Academic Writing Projects

The course work consists of reading and writing assignments. For virtually all of your writing assignments, you will write two drafts: first and final. Your first draft will be reviewed by one of your classmates. You should turn in both your final draft and the first draft with your classmate’s comments.

Following are the specific assignments and a brief description for each:

Class Participation (100 Points)
Being present in class is not enough. As part of this class, you’re expected to contribute to our collaborative learning. Learning happens not only between the teacher and students but also between students as well. Therefore, you’re expected to actively participate in our class discussions, group work, and other forms of collective learning.

Grammar Presentation (150 Points)
You will work in pairs to research into one particular aspect of grammar or mechanics, summarize and synthesize the information in a written handout, and present your findings in class in an interactive format.

Review (150 Points)
For this assignment, you’ll write a review of something of your own choice, such as a book, a movie, a software program, a video game, a restaurant, etc.

Annotated Bibliography (200 Points)
This assignment requires you to identify 5-10 sources on a particular research topic, write an introduction, and provide a summary of somewhere around 100 words for each of the sources you have identified.

Final Research Paper (400 Points)
For this final project, you’ll write a research paper of 5-10 pages on a particular research topic of your choice. Your research paper will not only identify the topic of investigation, do a rather in-depth review of the relevant literature on the topic to contextualize your discussion, but also discuss the topic in depth, and present a well supported argument.