Write Your Own Illustration

In this section, you will write your own illustration based on one of the following assignments. For help, refer to the How to Write Illustration checklist on page 150.

ASSIGNMENT OPTIONS Writing about College, Work, and Everyday Life

Write an illustration paragraph, essay, or other document (as described below) on one of the following topics or on one of your own choice. If you responded to the idea journal prompt on page 134, you might develop that writing further.

COLLEGE

  • Describe your goals for this course, making sure to explain the benefits of achieving each goal.
  • If you are still deciding on a degree program or major, identify at least two areas of study that interest you. To get some ideas, you might refer to a course catalog. Also, consider visiting a counselor at your college’s guidance office or career center. The counselor might be able to recommend some study programs to you based on your goals and interests. Next, write about the areas of study that appeal to you the most, giving examples of what you would learn and explaining how each of your choices matches your goals and interests.
  • Produce a one- or two-page newsletter for other students in your class on one of the following topics. Make sure to describe each club, opportunity, and event in enough detail for readers. Also, include contact information, as well as hours and locations for events and club meetings.
    • Student clubs
    • Volunteer opportunities
    • Upcoming campus events (such as lectures, movies, and sports events)
    • Upcoming events in the larger community

WORK

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    What is the best or worst job you have ever had? Give examples of what made it the best or worst job.
  • Thinking like a television producer, find a category of jobs — such as “dirty jobs,” the name of a popular cable show — that a TV audience would find strange and interesting. Then, give examples of jobs in the category. (Examples of professions covered in the show Dirty Jobs include maggot farming, camel ranching, and bologna making.) Give enough details about each job to make it clear why that job is unusual. To get some ideas, you might type “strange jobs” into a search engine.
  • Think of the job you would most like to have after graduation. Then, write a list of your skills — both current ones and ones you will be building in college — that are relevant to the job. To identify skills you will be building through your degree program, you might refer to a course catalog. To identify relevant work skills, consider your past or present jobs as well as internships or other work experiences you would like to have before graduation. Finally, write a cover letter explaining why you are the best candidate for your ideal job. Be sure to provide several examples of your skills, referring to the list that you prepared.

TIP For sample cover letters and advice on writing these letters, visit bedfordstmartins.com/realwriting.

EVERYDAY LIFE

  • Write about stresses in your life or things that you like about your life. Give plenty of details for each example.
  • Give examples of memories that have stayed with you for a long time. For each memory, provide enough details so that readers will be able to share your experience.
  • Identify at least three public improvements you think would benefit a significant number of people in your community, such as the addition of sidewalks in residential areas to encourage exercise. These improvements should not include changes, such as the creation of a boat dock on a local lake, that would benefit only a small portion of the community. Then, in a letter to the editor of your local paper, describe each suggested improvement in detail, and explain why it would be an asset to the community.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS

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EVELKA RANKINS edits a weekly newsletter that lists events of interest to fellow students at her college. Getting more involved in college and community activities, as Evelka did, can help you feel more connected to others and can even improve the chances that you will stay in school.

For more on this story, ways to make community connections, and writing assignments, visit bedfordstmartins.com/realwriting.

ASSIGNMENT OPTIONS Reading and Writing Critically

Complete one of the following assignments, which ask you to apply the critical thinking, reading, and writing skills discussed in Chapter 1.

Writing Critically about Readings

Both Susan Adams’s “The Weirdest Job Interview Questions and How to Handle Them” (p. 144) and Frances Cole Jones’s “Don’t Work in a Goat’s Stomach” (p. 199) give advice in a humorous way. Read or review both of these pieces, and then follow these steps:

TIP For a reminder of how to summarize, analyze, synthesi and evaluate, see the Reading and Writing Critically box on pages 16–17.

  1. 149
    Summarize Briefly summarize the works, listing major examples.
  2. Analyze What questions do the essays raise for you? Are there any other issues you wish they had covered?
  3. Synthesize Using examples from both Adams’s and Jones’s essays and from your own experience, discuss how the right kind of advice can help people achieve success.
  4. Evaluate Which essay, Adams’s or Jones’s, do you think is more effective? Why? Does the writers’ humor help get their points across? Why or why not? In writing your evaluation, you might look back on your responses to step 2.

Writing about Images

Study the photograph below, and complete the following steps.

  1. Read the image Ask yourself: What details does the photographer focus on? How do the colors and lights affect you as a viewer? What main impression does the picture make? (For more information on reading images, see Chapter 1.)
  2. Write an illustration The photograph shows a luxury liner whose bright, colorful lights attract onlookers and potential customers. Write an illustration paragraph or essay about businesses that draw customers with colorful displays, loud music, or some other appeal to the senses. Include the types of details you examined in step 1.
image

150
Writing to Solve a Problem

Read or review the discussion of problem solving in Chapter 1 (pp. 24–26). Then, consider the following problem.

Your college is increasing its tuition by $500 next year, and you do not think that you can continue. You have done well so far, and you really want to get a college degree.

ASSIGNMENT: Rather than just giving up and dropping out next year, as many students do, working in a small group or on your own, make a list of resources you could consult to help you, and explain how they might help. You might want to start with the following sentence:

Before dropping out of school for financial reasons, students should consult __________ because _____________.

For a paragraph: Name your best resource, and give examples of how this person or office might help you.

For an essay: Name your three best resources, and give examples of how they might help you.

CHECKLIST: HOW TO WRITE ILLUSTRATION

STEPS DETAILS
image Narrow and explore your topic.
See Chapter 3.
  • Make the topic more specific.
  • Prewrite to get ideas about the narrowed topic.
image Write a topic sentence (paragraph) or thesis statement (essay).
See Chapter 4.
  • State what you want your readers to understand about your topic.
image Support your point.
See Chapter 5.
  • Come up with examples and details to show, explain, or prove your main point to readers.
image Write a draft.
See Chapter 6.
  • Make a plan that puts examples in a logical order.
  • Include a topic sentence (paragraph) or thesis statement (essay) and all the supporting examples and details.
image Revise your draft.
See Chapter 7.
  • Make sure it has all the Four Basics of Good Illustration.
  • Make sure you include transitions to move readers smoothly from one example to the next.
image Edit your revised draft.
See Parts 4 through 7.
  • Correct errors in grammar, spelling, word use, and punctuation.