Writing Issue Report Assignment

Your report should address all of the following. You must research your issue in at least three or four sources. You may use websites, handbooks, reference materials, and writing tutors or other writing instructors. List sources (be specific but does not have to be MLA) at the end of your report. Turn in a typed copy on the day of your presentation and then post that to the class website. Presentations are very informal and should last no more than 10 minutes each; you may solicit audience participation. Please contact me if you would like to change your topic or have any questions.

1. Define the issue

- Why is it problematic?

- What does it look like (give example)?

- Why does it happen?

- Why does it need to be improved?

2. How can it be remedied/improved?

- Detail several options.

- What does it look like after being fixed?

3. Detail a plan of action to remedy this issue.

Schedule

February 27

1.  Bethany V. – wordiness and how to avoid it

2. Michael P. – the writing process

3.  Chelsey C. – transitions

February 29

1. Keely B. – thesis/focus

2. Carley B. – how to develop a strong thesis and support it

3. Chris K. – comma usage

March 3

1. Emily Z. – using quotes effectively

2. Jesse B. – personal definitions

3. Mary Alice D. – formal vs. casual tone

March 5

1. Kami M. – evaluating sources

2. Mack H. – using counterarguments

3. Kirsten J. – independent and dependent clauses

March 7

1. Chris L. – passive verbs

2. Felix G. – argument structure(s)

3. Ben B. – conclusions

March 17

1. Sheldon P. – commonly confused words

2. Michael C. – avoiding “you,” “we,” and “us”

3. Casey D. – verb tense shifts

March 19

1. Henry R. – introductions

2. Ryan H. – MLA format/works cited

March 24

1. Antonette L. – run-on sentences

2. Drew W. – dealing with writer’s block

March 26

1. Louis F. – plagiarism

2. Jessi Q. – formal vs. casual tone

3. Sam K. – sentence flow

March 28

1. Kurt D. – how to use a semi-colon

2. Mike D. – being a confident writer

Some suggestions for possible Topics – this is NOT an exhaustive list

Introductions

Conclusions

Transitions

Paragraph structure

Support

Using counterarguments

How to explain effectively

Thesis/focus

Using quotes effectively

Formal vs. casual tone

Recognizing and fixing sentence fragments

Wordiness and how to avoid it/fix it

Argument structure(s)

Plagiarism

Commonly confused words

Evaluating sources

Writing process

Comma usage

Run-on sentences and/or comma splices

Subject-verb agreement

Noun-pronoun agreement (also plural “they”)

Verb tense shifts

Pronoun shifts

Avoiding “you,” “we,” “us” (also implied “you”)

Passive verb phrases

Choosing specific words

Avoiding biased language

Parallel sentence structure

Dependent and independent clauses

Comparisons

“Who,” “which,” and “that”

Being a confident writer

Vocabulary building

MLA format/ works cited

Dealing with writer’s block