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Strider (and anyone else) - A question about how to word assignments...


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You said:

 

"You need facts for proof, though this varies widely depending upon what exactly you are writing. If it's an opinion column in a newspaper, that can be looser, whereas a proposal to a company for money expenditure requires a different, more specific set of facts. Also, depending on the length of the assignment and style of writing, you may choose to give more specific stats for just one or two of your points.

 

Let's look at your example:

 

--Her boat had all the most modern equipment. Facts to offer here are examples of that equipment and descriptions of its specific capability. How many examples you offer would be based on the required length of the assignment. A less formal, short opinion piece might only mention the $$ her parents spent on the boat.

 

----Rogue waves are unpredictable. Stats and quotes might be helpful here, or at least quotes. Or another option, for a less formal assignment, would be an anecdote.

 

--Highways are more dangerous. I would definitely include stats for this point in virtually any type of assignment. The stats are easy to find and compelling in and of themself.

 

For any of these, if it's a less formal, short assignment, you can get away with saying things like, "It's well known that . . . " without providing verifiable facts. That makes your argument weaker and easier to deconstruct, but is nevertheless an option for fitting your message into a shorter format. Newspapers are particularly prone to this.

 

For the average expository paper for a high school student, including facts (stats, quotes, etc.) is normal and expected."

 

 

How do you word assignments to get the right sort of proof from the student? I think part of my problem with writing assignments is that I will have one thing in mind but my son will do something else. Neither of us have much writing vocabulary. I'm delighted to have this problem. We are at the point where my son can turn out a paper a week, including revisions, without spending half of every day on it. It is still a problem, though. In this particular case, I gave him two articles, one of which included lots of quotes from experts, about Abbey's failed circumnavigation attempt. I wanted him to write a paper arguing whether or not Abbey should have been allowed to do this. He did this, and his paper had a good intro and ok conclusion and some goodish points, but I can't figure out whether the support for his points was ok or not. I think they were probably ok for a newspaper article (which is what he was working from), but how would I phrase a request for a paper with a different sort of argument? How do teachers word assignments so they get the sort paper they have in mind? Are there standard essay paper names? It always seems to me that most non-fiction writing can be divided into papers with a thesis that one is trying to prove, papers that explain something, and papers that tell a story, and that these are then used for different purposes. I have Writers Inc and other writing books, and they tend to divide by purpose. I seem to be having trouble making the leap between purpose and type? Maybe?

-Nan

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I've not thought this through specifically before, but upon reflection think of some tips that might help:

 

--Define your audience. If you want the paper to be looser, more casual, say, "Write a an opinion column for your small, local paper about . . . " If you want to beef it up a bit, say, "Write an opinion column for the New York Times, a paper that is known for being at a higher level of presentation . . . " Another option for making something more academic is to define it as being a presentation for scientists in the field, or defending a Ph.D on the topic, for example.

 

--Use terms like formal vs. informal or casual. Also when you call something a "research" paper that term tends to define it as a more academic or scholarly piece. Another good term is "scholarly."

 

--Define acceptable sources of information. For example, for a casual piece, I might not define the sources much other than to say that any media or articles or books are fair ground. For something more formal, I might choose to restrict or even forbid media sources, and limit the sources to professional journals or library books. Also for a more formal piece, I specifically forbid use of Wikipedia. Another option is to require the student to ascertain that the source of information has the credentials or background to offer expert information.

 

I think defining the audience would probably have the biggest effect on the tone of the paper, though that might be something your child has to be trained to understand. You might need to talk through what is appropriate for the audience for the next several assignments so that your child understands this.

 

Hope this helps. I'm happy to puzzle through further questions if you like.

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I will make sure that I do this every time. That might help. He is familiar with all these concepts. "Scholarly" is a good word. Perhaps we need to dissect some examples. Now that we are at the point where we can aim at adult examples, this will be much easier. He understands tone fairly well, although he needs more practice with a formal tone. His very dry sense of humour blurs formal and informal in a way that makes this distinction more difficult than it would be otherwise. I have been reluctant to specify sources of information in the past (except Wiki and non-.gov or non-.edu sites). I'm not sure how many scholarly journals our public library has? Aren't many of those online now? I seem vaguely to remember my older sons saying that they have access to tons online through their college library. I tried to get the resource librarian to show us how to use the library to do research but I think the request way too vague; she wasn't very helpful. I don't know what sorts of questions to ask her. My son is old enough now to baulk at doing anything without a reason given. What reason do you give for restricting sources?

Thank you very much! I wish this weren't a case of the blind leading the blind.

-Nan

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I will make sure that I do this every time. That might help. He is familiar with all these concepts. "Scholarly" is a good word. Perhaps we need to dissect some examples. Now that we are at the point where we can aim at adult examples, this will be much easier. He understands tone fairly well, although he needs more practice with a formal tone. His very dry sense of humour blurs formal and informal in a way that makes this distinction more difficult than it would be otherwise. I have been reluctant to specify sources of information in the past (except Wiki and non-.gov or non-.edu sites). I'm not sure how many scholarly journals our public library has? Aren't many of those online now? I seem vaguely to remember my older sons saying that they have access to tons online through their college library. I tried to get the resource librarian to show us how to use the library to do research but I think the request way too vague; she wasn't very helpful. I don't know what sorts of questions to ask her. My son is old enough now to baulk at doing anything without a reason given. What reason do you give for restricting sources?

Thank you very much! I wish this weren't a case of the blind leading the blind.

-Nan

 

I restrict sources in an effort to control the quality of the information. An article from Woman's Day magazine about dyslexia will have a different quality of information (far more opinion, less fact, such facts as there are are more likely to be just the basics) than will Lancet (a medical journal), for example.

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