While reading the works that follow, make a list of hints shared by the writer about how to write.  When writing samples are supplied, list some of the elements observed in these writings that  distinguish them as good writing.  Title the list "What is Good Writing?"  Keep an on-going list that you can use as a reference for your own mastery of the basic elements of writing.

These pulitzer prize writing examples can be used to practice close reading and timed writing.  Click on the name to find the examples of works for each writer.  Use the prompts provided with each writer to guide the the analysis--the reading writing, and thinking process.

While reading a number of these works, continue to make a list of some of the elements observed in these writings that  distinguish them as good writing.  Title the list "What is Good Writing?"

According to The 2000 English Language Chief Examiner, students need to spend more time on the construction of argument, using critical thinking, not templates of formulaic writing to be successful.  They should also write about their own experience, using "I" with confidence, resisting the formulaic.  The following assignments are a step toward solving these problems:

The following writers have regular columns in major newspapers or magazines across the United States.  All are known for their fresh insightful commentary.  As you read, note what these leaders have to say about the various important issues of our society today. Make a chart that aligns the writers with these issues.  Become informed!

Assignment 2:  Before you read the articles, read the information in this link, to identify the rules of good argument:
                                        Identifying the Argument of an Essay,  A Tutorial in Critical Reasoning

Assignment 3:  Before you read the articles, read the information below to learn the types of questions that need to be asked in evaluating arguments.

Assignment 4:  As you read the articles be sure to evaluate their arguments only accepting what they say as truth if they have followed the rules for good argument.

B.  Divide into Subtopics
Read each of the articles, noting how each covers the same topic differently.  Name the subtopic of each article.

C.  Make an Outline
Group the articles by similar subtopics.

C.  Make an Essay Prompt.
Model your prompt after the one below:

In the following, Leo Tolstoy writes:

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves."

Read the aphorism carefully.  Then write a carefully reasoned essay that defends, challenges, or qualifies this assertion.  Use evidence from you reqding to support your stance.

Find you own aphorism.

Select one of the issues from assignment 1.  Write an assertion about this issue made by one of the writers.  Then write a good argument that defends, challenges, or qualifies the assertion.  Use evidence from your reading (use the chart to find writers have have different stances on the same issue), your observations, and your personal experience to develop your stance.
 
 

Assignment 5:  Using the site, Attack on America,  for all your research, write a well-documented research paper on the effectiveness of the media's coverage of the tragic event.

Assignment 6:  Read from the selections below.  Define the assertions made by each of the writers.  Then write a good argument that defends, challenges, or qualifies each assertion.  Use evidence from your reading (use the chart to find writers have have different stances on the same issue), your observations, and your personal experience to develop your stance.
 
 

According to The 2000 English Literature Chief Examiner, the detection of "irony" is a threatened skill . . . students display a reluctance to engage any text with "rich uncertainties" and "unresolved indeterminacies" . . . and careless misreading of textx are a problem.  The following assignments are a step toward solving these problems:

Assignment 1:  Click on satire irony    and  ambiguity.       Using these dictionary.com entries, write a definition for each.  Then use some of the quotations from the site called Serious Sarcasm as examples that help to illustrate the definitions of these words.

Assignment 2:  These richly written articles can be used to practice close reading and timed writing.  Use the following general prompt to guide the reading writing, and thinking process:  Read "___" (select one online article at a time) carefully.  Then write a carefully processed essay which analyzes how the satire, irony, or ambiguity of the author's writing conveys a deeper message than what was able to grasped at first.

Note to schoolhousebooksweb.com subscribers:  Part IV is sadly incomplete.  Email new suggestions to School House Books.

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