Welcome to �選修英文：英文寫作�Elective English: �Essay Writing��

David Gerich

戚大為 老師

Practicing and Learning Writing

• Composing: transforming ideas into words
• Summarizing: as you repeated back information and wrote three sentences
• Peer feedback: asking follow-up questions, repeating back information, learning what worked and what didn’t work
• Conciseness: writing the most information with the fewest amount of words

Policy on Phones in Class

• Your smartphone should be your personal language learning tool!
• OK – on breaks or to check the time
• OK – in group speaking activities
• OK – if I ask you to do research
• OK – for writing exercises (dictionaries)

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• NO – if it takes your attention away from class
• NO – if you are bored
• NO – for personal business (social media, etc.)
• NO – for help applications like Chat GPT or Grammarly

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Syllabus and grading expectations

• Look at the syllabus together.

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Overview

This course will focus on the following objectives:

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• Review basic paragraph structure.
• Learn different rhetorical forms of essay writing.
• Form a compelling topic, decide how to treat it in writing, and compose a strong and thoughtful essay to explore or argue it.
• Use in-text citations, summarizing, and paraphrasing.
• Explain writing to academic peers and respond to their questions.
• Identify and correct common grammar-related errors.

Textbook

• Oshima, Alice (2020). Longman Academic Writing Series 4: Paragraphs to Essays, Fifth Edition

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Course Content

• Process Approach – slow method
• Timed Test Strategies – fast method
• Goal: from blank page to finished product
• Sentence Structure: Improving grammar and fixing common errors
• Peer Editing
• Self Correction

Rhetorical Modes

• Foundational Essays:
• Expository/Classification Essay
• Process Essay – 2 different sub-modes

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• Advanced Essays:
• Cause-Effect Essay
• Compare-Contrast Essay

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Testing your skills

• Out-of-class assignment:

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• Expository Essay

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• In-class tests:

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• Process Essay
• Cause-Effect or Compare-Contrast Essay

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Grading

• Participation/Homework: 15%
• Expository/Benefits Essay (out-of-class): 15%
• Process Essay (in-class test): 20%
• Cause-Effect or Compare-Contrast (in-class test): 40%
• Rewriting Assignment: 10%

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Attendance, Participation, and Homework Assignments

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• Class 100% in English (dictionaries and phones are allowed)
• Emphasis on English usage (reception and production)

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• Attendance:
• Mandatory
• 3 unexcused absences or more = fail the course
• Late 3 times = 1 absence

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• Written homework:
• Bring your textbook and complete assigned homework in it. If you do not bring your textbook to class, you will lose participation points for the day.
• Write assigned essays.
• Late assignments = lose 10% on your score unless you can give it to me before the next class (not accepted after one week)

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• In-class Performance: (both writing and speaking)
• Maintain a positive, enthusiastic, and proactive attitude for practicing your English in every class.
• Use of phones is for the benefit of involvement, not disengagement. (in class)

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If you are sick:

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• DO:

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• 1. Stay home and recover first.
• 2. Inform the teacher. Write me an email or ask a classmate to tell me.
• 3. Stay informed. Check our MOODLE for information on homework and assignments for the next week.
• 4. Ask. Talk to a classmate if you need more information about what we did in class.

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Make-up work for absences:

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• Complete all assigned homework.
• Make up any tests when you return.
• Write an extra essay on a topic you choose.
• Send it as an email attachment on Microsoft Word.
• The paper must be written in the format we learned in class. It must be accepted by me to get participation credit.

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Homework/Presentation Policies

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• All written homework must be turned in on the due date. No written homework will be accepted a week later.
• No plagiarizing, copying classmates’ homework, or using help applications like Chat GPT or Grammarly.
• Students who intentionally do this will receive a zero on that assignment and could fail the course.

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Homework/Presentation Policies

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• Acceptable writing tools:

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• Dictionary
• Thesaurus
• Google translator (word or phrase only)

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Check our class MOODLE!

On the Moodle, you will find:

• Announcements (sometimes important)
• Details about homework assignments for the week
• Instruction for graded writing assignments
• Uploaded PPT or Word documents from class

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• Contact me: davegerich2@gmail.com; (Please use gmail!) Talk to me before class, on breaks, or after class.
• Office hours: Research Building 405 (contact me to set up an appointment)

Wednesday Schedule

• 2/21: Course orientation; Learning structure for business writing and email correspondence 
• 2/28: 228 Memorial Day - no class
• 3/6: From business correspondence to the academic paragraph (travel destinations) 
• 3/13: From paragraph to essay – Units 1-3 overview (LEE method)
• 3/20: Expository/classification essay – Unit 4 (Native American model) HW: Benefits essay first draft
• 3/27: Mastering the expository essay (intros, body, outlining, example) HW: Benefits essay
• 4/3: Intercollegiate activities - no class
• 4/10: Continuing the expository essay: brainstorming, review, improving thesis statements and introductions (target reader, parallel structure)
• 4/17: Process Essay – Educational and Instructional – Unit 5
• 4/24: Process Essay – Educational and Instructional – Unit 5
• 5/1: Midterm Exam: Process Essay in class
• 5/8: Grammar: process essay errors and noun clauses
• 5/15: Cause-Effect Essay - Unit 6 - Rewriting Assignment Due
• 5/22: Cause-Effect Essay
• 5/29: Compare-Contrast Essay
• 6/5: Compare-Contrast Essay
• 6/12: Final Exam (Compare-Contrast or Cause-Effect Essay) (In-class Exam)
• 6/19: Writing consultations

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Friday Schedule

• 2/23: Course orientation; Learning structure for business writing and email correspondence 
• 3/1: From business correspondence to the academic paragraph (travel destinations) 
• 3/8: From paragraph to essay – Units 1-3 overview (LEE method)
• 3/15: Expository/classification essay – Unit 4 (Native American model) HW: Benefits essay first draft
• 3/22: Mastering the expository essay (intros, body, outlining, example) HW: Benefits essay
• 3/29: Continuing the expository essay: brainstorming, review, improving thesis statements and introductions (target reader, parallel structure)
• 4/5: Tomb Sweeping Festival - no class
• 4/12: Process Essay – Educational and Instructional – Unit 5
• 4/19: Process Essay – Educational and Instructional – Unit 5
• 4/26: Midterm Exam: Process Essay in class
• 5/3: Grammar: process essay errors and noun clauses
• 5/10: Cause-Effect Essay - Unit 6 - Rewriting Assignment Due
• 5/17: Cause-Effect Essay
• 5/24: Compare-Contrast Essay
• 5/31: Compare-Contrast Essay
• 6/7: Final Exam (Cause-Effect Essay or Compare-Contrast) (In-class Exam)
• 6/14: Writing consultations

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How to write an email

• TIP: Check our class MOODLE for the answer first.

How to write an email

• TIP: Use the same email address for all correspondence with me (usually your NCCU email).

How to write an email

• Step 1: Include a strong subject line.

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• Your name Hi Your purpose

How to write an email

• Step 2: Include a strong subject line.

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Questions about essay assignment

How to write an email

• Step 2: Start with a formal greeting using the professor’s title and surname.

How to write an email

• Step 3: Remind the professor who you are.

Our example: I’m Ella Chen in your Elective Writing course on Friday.

How to write an email

• Step 4: Be direct about what you want.

How to write an email

• TIP: Use complete sentences.

How to write an email

• TIP: Keep your tone and language professional (no emojis).

How to write an email

How to write an email

• TIP: Make requests politely.

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Dear Professor Hanes,

(introduce yourself)

I’ve had a difficult week this week with a family emergency. I had to go back to my hometown at the last minute and won’t return until next week. Would you please give me an extension on this paper?

How to write an email

• TIP: Use proper punctuation.

How to write an email

• TIP: In professional emails, spell out words.

How to write an email

• TIP: Use capital letters correctly.

How to write an email

• Step 5: Tell the professor what specific action you want directly.

How to write an email

• TIP: Check your email for grammar errors.

How to write an email

• TIP: Read it again from the professor’s point of view.

How to write an email

Step 6: End the email with a salutation.

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Would you please give me an extension on this paper? Please reply at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your help.

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Sincerely,

Mark Fisher

Elective English Essay Writing

Friday 234

How to write an email

• TIP: Check back again in a few days.

How to write an email

• Step 7: Acknowledge a reply.

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• In an email thread, you do not need to introduce yourself again.

Six parts

• Strong subject
• Greeting
• Who am I?
• Body (including details and questions)
• Action wanted
• Salutation

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Email threads

• Strong subject
• Greeting
• Who am I?
• Body (including details and questions)
• Action wanted
• Salutation

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Practice writing an email

• Write a request for a day off because you have an important event that you cannot change.

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Business English Letter Writing

• How to do it:
• Learn the format/pattern/template.
• Write your letter according to the pattern.
• Use variations of writing if you have to.

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Business English Letter Writing

• How to do it:
• Learn the format/pattern/template.
• Write your letter according to the pattern.
• Use variations of writing if you have to.

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Set up: Discuss a problem that you recently had, which you would like to complain about.

Business English Letter Writing

• Examples:
• Problems with service in the dormitory
• Problems with ordering a product online
• Problems with a food delivery service
• Problems with an app that you paid for
• Problems with service at a hotel on a recent trip
• Problems on a plane, train, or long bus ride
• Problems with an Uber ride or taxi ride
• Problems with a specific aspect of the university, city, or country (ex. pollution, high fees, etc.)

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Three aspects of a problem

• Online shopping or delivery
• 1. The product took four weeks to arrive. (Note: It should have arrived overnight.)
• 2. The product was broken.
• 3. The product didn’t look like the photo online and wasn’t what I wanted at all.

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Business English Letter Writing

• Practice:
• Write a complaint letter to a company, organization, government agency, etc.
• Follow the template.
• Discuss the problem that you or others have experienced and the help that you expect to receive.

Business English letter template

• Writer’s address
• Date
• Addressee’s name, title, and address
• Greeting (with a colon)
• Paragraph 1: Who am I? Why am I writing? Finish with a topic sentence: There are many reasons why I am dissatisfied with the product I ordered/service I received.
• Paragraph 2: Follows the topic sentence with signal words: First… In addition… Furthermore…
• Paragraph 3: Summarize the point. Any enclosures/attachments? Action wanted from the reader (ex: Please refund my money.)
• Salutation: Sincerely, Include the writer’s name and title

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