WEEK 2 ENGL

 
escribe the topic you will use for your week 3 informative speech and the topic you will use for your week 5 position paper.
One of the most important steps in writing is choosing a topic.  Sometimes it’s easy to do and sometimes not.  In this forum you will be choosing two (2) topics, as shown below. To get ready for that, read the article “Reinventing Invention: Discovery and Investment in Writing,” which is linked here.
The authors state that:
Writers invent texts the way engineers invent new gadgets. But invention in the rhetorical sense is about a lot more than just coming up with ideas. Invention is also a way to describe what happens when a writer searches for a topic, develops a specific idea about that topic, and then strategizes a plan for fitting that specific idea to the writing situation at hand. In other words, invention is about coming up with something shiny, new, and unique, but it is also about brainstorming, synthesizing, and learning. (Trim and Isaac 107)
The techniques set forth in the article provide good ways for you to get some ideas for the assignments you will be doing in this course, working by yourself or working with others (your friends, colleagues, etc.).  After you have tried some of these techniques, pick two (2) topics you would like to write on. If you want, these could be related to your field of study (some hints are shown in the lesson).

Week 3 Speech: Informative Topic
Week 5 Position Paper: Debatable Topic
You do not have to pick a topic for your week 7 paper at this time. You will be doing that later.

Describe a topic you will use for the two (2) assignments for the Week 2 Forum. As you think about your topics, keep in mind your purpose for each (to inform and to persuade). Decide if you need to narrow your topic a bit. Think about your audience and how you can help your reader understand the topic. You can talk about these things in your forum post.  See example post below.

An informative topic informs the reader of a topic.
A debatable topic (or persuasive topic) is a topic that people can agree or disagree and will have many alternative viewpoints.

EXAMPLE POST:
I am an education major. I want to become a teacher. Some topics that are interesting in my field of education are learning and bilingual education.  For my speech, my topic will be “How to Motivate Students to Learn.” For my Position paper, I will write about “The Benefits of Bilingual Education.” Because the purpose of my speech is to inform, I will provide specific details on how to help students want to learn.  This is how I will make my speech topic more specific: I will show ways to motivate students to learn by providing interesting lessons, having stimulating group projects, and engaging in fun discussions.  Because the purpose of my position paper is to persuade, I will focus on the many benefits of knowing two languages.  I will add details to my topic by saying that “The benefits of bilingual education include allowing students to retain their first language, heritage, and permitting students to learn English little by little.
FORUM INSTRUCTIONS:

Instructions: Please read the instructions in each forum area carefully.
Due Date:

Initial post due Thursday by 11:55 EST.
Replies due Sunday by 11:55 EST.

Length:

Initial post should be at least 250 words.
Replies should be at least 100 words each.

Responses:

Respond to at least 2 fellow students’ initial posts. Do not simply compliment them on a job well done. Ask questions and/or provide thoughtful insight and continue the discussion they have started.
You are also expected to reply to anyone who responds to your initial post. This is our place for our classroom discussion, so it’s important to keep the conversation going!

Misc: 

Write in complete sentences, but do not copy and paste the questions or instructions into your post. (This will not count towards your word count requirements.
You may want to save your work to your desktop (or USB, cloud, etc.) first. Then copy and paste your work into the forum area using the “Paste as Plain Text” or “Paste from Word” icons.
Use the “Start a New Conversation” button for your initial post. Click “Reply” to respond to fellow students’ posts.
Do not submit your post as an attachment, but post directly into the textbox.  Attachments are not processed in Turnitin.
I may submit the forum through Turnitin, so please ensure that your posts are completely your own work.

*Please refer to the rubric in Week 1 for grading details.