Unit 2: Assignment - Point of View Essay, Part 1

Unit 2: Assignment -- Point of View Essay, Part 1 
Major Paper #1: The Point of View Essay 
We will be working on this paper for the next three units. The final draft of the paper--with all three sections described below--will be due at the end of Unit #4. 
Purpose: This paper assignment has several purposes. As the first major paper for this class, the Point of View Essay is designed to re-engage you with the fundamentals of all good writing, including using lush sensory details to show the reader a particular place (rather than tell them about it), basic organization, clear focus, etc. However, this unit does not function as a mere review. The Point of View Essay will also introduce you to the concept of "thinking and seeing rhetorically, and analyzing writing rhetorically"--using the Writer's Toolbox described in this unit to improve your writing and critical reading skills. Finally, the Point of View Essay allows you to reflect on this process. 
The Assignment: 
Pleasant/Unpleasant Description of the Place:Choose a place you can observe for an extended period of time (at least 20-30 minutes). Use all of your senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, even taste if possible) to experience the place, and record all of the sensations that you experience. As you record your data, you may wish to note which details naturally seem more positive, negative, or neutral, in terms of tone. (For instance, a stinky and overflowing trash barrel swarming with flies in a nearby alley might seem more inherently negative than a little white bunny rabbit hopping playfully across the lawn.) Then, you will use this information to help your write descriptions of the place: one positive, one negative. Both descriptions should be factually true (same real time and real place), but you will want one description to be positive in terms of tone and the other to be negative. In addition to including the information and sensory details you've collected as the basis for these descriptions, you will also use the Writer's Toolbox to create your two contrasting impressions for this assignment. (The Writer's Toolbox is explained in the Lecture Notes section of this unit.) As you revise and refine your descriptions, please be sure you are "showing" your readers your place (really putting the readers "there" in the moment and in this scene), rather than simply "telling" them about it. You will also want to try to eliminate unnecessary linking verbs as much as you can, incorporating verbs that show "action" whenever possible. 
Rhetorical Analysis: Looking back at your descriptions, analyze how you created these two very different impressions of the place (one positive, one negative) without changing any of the facts. How did you make your place seem so positive in one paragraph and yet so negative in the other paragraph, without changing the facts? Discuss how you incorporated each of the tools from the Writer's Toolbox, and cite examples of this from each of your descriptions. (This analysis should be at least 400-500 words in length.) 
Reflection: In one to two paragraphs, consider at least one of the following questions: What have you learned about writing through this assignment? How might you apply this knowledge? Has this process of using the Writer's Toolbox affected your vision of various information media--for instance, television and print news sources, magazines, etc.? If so, how so? 
Again, we will be working on the rhetorical analysis in Unit 3 and the Reflection in Unit 4. For this unit, however, you will want to draft the first portion of this paper, the positive and negative descriptions of your place. 
The first portion of this assignment is a three step process: 
1.) Find your place. This should be one single setting at one particular time. Do not use multiple places. For instance, if you want to write about your house, do not describe your entire house. Choose one particular room, or one particular view. Also, do not use different times. If it's morning in your positive paragraph, it can't be evening in your negative paragraph. If it's completely sunny in your positive paragraph, it can't be raining in your negative paragraph. 
2.) Make a sensory chart of your place, recording all of the sights, smells, sounds, sensations, and even tastes (if applicable). Use your five senses to collect data, and be as specific as possible. 
3.) Use the data you have recorded to craft your two descriptions, incorporating the Writer's Toolbox to shape each of your paragraphs and thus the impression of the place. Remember that in the first paragraph your place should seem positive, while in the second paragraph, your place should seem negative. 
The following is a student example of the first portion of this assignment: 
“Nature's Symphony at Pillsbury Crossing” 
Nature's beauty surrounds me. On a calm, mostly sunny day, the leaves flutter as if they were applauding the breath of the land. Green, yellow, and brown hues sparkle in the warm sunlight, offering a mosaic reflection on the water. A short waterfall branches like a limb from the pond, whisking the water down into a misty creek. The clear water rushes through the mossy rocks and falls, creating a soothing melody. 
Delicate water birds chitter and trill, voicing their opinions and contributing to the symphony of nature. Two children play at the water's edge. Their shoes are off, and they dip their toes in the creek's relieving temperature with delight. Meanwhile, I bathe in the sun like a flower in the springtime, absorbing all the comforting sun's rays, while the gentle puffs of a relieving breeze soothe my skin and the back of my neck. I sip some iced tea to quench my thirst and sigh. What a perfect afternoon. 
“Grim Times at Pillsbury Crossing” 
Death has had her way here. On a partly cloudy day at the end of the tropical summer, the leaves look withered and dry, parched by days of scorching sun. A blast of wind brings some of the foliage to its final resting place on the cracked ground. A waterfall sits not far from this leaf cemetery, clogged by clumps of mossy overgrowth and mud. Though this should be a place of relaxation, the noisiness of nature overwhelms me: water crashing violently again rocks, water fowl quacking and flapping in confrontation, bugs buzzing, and worst of all the screaming of a couple of unruly kids. Though the signs clearly warn “stay off the rocks,” these two juvenile delinquents have left their shoes like litter on the shore and seem to be shoving each other in a game of chicken on the slick boulders. Loser gets a trip to the E.R. Attempting to ignore them, I take a swig of my iced tea and sigh in disappointment. It's warm. Though I've been trying my best to attain solace here, all I've found is annoyance, three mosquito bites, and a reddening sunburn. 
Please be sure to review the Submit Your Assignment of Unit #4 section for specific instructions on how you should turn in your work for grading. The Point of View Essay with all required sections is due at the end of Unit #4. 
Unit 3: Assignment -- Point of View Essay, Part 2 
Point of View Essay, Part 2: Rhetorical Analysis 
The second portion of this assignment is the rhetorical analysis. In the rhetorical analysis, you will explain how you used the five features to make the same exact place seem so very positive in one paragraph and yet so negative in the second paragraph. 
The second portion of this assignment is a two step process.  
1.) Review your two paragraphs noting each of the places you used any of the tools in the Writer's Toolbox. Try to find at least two examples of each of the tools from the Writer's Toolbox employed in each descriptions (except for tell sentences and direct statements of meaning, which you should have limited to only one per paragraph). If you can't find two examples of the other features in each of your descriptions, you'll probably want to revise your initial description, adding more of those features. 
2.) Write your rhetorical analysis, devoting at least one paragraph to each of the tools in the Writer's Toolbox. You will probably want to begin each paragraph of the rhetorical analysis with a general claim. “I used a great deal of word choice in each of my two descriptions.” Then you'll want to follow that claim with examples. “For instance, in my positive paragraph, I described the sun as “gleaming,” which implies that the light was pleasantly bright. However, in my negative paragraph, I described the sun as “glaring,” implying that the light was too bright, and in fact painful to look at.” 
Here's a student example of the second portion of this assignment. (This is the same student who focused on Pillsbury Crossing in his positive and negative descriptions.)  
Rhetorical Analysis 
I chose Pillsbury Crossing for my descriptions in this paper. I enjoyed writing about Pillsbury Crossing because it seemed to offer many positive and negatives, and I had never been there before. This allowed me to record my own first impressions, both pleasant and unpleasant. The floodplain is an amazing natural environment, but it can also be less than relaxing at times. 
I wrote my first sentence as an overt statement which explained the mood of the rest of the paragraph. For my pleasant impression, I stated “Nature's beauty surrounds me,” emphasizing the beauty on can find in a place such as this. In contrast, for my negative impression, I wrote “Death has had her way here.” The notion of death immediately makes the tone grim and unpleasant, even though death is also a fundamental aspect of the natural world. 
With my tone clearly established, I next had to consider my word choice very carefully. In order to show the reader what I experienced, I had to choose words that fit the mood of the description as set by my overt statements of meaning. In my pleasant description, I discuss the sun's rays and how they are “warm” and “comforting.” These words make the sun's rays seem pleasant and positive. However, in the negative description, the sun's rays were “scorching.” This description emphasizes the fact that the sun's rays can be harmful and dangerous. I also describe the leaves in both paragraphs. While the leaves were colorful, reflecting “green, yellow, and brown hues” in my positive description, they were “withering” and falling to the ground to create a leaf “cemetery” in my negative description. This helps maintain the mood of each of my respective paragraphs. 
I also left out details from certain paragraphs to keep the mood and tone consistent. In my pleasant description, I omitted the sound of bugs buzzing and the fact that I had mosquito bites by the end of my observation. I did not include the bugs in my pleasant paragraph because it did not fit with the positive tone. In the unpleasant impression, I left out how the breeze cooled my skin. By simply describing the wind's ill-effects on the leaves and omitting its comforting sensation, the wind seems to be only an annoyance in the negative paragraph. 
Similes and metaphors were helpful as well, allowing me to create an impression that nature was either alive and comforting or dead and disturbing. In the pleasant description, I wanted the impression to be welcoming and lively, so I wrote “the leaves flutter as if they were applauding the breath of the land.” I wanted to make Mother Nature have a personality. By using similes like “symphony of nature,” it gives Mother Nature a graceful, caring attitude, which makes the description seem more pleasant. In the negative paragraph, I describe the fallen foliage as a “leaf cemetery.” This makes Mother Nature seem like a wrathful, murderous force. 
Throughout my descriptions, I also paid attention to sentence structure. I start each paragraph with a short, tell sentence, to make sure the reader knows exactly what impression I have of this place. “Nature's beauty surrounds me” contrasts sharply with “Death has had her way here.” In most of the rest of the descriptions, I used longer sentences, which allowed me to truly show the reader my place. For instance, in the sentence “Delicate water birds chitter and trill, voicing their opinions and contributing to the symphony of nature,” I stated the object being described, described it, and tried to elaborate as much as possible. 
Please be sure to review the Submit Your Assignment of Unit #4 section for specific instructions on how you should turn in your work for grading. The Point of View Essay with all required sections is due at the end of Unit #4.  
Unit 4: Assignment -- Point of View Essay, Part 3 
You will have two tasks this unit: 
1.) Complete the last portion of the Point of View Paper. 
2.) Get feedback on your complete draft of Point of View Paper from an outside reader. 
First, you'll need to finish the assignment. 
The last portion of this assignment is simple. Reflect on what you've done. Why does any of this matter? How do these tools relate to other writing you've done, other writing you've read, etc.? How does (or how will) any of this apply to you? 
Here's a student example of the last portion of this assignment. (Again, this is the same student who focused on Pillsbury Crossing in his positive and negative descriptions, and whose rhetorical analysis was included above.)  
Reflection 
While writing this assignment, I noticed that while we observe things everyday, choosing the right words to describe and 
observation is difficult and important. While walking in the park the other day, I noticed how the wind picked up, and I tried to 
think about how I would describe it. I realized that my descriptions would differ, depending on whether I was in a pleasant or 
unpleasant mood. I also noticed how choice of words can influence a reader's perceptions. For example, I've recently read 
several articles on the home-run race. One author reported that Sammy Sosa was beating Mark McGwire, but another focused 
on Mark McGwire, writing that he was ahead of last year's pace, so he wasn't technically “losing” the home-run race.  
Presentation of facts and phrasing of observations can be vital to crafting a good story that grabs the reader's attention; it can 
also sway the reader's opinions in many ways. 
Second, I strongly recommend you get some feedback on your complete draft. 
In this unit, you will want to revise your own work to the best possible quality. I strongly recommend that in addition to reviewing your work yourself, you find yourself an outside reader—someone who will read your work and offer you suggestions for revisions.  
You have two options in choosing an outside reader: 
* You can find someone on your own to read your work (ie. your spouse, one of your kids, a friend, a neighbor). 
* You can sign up for the Peer Review Option by emailing me. (I'll set up an email list, so that you and 2-3 of your classmates can email each other your drafts and get feedback.) 
Here are some questions you'll want to keep in mind when revising your Perspective Paper. 
The Two Descriptions 
1.) Do the two descriptions offer contrasting impressions of your place, without changing the facts? 
2.) Do each of the descriptions incorporate all of the tools of the Writer's Toolbox? Are each of these rhetorical tools used to their fullest advantage? 
3.) Are both descriptions well-organized, and easy to follow? 
The Rhetorical Analysis 
1.) Are each of the five rhetorical tools discussed? 
2.) Does each paragraph follow the claim-support structure, making a general claim that clarifies the feature to be discuss, and then offering examples of how the feature was used and to what effect? Do these examples seem adequate and appropriate? 
3.) Are transitions used to move the reader from paragraph to paragraph? 
The Reflection 
1.) Is the reflection at least one paragraph long, using appropriate transitions to move us from idea to idea? 
2.) Does the reflection offer a sense of why/how the concepts of this assignment matter, beyond the classroom setting? 
Please be sure to review the Submit Your Assignment of Unit #4 section for specific instructions on how you should turn in your work for grading. The Point of View Essay with all required sections is due at the end of Unit #4.