Essay #1: Summary and Narration - Foothill College

Essay #2: Exposition Thesis Due Date: 10/10 or 10/11
Peer Editing Due Date: 10/17 or 10/18 Final Draft Due Date: 10/24 or 10/25
Inform Your Readers about Your Diverse Experiences!
Purpose: To practice writing expository essays in which you inform an audience comprised of your college peers.
Background:
When people think of diversity, they usually think of gender or race. However, diversity is much broader than those two
categories. In this unit you’ve read about diversity with respect to disability, race, health, socio-economic status, language, and
culture, and the assigned essays informed us about the writers’ individual experiences as members of these different groups.
The goal of this reading unit to learn about diversity in a much broader sense, practice listening, thinking, and talking about
complex and challenging issues in specific yet respectful ways, and to realize the importance of getting to know people as
individuals without making assumptions based on any real (or imagined) aspect of their identities. For example, in “Darkness
at Noon” you should “listen” to and learn about Harold Krent’s personal experience as a man who is blind and not simply see
him as a representative for people with disabilities.
Prompt:
This prompt asks you to inform or teach the rest of us about one of *your* experiences with diversity. (You are not writing
about the experience of an entire group of people, so you should avoid statements like “All men have experienced…”). You
should emulate the model essays by focusing on your individual and specific experiences.
The goal of this writing assignment is to effectively inform your reader about an experience with diversity. Just as David R.
Scott in “Walking on the Moon” had to inform his readers about what it was like to walk on the moon even though his
readers did not have any experience or familiarity with the moon or space travel, your objective is teach your classmates who
have not lived your life about what you’ve directly experienced or witnessed.
To fulfill this assignment, choose *one* assigned essay from this unit (see the essay options below) and choose at least two
examples from that essay that resonate with you. Then quote them and explain their significance. Use those examples as a
springboard to reflect on and inform your readers about a personal experience with diversity. You should start by thinking
about what you want to share and figuring out what your readers do and do not know about your selected topic.
Develop your essay with examples that are relatable to your audience. You should only choose experiences that you know
of first-hand, which means that you either had the experience or you directly witnessed it (perhaps in the life a friend, loved
one, etc.). You want to avoid generalizing about experiences you haven’t had or people you don’t know well. (So, at all costs
avoid statements like “From what I’ve noticed, I guess people living in poverty must feel…”) This is not a research project;
you should rely on your own immediate personal experiences.
To help focus your essay, I strongly suggest that you identify a central question that you want your essay to answer. Having a
guiding question makes it easier to create a thesis statement as well as assess whether your essay, especially your body section,
is on track.
You can choose from the following assigned essays in Steps to Writing Well:
*"Darkness at Noon" (609-10) *"Black Men and Public Space" (611-13)
*"The Myth of the Latin Woman” (625-29) *"The Picture of Health" (637-38)
*"What Is Poverty?" (638-41) *"Mother Tongue" (647-51)
Tasks: (1) Reflection, (2) Analysis, (3) Quoting
Your header should ONLY include your name, class/section, date, and separate word count for the essay and self-reflection.
MINIMUM Length: 1000 words
In addition to writing your essay, you are required to include a self-reflection (see instructions on the back page).
English 1A
Ms. Onugha

To help you stay on track, please refer to the checklist below. It is NOT a prescription for how you must organize your essay
or how many paragraphs you must include in your essay! It is simply a checklist designed to help you ensure that you include
all of the elements that are necessary to successfully complete the assignment.
I. Introduction: Provide your reader with essential background and contextual information. Your clear and
specific thesis (with opinion and blueprint of reasons) should come at the end of the
introduction. (Your thesis should explicitly answer your central question.)
II. Body Paragraphs: Your body paragraphs should fully develop and support the claims made in your thesis by
providing sufficient examples. Your examples should support and clarify your thesis. They
should also interest the reader and persuade your reader that your opinion is valid.
III. Conclusion: Confidently reassert (with more detail) the claims put forth in the thesis statement by
drawing upon the strength of your evidence (in this case your examples). This is also the
time to introduce any larger points or conclusions you want to leave with your reader.
SELF-REFLECTION INSTRUCTIONS
(ATTACH TO THE END OF YOUR ESSAY)
Write in complete sentences and paragraphs (not a list)
Self-evaluation must be typed (carefully proofread)
Write at least 250 words or your grade will be deducted automatically
Place your self-evaluation at the end of your essay
PLEASE TELL ME THE STORY OF HOW YOU WROTE YOUR ESSAY (in paragraph form)
Don’t make a list. But be sure to include the following information in your answer:
-- How long did you spend writing this essay? (Days? Weeks? Hours?)
-- What steps did you take to write the essay? What did you do 1 st? 2 nd? 3 rd?
-- Did you write a rough draft? Second draft? Third draft?
-- Did you use any strategies from the textbook to help strengthen your essay?
-- Did you seek help from other sources (Family? Friends? Tutors? Students?)
-- What are the greatest strengths of your essay?
-- What are the greatest weaknesses of your essay?
-- What would you do differently next time?
-- What steps did you take to improve your proofreading?
English 1A
Ms. Onugha