Esmeralda Huerta

October 16, 2016

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Application Activity 4.5 Writing Prompt Critique

I chose to examine two prompts where Ill be identifying flaws and weaknesses based on
their criteria that are Time essay exam item for an undergraduate geology course: In a short
essays, describe tectonic plate movement. Include a drawing. and In-class writing prompts for
an intermediate-level IEP reading-writing courses: Define friendship. A timed essay and inclass writing prompts are known collectively as timed essays that require the students to
demonstrate disciplinary knowledge by constructing a writing sample within a limited time
period. In most high school and colleges timed essays are used often because they allow teachers
to grade students holistically in a very brief amount of time.
The prompt time essay exam for an undergraduate geology course is described as In a
short essays, describe tectonic plate movement. Include a drawing. By reading this simple one
sentence prompt direction on writing a short essay it is not detailed what a student should follow.
Its simple descriptive says describe tectonic plate movement, the student can go in any direction
writing an essay on this particular topic. Students can write describes tectonic plate movement
and write about why these tectonic plates cause earthquakes. Or explaining why these tectonic
plates do move. Or the student can start writing a little history behind tectonic plate movement
and why it happened. This simple one sentence direction just simply says to describe the tectonic
plate movement and then include a drawing with it describing the tectonic plate. I would say to
the student to decide the direction and just go straight to the point writing out the tectonic plate
movement with descriptions than add a drawing to support the short essay. The weakness of this
prompt is that it is not a clear enough direction for a student to write this essay. If I was a student
writing this essay my initial thought would be that Ill be describing the tectonic plates as I
remembered in my science class. I would describe the divergent boundary that follows when two

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tectonic plates move away from each other. Second, the convergent boundary is when two plates
come together. Lastly, the altering plate boundary happens when plates slide past each other
forms. I would write about each one of these tectonic plate in more in detailed and description.
Then Ill illustrate this with a drawing that describes the tectonic plates movement. This prompt
does not have a clear direction what the word count should be and to contrast, define or
summarize the essay. To make this prompt better and clearer, I would have a well detailed
direction for a student to follow. According to Ferris, D., & Hedgcock, J. (2014) who
emphasized the three steps for creating a proper prompts for timed writing, 1. State a context
in one to two sentences. 2. Present directions separately, specifying genre, audience, and topic.
3. Define the target genre and requirements for rhetorical arrangement with representative verbs
such as argue, compare, contrast, convince, defend, define, evaluate, persuade, summarize, and
so forth (Crusan, 2010, p.68), (p. 128). I agree with this quote I believe it should have a formal
context about the tectonic plate movements, it mentions define a genre form (letter, research
paper, article, personal essay, or so on) of the essay, and who is the audience for the essay? The
direction should include the rhetorical arrangement and if it should define, evaluate, summarize,
and contrast essay. In an essay timed test theres not a lot of time for a student to think in detail
and theoretically when writing about the tectonic plate movements.
The in-class writing prompt for an intermediate-level IEP reading-writing course is
described as Define friendship. The direction for this in-class writing prompt sounds like a fast
writing session. It does not give the student a clear direction on how they need to write this
essay. I instead sounds like a journal prompt that a student should write every day in class. The
writing teacher will give out a non-directional prompt like this as a journal entry form. I believe
this makes more sense as in-class writing prompt if it was a journaling session where students

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can write whatever they want in their journals to define friendship. It is does not sounds like a
timed essay but it seems the students would have the opportunity to write about this prompt in
the journaling type session at the beginning of class. According to Ferris, D., & Hedgcock, J.
(2014) stated, Frequent journal writing can be extraordinarily valuable to writers by giving them
an incentive to read extensively while providing instructors with continuous evidence of
students comprehension of assigned and self-selected texts (p. 105). Also, since this is an
intermediate-level IEP reading-writing course the students are reading about friendship and then
write a journal about defining friendship. According to Ferris, D., & Hedgcock, J. (2014), they
emphasized, read-to-write activities can involve any literacy event in which readers/writers
use text(s) that they read, or have read, as a basis for text(s) that they write (p. 102). The
weakness of this prompt is that it does not mention what the word count should be for this essay
or what is the passage of the friendship is about? It just simply says to define friendship. The
strengths of this prompt are that there are key words in the description for me to understand that
it is a reading-writing course so the students have to read about friendship before starting on
writing about defining friendship but it is not clear or detailed with directions. If theres a
passage about friendship it seems the students are summarizing the passage as defining
friendship as their journal entry. Or the teacher wants the students to write their own opinions
and ideas to define friendship and also relate to the text they read. The textbook of Ferris, &
Hedgcock, (2014) specified, to open-ended journal tasks, summaries offer teachers and
writers important vehicles for intensive reading, for practicing pre-writing and composing
subskills, and for assessing essential academic literacy skills (p. 106).
By examining both prompts, Time essay exam item for an undergraduate geology
course: In a short essays, describe tectonic plate movement. Include a drawing. and In-class

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writing prompts for an intermediate-level IEP reading-writing courses: Define friendship. I can
see the weaknesses and strengthens in both of these prompts. What I learned from this chapter is
that it highlighted the different types and styles of prompts that teachers can used in their own
classroom. Now, I have a clearer picture on the different forms of prompts and flaws in them. I
think this was a great informative chapter Ive read and the assignment made me have clearer
idea about what I should know about the different types of prompts.

Assignment 5 Sheet Prompt Comparison Grid

I added the Assignment 5 essay to the comparison grid.
Features
Genre
Location
Topical focus

Layout

Samples
1.
2.
Picture book
Magazine feature story
Children book
Magazine
Hansies bear hurts
The High-Intensity
himself and his dad
outdoor cardio
has a remedy and says workout. Burns fat all
to him, There, there,
summer. Its for
Hansie Bear. Youll be women who want to
better soon.
lose weight and get
healthy
The book has short
The magazine has a 2
sentences on each
column texts along
page with illustration
with pictures of a lady
along with it. This
riding a bike. The next
book has exquisitely
pages shows different
colorful and detailed
types of workouts that
water color
are illustrated by
illustrations.
images. The layout is
square, the meaning is
to guide women to get
into fitness and a
healthy life style. The
layout provides a
casual and easy read. It
has bold titles, sub
titles, allow readers to
identify the different

3.
Reflective Essay
Personal essay
The effect of
immunization
vaccination on
anew born and
causes
autism/sickness.
The layout of this
reflective essay
has an
introduction that
gives an idea
about what the
essay is about. It
gives the readers
the experience in
a sentence and
the effect of the
vaccinations and
the experiences of
the author. Then
theres the body
of the essay in
three paragraphs

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Length
Rhetorical
arrangement

October 16, 2016

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31 pages
In the childrens book,
There, There,
Hansie is an
adventurous bear cub
who likes to attempt
abnormal activities.
These activities
include walk like a
duck, digging a ditch,
playing on the swing,
bump on a branch, and
so on. The baby cub

types of workout.
Images are provided
for each workout that
is described. It shows
an image of women
with a perfect body,
clear skin, and nice
hair featured in the
article.

with a total of six

paragraphs
throughout the
paper. The body
contains the
authors
experience about
what she thinks
about
immunizations
and how her
mother
rhetorically
changed the
authors decision
that she should
space out the
vaccinations. The
body specified
the effect of
vaccinations in a
theoretically
scientific way.
Finally the
conclusion that
summarizes the
whole paper
about the authors
experiences and
scientific
information on
vaccinations.

6 pages
The Fitness Magazine
uses pathos, logos, and
ethos to get the
viewers attention and
to draw them to a
healthy lifestyle. The
visual, content and the
image compositions
represent fitness, it
targets ideas that
appeals to young
women. The revealing

4 pages
In the personal
essay, the content
of the essay is
well detailed and
mentions the
authors
experiences and
the effects of
vaccinations. The
essays mentioned
the authors
experience and

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Participants

Functions

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continues to hurt
himself in many
different ways when
playing and so the
father would always
come find him to
comfort him with a
hug and say, There,
there, it wont be sore
for long, youll see.
And there, there,
Hansie, Ill give it a
rub and youll be
fine. One of the most
remarkable themes in
this book is
compassion. The story
shows a valuable
lesson, as children
should not fear and
hinder their natural
curiosity in nature.
The characters were
all animals making
this a relatable book
for families of all
cultural backgrounds.

images in the article

captures the attention
of many women who
wants to get into shape
and good health by
eating the right foods.
There are fitness
phrases scattered
neatly among the
article to draw
attention to women
who wants to lose
weight. For instance
the article states, Do
one of the HighIntensity Outdoor
Cardio Workouts five
to six days a week to
four days per week if
you are also doing the
Sexy, Lean Body
Workout described in
this issue of FitnessRx
for Women. The
beauty of this exercise
program is its
flexibility. This
article appeals to a
young adult audience
but especially women
who wants to be in
shape and eat healthy.
The article has a visual
appeal that is described
as a vibrant vibe,
bright colors so it can
stand out in the
magazine.

stated, Since this

is my first baby,
hes just turned
three months old
and no doubt
about it, I think a
new born baby
getting so many
vaccines can
overwhelm my
childs immune
system. The essay
highlights the
effects of the
vaccinations and
the authors
experiences in
detail. The
audience for this
essay are new
parents who are
concerned about
vaccinations for
their babies and
also others who
wants to read
about other
people thoughts
and experiences
on this issue.

Hansie Bear, father

bear, duck, and mama
bear
This encourages
children to go outside
and be adventurous
rather than staying

Angela Marcello

Author, the
mother, and the
newborn baby
This shows
concerned parents
the effect of
immunization and

This encourages
women to lose weight,
be healthy, exercise,
eating healthy, and

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inside the house. This
book features the
father bear offering
comfort as opposed to
mommy.

Style and register

Style: short sentence

length, grammar,
vowels, consonants,
tone, phonemes,
phrases, clauses,
discourse; Register:
Simplistic English
language, prescribed
grammar such as
pronouncing words
ending in- ing for
instance from book,
sting, swing, trying,
falling, and bumping.
Formal words: such as
dad
Informal words: for
instance from the
book, Mum rather
than saying mom.
The book is informal
in content.

Grammatical
features

Masculine, feminine,
noun phrase, verb
phrase, and the clause.
Calm and loving
mood.

different types of
workouts. This teaches
women to be fit and
read the theoretical
research of being
healthy.
Style: Written
document, long
sentences, long text
paragraphs, grammar,
vowels, consonants,
tone, phonemes,
phrases, clauses, and
discourse.
Register: Simplistic to
intermediate English
language, prescribed
grammar such as
pronouncing words
ending in- ing for
instance from the
article in the magazine,
walking, swimming,
jogging, riding, and
running. This
magazine article is
formal content.

vaccinations in
theoretically
scientific terms.

Style: Written as
an essay, long
sentences,
complex
sentences and
words, scientific
phrases,
paragraphs,
grammar,
consonants,
vowels, tone,
phonemes, and
discourse.
Register:
Intermediate
English language,
formal words
such as mother,
child. This is
formal reflective
essay with
scientific
sentences.
Feminine, noun phrase, Both Masculine
verb phrase, verbal
and feminine
complex, or the clause. features. It has
Energetic and
noun phrases,
motivational mood.
verb phrases,
complex words,
and the clauses. It
shows worries
and concerned
emotions.

I understand that the reflective essay has clear directions on how to start it. The personal
essay describes the assignment, purpose, product, evaluation, and questions. It is very
informative and detailed in what I should write about my rhetorical situation. The section About

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the Assignment is in complete detail on how to start the assignment, how it is laid out and the
style I should choose about my rhetoric experiences. The next section is the Purpose, which is
to reflect my own personal experience with rhetoric should I persuade my reader or do research
for my essay just like I did, when I found articles on immunizations to support my essay. My
audience should agree or disagree on my views on immunizations or I might convince them that
they do effect babies. Its up to the readers what they think about the immunizations and this is
my views and personal experience and how I feel about it. Anyone can read it, to see if they
relate this situation and how they feel about it. The next section is the Product of what the
word count should for this essay to follow the criteria of the assignment. It is clear to me that I
have to submit two items for the assignment, the essay and the learning log. Then theres the
evaluation that should be prepared for of how my paper is graded. Lastly, the Questions
section, where it defines which questions guided me on how to start my paper until the end.
Overall, I did ran into barriers and I had a difficult time with assignment 5 but Im getting a
clearer picture of what Im supposed to do.

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Application Activity 4.6 Writing Task Construction
Create a Professional E-mail message

Assignment
Create a professional e-mail to a professor or academic advisor requesting an appointment.
Task
Your goal is to create a concise professional sounding informative e-mail that makes a great
impression on the person receiving it such as; in a formal manner, Dear Dr. Professor Johnson,
or Dear Dr. Good, or Dear Advisor. Do not be informal in wring this; for example, Mrs. or Ms.
Do not use slang, abbreviations, or emoticons in the e-mail professional letter. In the To
box, insert the e-mail address: essi03183@yahoo.com Include the Subject line box, and be
informative, for example, Requesting appointment, or Need to make appointment. At the end
of the letter say, Thank you in advance. I look forward to meeting you.
Requirements
In the body of the e-mail, explain to the professor or advisor in a detailed formal manner, why
you need to make appointment. If you are writing to a professor, introduce yourself, why you
are wanting to meet him or her? Are you confuse about a certain assignment? What are your
reasons for wanting a meeting with your professor? Is it to discuss an opportunity on a
research or conference? Are you wanting to participate in a research project? Here is an
example letter to a professor,
https://abroad.du.edu/_customtags/ct_FileRetrieve.cfm?File_ID=986
If you are writing to an advisor, introduce yourself in a professional detailed manner, why are
you requesting an appointment with him or her? Do you want to discuss about your degree
plan? Do you need to be advised on what should you sign up for next semester? Here is an
example advisor letter
https://www.uwsuper.edu/oip/intl_pros/upload/sample_emailtoarrangeadvisementmeetin
g.pdf
For this assignment you should research before starting on your professional e-mail letter. You
can find examples letters online and review the lecture notes on how to create a professional
letter. The letter must be 3 paragraph in length. You will be graded on spelling, organization,
sentence structure, punctuation errors, focus detailed, tone, word choice, and mechanic so
make sure you double check. This assignment is worth 100 points and do your best.
After you sent the e-mail
You compose an e-mail to me and also to either a professor or advisor that you are requesting
an appointment with.

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Reference

Ferris, D., & Hedgcock, J. (2014). Teaching L2 composition: Purpose, process, and practice
(Third ed.). New York: Routledge.