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Oklahoma City Community College Keith Leftwich Memorial Library

English Composition I - ENGL 1113

Resources to assist students in English Composition I research and write their essays.

Purpose

The purpose of Essay 2 is to synthesize evidence to formulate conclusions and analyze issues or problems surrounding a topic.  In other words, you will conduct an investigation so you can write an informative essay.  You may use definitions and/or descriptions that are supported by reliable sources, therefore increasing your credibility with an audience who needs your information.

Requirements

The essay should include the folllowing:

  • MLA Format
  • 2 to 3 pages (double-spaced), not including the Works Cited page
  • In-text citations in the body of the essay
  • Works Cited page with your credible sources
  • A minimum of three sources

Tasks

  • Utilize invention techniques: Before writing the essay, begin identifying your issue through a series of invention techniques, including but not limited to the following: brainstorming, listing, clustering, questioning, and conducting preliminary research.
  • Plan and organize your essay: After the invention process, it is important to begin planning the organizational pattern for the essay.  Planning includes identifying your thesis, establishing main ideas (or topic sentences) for each paragraph, supporting each paragraph with appropriate evidence, and creating ideas for the introductory and concluding paragraphs.
  • Draft and revise your essay: Once you have completed the planning process, write a rough draft of your essay.  Next, take steps to improve, polish, and revise your draft before turning it in for a final grade.  The revision process includes developing ideas, ensuring the thesis statement connects to the main ideas of each paragraph, taking account of your evidence and supporting details, checking for proper use of MLA citation style, reviewing source integration, avoiding plagiarism, and proofreading for formatting and grammatical errors.

Suggested Writing Prompt & Rhetorical Situations

Write an informative essay informing an audience of how your particular belief has had a positive or negative global or societal impact.  You are looking for how the belief is seen through action within the community.  Your goal will be to inform readers about the history of the belief and its impact if you can.  It will provide information about where you see the belief in action within the community.  Use pathos to connect the reader to the issue, logos to explain the scope of the belief, and ethos to build your credibility by citing trustworthy sources.

Skills

This assignment helps you practice the following skills that are essential to your success in school and your professional life beyond school.  In this assignment you will:

  • Access and collect needed information from appropriate primary and secondary sources
  • Synthesize information to develop informed views to inform an audience
  • Compose a well-organized, informative writing to expand your knowledge of a topic