ENGL 150:  Writing and Research

Guidelines for the five short writing assignments

Your short writing assignments should be 250-300 words in length--about a full page of text, 12 pt. Times Roman font, one-inch margins.  Try to restrict yourself to a single solid paragraph unless you can make a strong argument for doing otherwise (see Strunk and White, Rule 13).  Do not use colored ink, unconventional fonts, or images. 

See the Calendar for due dates.  Please consult Strunk and White and Hacker for questions about grammar, usage, and style.   Other writing aids are available here.

Assignment 1:  Description

See Great Writing, Chapter 1 for guidance on this topic.

Write a close description of the behavior of an insect or animal, or something else in nature--perhaps even your favorite season (following Keats).  You may want to use personification.  Try to use language that treats the object as noble, admirable, frightening, or horrible.

Assignment 2:  Exemplification

See Great Writing, Chapter 3 for guidance on this topic.

Write a paragraph in which you use examples to explain one of the following:  success, failure, embarrassment, compassion, gratitude, or confidence.  Make sure you brainstorm your topic extensively before you begin to write.  You may even want to do some research before you begin to write.

Assignment 3:  Process Analysis

See Great Writing, Chapter 4 for guidance on this topic.

Write a process analysis of a task or job you had to perform on a regular basis at some point in your life.  If you found the task to be boring or tedious, try to write a process analysis that makes it sound exciting or glamorous.  If you found the task to be disgusting or distasteful, write a process analysis that sanitizes the process.  If you found the task to be fun and exciting, write an analysis that makes it sound dull and unimportant.  If the task took a great deal of skill and technical expertise, try to analyze it in a way that a non-expert would be able to understand. 

Assignment 4:  Comparison and Contrast

See Great Writing, Chapter 5 for guidance on this topic.

Compare and contrast two people.  They might be friends, teachers, coaches, political figures, celebrities, or historical figures.  Make sure you think about how your subjects have been affected by the historical, social, political, or cultural contexts of their lives. 

Assignment 5:  Causal Analysis

See Great Writing, Chapter 7 for guidance on this topic.

Analyze the reasons behind a recent decision by the government (or some other large organization or authority) with which you disagree.  Make the effects the basis for your disagreement.

[Source:  Most of these assignments are based on assignments in Wiener and Eisenberg, Great Writing, 3rd ed. (McGraw Hill)]