dreaded NC-17 rating (studios are loath to release NC-17 films and manytheater chains refuse to screen them) than those which foreground gay couplings or male nudity.Furthermore, in sharp contrast to practices in, say, Scandinavian countries, films with hefty amounts ofgraphic violence are treated with kid gloves and are, in many instances, not even off limit to youngsters.When all is said and done, the most infuriating aspects of the MPAA ratings remain their obliviousnessto the artistic intentions of directors, producers, and screenwriters. While novelists would howl inprotest if their books were pruned of offensive material in order to please prudish booksellers, studiosthink nothing of capitulating to theater owners’ demand for more circumspect “product.” It is onlysufficient to cite a litany of examples that drive home the absurdity of capricious decisions that haveundermined various directors’ artistic visions. In 1990, a ludicrous “X” rating for Pedro Almodovar’s dark,but distinctly untitillating, S&M tragicomedy, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Prompted the board to institutethe “NC-17” category, a bogus reform if there ever was one. “NC-17” soon became as much of a kiss ofdeath as “X” and, by 1999, Warner Bros. felt compelled to clumsily trim Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shutshortly after the director’s sudden death. Even the famous Kubrick imprimatur couldn’t prevent studioexecutives from maximizing profits and cynically eviscerating the work of an acknowledged master-eventhough the film’s artistic importance is obviously subject to debate.Dick’s film zeroes in on a number of equally scandalous MPAA blunders. Kimberly Pierce convincinglyargues that the ratings board’s squeamishness regarding “female pleasure” required her to tone down atender lesbian love scene in her Oscar winning Boys Don’t Cry; she clearly views the resulting avoidanceof the NC-17 rating, the commercial “mark of Cain,” a decidedly Pyrrhic victory. Following an all-too-common pattern, a pivotal three-way, bisexual tryst saddled Atom Egoyan’s Where the Truth Lies withan NC-17. Considering the farcical cuts that John Waters admits he was forced to impose on hischaracteristically kinky A Dirty Shame, is it any wonder that John Cameron Mitchell and his distributordecided to release Shortbus, his hymn to polymorphous perversity, without an MPAA rating?In the light of this sorry track record, is there any hope that the ratings system can be at least seriouslyimproved, if not trashed altogether? Even parents perhaps especially parents-admit that ratings do littleto help them supervise their children’s filmgoing choices. When the autocratic Jack Valenti retired asPresident of the organization in 2004, there was some hope that the hopelessly outmoded ratings wouldat least be subject to further scrutiny. Dan Glickman’s new regime, however, has done little to rectifythe ongoing ratings follies.Given this stalemate, perhaps one might heed Dick’s advice that “the most important function a ratingsboard can perform is to give concise, comprehensive descriptions of a film ‘s content.” And mostimportantly, even if this fatally flawed system cannot be abolished, we can insist that the oftenperplexing decisions of ‘the secretive members of the ratings board, most of whom are patentlyunqualified to make sophisticated artistic assessments, can be made more transparent. If the MPAAremains intransigent and refuses to clean up its own house, their imperious judgments will continue tobe a national embarrassment.

Blogs: Students will write two blogs of about 600 – 1200 words about a social  psychology topic that was covered in the course lectures and/or required  readings.  Although this is a blog, the information conveyed must come from research,  not conjecture. The blog must contain reliable, valid, credible sources – see  grading rubric.  The blog must address an appropriate audience of your choice – make sure the  information is conveyed to this audience based on their level of knowledge of  the subject matter.

InstructionsIn 50 words or less, summarize in a paragraph the Conclusion of Chapter 3: Public Personnel and Organizational Performance.In a separate paragraph of 50 words or less: In what functional and program areas could local governments develop cooperative agreements to share personnel, training facilities, and other resources?

You post a really negative remark on your friend’s Facebook wall, which many of your mutual friends and work colleagues have seen. The next day you realize you shouldn’t have been so negative. You really want to remain friends. You need to say something. What are your options for communicating your feelings? What communication channels could you use?

Read “Marrying Absurd” by Joan DidionHow does Didion describe the act of marriage in Las Vegas? What is your personal opinion of the Vegas wedding? What is the author’s?Need to write one or two paragraphs.

For this assignment, all you need to do is choose your favorite poem that we’ve discussed in class, and write ONE PAGE explaining WHY it was your favorite.This assignment will probably require in-text citation and a Works Cited list.

Final paper for this course: A controlled research paper (2800 to 3500 words) You are expected to ? locate 5 additional external sources ? produce an outline and an annotated bibliography ? incorporate external sources into your essay 3 (at least 7 sources) ? demonstrate your skills in summarizing and paraphrasing in this essay. If you would like to quote, 2 quotes are allowed ? include In-text citations and a reference list (APA style). You can utilize your own ideas but the entire paper cannot be solely based on your own ideas. Remember academic writing requires evidence so you will also need to utilize external sources. Suggested research paper topics; you need to pick one. You can also suggest one but the title has to be approved first. Intended audience: Students who intend to pursue post-secondary studies as well as university professors & administrators. ? Post-Secondary Education: Benefits, challenges, and solutions ? Study abroad: benefits, challenges, solutions, and recommendations ? Academic Challenges faced by University students and solutions

Initial Post (250 words)Read and interpret the short story “Damien’s Shoes” by Ret’sepile Makamane. What logical inferences can you make based on its details? What can you infer about the narrator in this story, the narrator’s son, and the setting of this story? What details suggest this? What other logical inferences can you make about this story? (Length: 250 words)Two RepliesRespond to the posts of two of your peers by acknowledging their ideas and adding on to them with additional commentary, supporting detail or fact (such as a quote, detail referenced, or scenario from the story), and/or an new or different perspective or logical inference.Damien’s Shoesby Ret’sepile MakamaneMy son (Links to an external site.), Damien, makes fires that flicker throughout rainy June nights. He moves about the shores of Lake Muhazi, lighting a new fire on a new spot every night. People who travel to Kayonza come back to Kigali with stories of having seen him during the rainy season as the smokes of his fires constantly go up to the skies, like a man cast away and looking for rescue. Those who have travelled and visited relatives with houses on the hills around Lake Muhazi in recent years to observe his activities say that my son sails up and down the lake during the day, busy ferrying passengers with completely covered faces to the other side. Others even claim that they have seen him up close, and that unlike other undead dead people he does not run away or conceal his face when you approach him. He has remained ten years old throughout the years, only bits of his hair are beginning to grey now.When his boat work is done in the evenings, he plays his flute into the night, calming Lake Muhazi into even more stillness. He plays the flute so dedicatedly, earnestly, its melody so piercing, with sorrow so intense – a child blowing all his young soul into a musical instrument just so our land can heal. His flute wakes God from his deep sleep, – since Damien has already given God a few warnings, I hear – saying to God, “Thou Shalt Not Sleep, never. Not here in Rwanda, not anymore! Find yourself another bedroom.” Because God used to sleep here in Rwanda, you know. Lately, God stays awake at night looking intently at the world map, planning to migrate.I carry with me Damien’s one shoe. He is barefoot, Damien, my boy, that is why he has to make these random fires when it rains in June – to warm his feet. I rescued this shoe from the mouth of a stray dog which made me run and chase it until I was panting like a hound myself. That was back in ninety-four. I was still a young man in those days. Oh, but that dog was not the end of my troubles. I have aged double while walking these hills and valleys with acacia and guava and mango trees, without even seeing their beauty anymore. Walking with a tormented soul, looking for Damien to put on his shoe on the other foot. Blaming myself, sixteen years moiling and roiling through these mangroves and swamps, looking on every street corner, every pathway. Asking strangers and returning exiles over the years, “Have you seen a boy so beautiful, dark, like rich black oak his skin, have you seen my Damien in your travels, a boy wearing one Adidas shoe, have you seen my son? Tell me, please!” And strangers and familiar faces alike walk on, not hearing me, not looking my way, not noticing me because you know I am dead too. But unlike Damien, I cannot seem to move. I cannot make it past death nor back to life and cannot make myself seen – even when I do need help. And I cannot even walk to that damn lake to give my son his shoe. I am stuck. Because I asked for my own death, and when they refused, I went ahead and died from grief.I would not mind this limbo if it was not for June and her tormenting rains that thrust my memories and emotions into such turmoil, cutting and tearing me up inside, and leaving me longing so badly, so badly to say, “Damien, here is your other shoe – wear them both, son. It is raining outside.”Submission and GradingDiscussions are an important tool for the interaction and development of a learning community. Your timely participation is essential. Please make sure to post your initial response by the due date listed; you can take more time for your two replies if you need to.The attached rubric will be used to grade this assignment (please note the criteria for timeliness). To view the rubric, select the gear icon. If you’re using a mobile device, the rubrics can be found in the course navigation menu.

The Norton Sampler the two essays ” The Sancturay of School” and ”Like Mexican’s” are about the childhood experiences of two very different writers. What personality traits or characteristics do they show through their descriptions in the essay? which of these traits seem to be learned or adopted as a response to their experiences?

write a position argument essaymy topic would be has technology made us lazy?explain if ease inherently makes us lazy. why. what is it that humans need in order to be motivated to achieve. why does technology block motivation.a refute would be technology is not the problem, it is the increasing demands to be productive to force less time on reading.