Ms. Czapski’s 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th Hour Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Classes Name: __________________________________________ Hour: ________ Date: _____________________ Introduction to Writing the Precis DIRECTIONS: Please thoughtfully answer each of the following questions about Geoffrey Nunberg’s The –Ism Schism; How Much Wallop Can a Simple Word Pack, Ellen Goodman’s In Praise of a Snail’s Pace, and Ronald J. Glasser’s We are not Immune: Influenza, SARS, and the Collapse of PublicHealth. You may write directly on this worksheet.
For Geoffrey Nunberg’s The Ism Schism; How Much Wallop Can a Simple Word Pack: 1. ) What is the complete name of the author of this article? _____________________ 2. ) Who is this author? What are his/her expertise in relation to this topic? What is his/her experience with this topic? How did he/she gain his/her knowledge to compose this article? Use a short phrase to answer this question: ____________________________________________________________ ______________________ 3. ) What is the genre of this work (what type of writing is it)? ________________________________________ 4. ) What is the complete title of the work? _______________________________________________________ 5. ) What is the publication date of this piece of writing? _____________________________________________ 6. ) Is any other interesting or noteworthy publication information included? If so, what? ___________________ 7. ) Please use a rhetorically accurate verb (such as ” assert,” ” argue,” “ suggest,” ” imply,” ” claim,” etc. ); and a THAT clause containing the major assertion (thesis statement) about the work.
Avoid the use of more general words such as ” writes” and ” states. ” The THAT clause is designed to demand a complete statement: a grammatical subject (the topic of the essay) and predicate (the claim that is made about that topic). If the THAT clause is not employed, you will end up allowing ” about” and ” how” to slip out in stating the thesis: i. e. , ” Sheridan Baker writes about attitudes in writing” or “… states how attitudes affect writing” — neither of which reports what he claims to be true about attitudes. _________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ __________________________ 8. ) Explain how the author develops and/or supports the thesis, preferably in chronological order – identifying the writing techniques he/she utilized to achieve this. Sometimes it works best to report the order of development: ” The author develops this assertion first, by applying these techniques to two poems; second, by providing definitions; and third, by explaining the history of each approach. A more general statement may also work in the second sentence: ” The author develops this idea by comparing and contrasting the lives of these twoCivil Warheroes. ” In works of literature you may provide a short plot summary: ” Hemingway develops this idea through a sparse narrative about the ‘initiation’ of a young boy who observes in one night both a birth and a death. ” ________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ __________________________ 9. What is the author’s apparent purpose of this piece (introduce with the infinitive “ to”)? Try not to simply restate the thesis: ” The author’s purpose is to prove that… ” Remember that one’s purpose is always to put forward a thesis, but there are others as well. The infinitive “ to” phrase should transcend a phrase such as “ Her purpose is to inform;” look beyond such a simplistic response to assess what the author wants the audience to do or to feel as a result of reading the work. ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ _________________________ 10. ) Provide a description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with the audience. Ask yourself how the language of the work excludes certain audiences (non-specialists would not understand the terminology; children would not understand the irony) in order to see that the author did make certain assumptions about the pre-existing knowledge of the audience. You may also report the author’s tone. ____________________________________________________________ ________________ ___________________________________________________________ _________________________ For Ellen Goodman’s In Praise of a Snail’s Pace: 1. ) What is the complete name of the author of this article? __________________________________________ 2. ) Who is this author? What are his/her expertise in relation to this topic? What is his/her experience with this topic? How did he/she gain his/her knowledge to compose this article? Use a short phrase to answer this question: ____________________________________________________________ ______________________ 3. What is the genre of this work (what type of writing is it)? _________________________________________ 4. ) What is the complete title of the work? _______________________________________________________ 5. ) What is the publication date of this piece of writing? _____________________________________________ 6. ) Is any other interesting or noteworthy publication information included? If so, what? ___________________ 7. ) Please use a rhetorically accurate verb (such as ” assert,” ” argue,” “ suggest,” ” imply,” ” claim,” etc. ); and a THAT clause containing the major assertion (thesis statement) about the work.
Avoid the use of more general words such as ” writes” and ” states. ” The THAT clause is designed to demand a complete statement: a grammatical subject (the topic of the essay) and predicate (the claim that is made about that topic). If the THAT clause is not employed, you will end up allowing ” about” and ” how” to slip out in stating the thesis: i. e. , ” Sheridan Baker writes about attitudes in writing” or “… states how attitudes affect writing” — neither of which reports what he claims to be true about attitudes. _________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ __________________________ 8. ) Explain how the author develops and/or supports the thesis, preferably in chronological order – identifying the writing techniques he/she utilized to achieve this. Sometimes it works best to report the order of development: ” The author develops this assertion first, by applying these techniques to two poems; second, by providing definitions; and third, by explaining the history of each approach. A more general statement may also work in the second sentence: ” The author develops this idea by comparing and contrasting the lives of these two Civil War heroes. ” In works of literature you may provide a short plot summary: ” Hemingway develops this idea through a sparse narrative about the ‘initiation’ of a young boy who observes in one night both a birth and a death. ” ________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ __________________________ 9. What is the author’s apparent purpose of this piece (introduce with the infinitive “ to”)? Try not to simply restate the thesis: ” The author’s purpose is to prove that… ” Remember that one’s purpose is always to put forward a thesis, but there are others as well. The infinitive “ to” phrase should transcend a phrase such as “ Her purpose is to inform;” look beyond such a simplistic response to assess what the author wants the audience to do or to feel as a result of reading the work. ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ _________________________ 10. ) Provide a description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with the audience. Ask yourself how the language of the work excludes certain audiences (non-specialists would not understand the terminology; children would not understand the irony) in order to see that the author did make certain assumptions about the pre-existing knowledge of the audience. You may also report the author’s tone. ____________________________________________________________ ________________ For Ronald J.
Glasser’s We are not Immune: Influenza, SARS, and the Collapse of Public Health: 1. ) What is the complete name of the author of this article? __________________________________________ 2. ) Who is this author? What are his/her expertise in relation to this topic? What is his/her experience with this topic? How did he/she gain his/her knowledge to compose this article? Use a short phrase to answer this question: ____________________________________________________________ ______________________ 3. ) What is the genre of this work (what type of writing is it)? ________________________________________ 4. ) What is the complete title of the work? _______________________________________________________ 5. ) What is the publication date of this piece of writing? _____________________________________________ 6. ) Is any other interesting or noteworthy publication information included? If so, what? ___________________ 7. ) Please use a rhetorically accurate verb (such as ” assert,” ” argue,” “ suggest,” ” imply,” ” claim,” etc. ); and a THAT clause containing the major assertion (thesis statement) about the work.
Avoid the use of more general words such as ” writes” and ” states. ” The THAT clause is designed to demand a complete statement: a grammatical subject (the topic of the essay) and predicate (the claim that is made about that topic). If the THAT clause is not employed, you will end up allowing ” about” and ” how” to slip out in stating the thesis: i. e. , ” Sheridan Baker writes about attitudes in writing” or “… states how attitudes affect writing” — neither of which reports what he claims to be true about attitudes. _________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ __________________________ 8. ) Explain how the author develops and/or supports the thesis, preferably in chronological order – identifying the writing techniques he/she utilized to achieve this. Sometimes it works best to report the order of development: ” The author develops this assertion first, by applying these techniques to two poems; second, by providing definitions; and third, by explaining the history of each approach. A more general statement may also work in the second sentence: ” The author develops this idea by comparing and contrasting the lives of these two Civil War heroes. ” In works of literature you may provide a short plot summary: ” Hemingway develops this idea through a sparse narrative about the ‘initiation’ of a young boy who observes in one night both a birth and a death. ” ________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ __________________________ 9. ) What is the author’s apparent purpose of this piece (introduce with the infinitive “ to”)?
Try not to simply restate the thesis: ” The author’s purpose is to prove that… ” Remember that one’s purpose is always to put forward a thesis, but there are others as well. The infinitive “ to” phrase should transcend a phrase such as “ Her purpose is to inform;” look beyond such a simplistic response to assess what the author wants the audience to do or to feel as a result of reading the work. ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ __________________________