You
Just Received an Assignment—What do you do?
When you first receive an assignment, you need to not simply
skim the contents of the guidelines and directions. Your assignment sheet
is your gateway to an "A"!
Your instructor has created
directions to help guide you toward a desired outcome. Your
instructor actually wants you to do really well on your essay. After all,
that means less red-pen marks for her to have to make in the long run, and it
means better comprehension by you, thus showing adequate completion of the
course.
By taking 20 minutes to read
over your assignment directions—carefully and with a highlighter in hand—you
will be sure to not miss any important concepts or guidelines for the
paper. Knowing what to look for in your assignment directions page is as
important as the research you will conduct to complete your
assignment. Take the time to review the content below to learn tips
and tricks to better understanding your assignments. Afterall, the
first step in getting an “A” on an assignment is providing your instructor what
she wants to see in your writing. How do you show your instructor what
she is asking for in your paper??? You understand the ins-and-outs of the
assignment.
Understanding Assignments
Purpose: The purpose of any
assignment should be clearly marked. It may be posted as is shown
here—with the purpose bolded and detailed. However, it may be
part of the assignment directions, or the purpose may become clear from the
assigned textbook readings that accompany the assignment. Make sure that
you know the purpose before moving on the next step. After all, understanding
an assignment thoroughly will only take 20- minutes, but the rewards—in the
form of points and knowledge—are great!
Assignment Directions: Often,
an instructor will provide an actual topic for a writing assignment.
Maybe there will be something listed such as compare and contrast the between
academic writing and technical writing. In this case, the student should
highlight the words compare and contrast as well as academic
writing and technical writing. This paper will focus on BOTH similarities
& differences between academic and technical writing. The paper will
not stray from this topic. The paper will not narrate on this topic, and
the paper will not report on this topic. The goal is for a student tow
follow the specific writing style: in this case, compare/contrast while
focusing on the writing topic academic and technical writing.
Things to Look for in the Directions: Assigned
Readings: The readings for the week should be on comparing and contrasting in
academic essays. However, there may be other aspects in the
readings that will let you know what your instructor is expecting
proficiency in when you submit the paper. Any readings
assigned prior to this assignment are fair-game as well, as your
instructor will assume you have done the reading assignments and processed them
into your bank-of-knowledge.
· Grading
Rubrics: Often—especially in English writing
courses—an instructor will provide students with the grading
rubric to which the student will be scored and evaluated upon once the
assignment is submitted. Be certain to look for such a grading tool so
that you can be sure that you know what your grade will be based upon from the
writing.
· Assignment
Checklist: Often—especially in English writing courses—an
instructor will provide students with an assignment checklist to aid
the student in revising and editing the assignment prior to submission.
This document is critical for examination prior to submission.
· Word
Count and Source Usage: There will be a word count and
source requirement listed somewhere in the directions
sheet IF the instructor has such requirements for your
assignment. If these requirements are not listed directly in
the assignment directions sheet, you will want to double check the class
syllabus to make sure that such specifics were not established as part of the
course requirements in the syllabus.
· Due
Date: No instructor will assign work without setting a due date.
If the due date is not typed directly into the assignment
directions, check your course calendar or the syllabus for such
dates. All instructors must keep courses moving along at a preset pace or
content will not be covered by the end of the semester. Trust
me…there IS a pre-set due date. Plan your assignment steps
according to how long you have to brain-storm, pre-write, conduct research, and
draft the outline for your paper. These initial steps are necessary prior
to ever writing out actual body paragraphs. Do not think that you can skip
these stages. If you do not take the
time for each of these steps in the writing proves, your writing will suffer.
· Documentation
Style: All academic essays must be formatted according to one of
the documentation styles accepted by your institution. Some
institutions allow instructors to determine formatting requirements, while
others have students use the formatting/documentation style that will be
expected for the field in which the student is seeking a degree. Review
the assignment directions sheet for such indications. If your
documentation style is not clearly listed in the directions for your
assignment, review your syllabus for such a requirement. If you
do not find this information in either place, be certain to contact your
instructor as soon as possible, for I assure you she will be looking for the
writing to follow a specific style of formatting.
Keep in mind that it is important for you to create
ORIGINAL writings of your own, with an original 'take' on a
topic. By doing this, you bring something NEW to the topic
conversation. The writing is based on your understanding.
Even if you are assigned a paper that requires research, YOUR view (in 3rd
person voice) is the primary content of the paper as you assess a point,
provide support on the point, analyze the source's views, and argue the
validity of the source's claims. As you can see, the body paragraphs
would be set up like this:
· Your topic
sentence
· Your first
main point
· Source
Materials
· Your analysis
of that material
· Your second
main point
· Source
Materials
· Your analysis
of that material
· Your final
sentence to argue that your point is valid.
Look at YOU! You are all over that
paragraph. Keep learning. Keep understanding. Keep
being original.
You won't regret it!
Need More Help?
You Just Received an Assignment—What do you do?
When you first receive an assignment, you need to not simply
skim the contents of the guidelines and directions. Your assignment sheet
is your gateway to an "A"!
Your instructor has created
directions to help guide you toward a desired outcome. Your
instructor actually wants you to do really well on your essay. After all,
that means less red-pen marks for her to have to make in the long run, and it
means better comprehension by you, thus showing adequate completion of the
course.
By taking 20 minutes to read
over your assignment directions—carefully and with a highlighter in hand—you
will be sure to not miss any important concepts or guidelines for the
paper. Knowing what to look for in your assignment directions page is as
important as the research you will conduct to complete your
assignment. Take the time to review the content below to learn tips
and tricks to better understanding your assignments. Afterall, the
first step in getting an “A” on an assignment is providing your instructor what
she wants to see in your writing. How do you show your instructor what
she is asking for in your paper??? You understand the ins-and-outs of the
assignment.
Understanding Assignments
Purpose: The purpose of any
assignment should be clearly marked. It may be posted as is shown
here—with the purpose bolded and detailed. However, it may be
part of the assignment directions, or the purpose may become clear from the
assigned textbook readings that accompany the assignment. Make sure that
you know the purpose before moving on the next step. After all, understanding
an assignment thoroughly will only take 20- minutes, but the rewards—in the
form of points and knowledge—are great!
Assignment Directions: Often,
an instructor will provide an actual topic for a writing assignment.
Maybe there will be something listed such as compare and contrast the between
academic writing and technical writing. In this case, the student should
highlight the words compare and contrast as well as academic
writing and technical writing. This paper will focus on BOTH similarities
& differences between academic and technical writing. The paper will
not stray from this topic. The paper will not narrate on this topic, and
the paper will not report on this topic. The goal is for a student tow
follow the specific writing style: in this case, compare/contrast while
focusing on the writing topic academic and technical writing.
Things to Look for in the Directions: Assigned
Readings: The readings for the week should be on comparing and contrasting in
academic essays. However, there may be other aspects in the
readings that will let you know what your instructor is expecting
proficiency in when you submit the paper. Any readings
assigned prior to this assignment are fair-game as well, as your
instructor will assume you have done the reading assignments and processed them
into your bank-of-knowledge.
· Grading
Rubrics: Often—especially in English writing
courses—an instructor will provide students with the grading
rubric to which the student will be scored and evaluated upon once the
assignment is submitted. Be certain to look for such a grading tool so
that you can be sure that you know what your grade will be based upon from the
writing.
· Assignment
Checklist: Often—especially in English writing courses—an
instructor will provide students with an assignment checklist to aid
the student in revising and editing the assignment prior to submission.
This document is critical for examination prior to submission.
· Word
Count and Source Usage: There will be a word count and
source requirement listed somewhere in the directions
sheet IF the instructor has such requirements for your
assignment. If these requirements are not listed directly in
the assignment directions sheet, you will want to double check the class
syllabus to make sure that such specifics were not established as part of the
course requirements in the syllabus.
· Due
Date: No instructor will assign work without setting a due date.
If the due date is not typed directly into the assignment
directions, check your course calendar or the syllabus for such
dates. All instructors must keep courses moving along at a preset pace or
content will not be covered by the end of the semester. Trust
me…there IS a pre-set due date. Plan your assignment steps
according to how long you have to brain-storm, pre-write, conduct research, and
draft the outline for your paper. These initial steps are necessary prior
to ever writing out actual body paragraphs. Do not think that you can skip
these stages. If you do not take the
time for each of these steps in the writing proves, your writing will suffer.
· Documentation
Style: All academic essays must be formatted according to one of
the documentation styles accepted by your institution. Some
institutions allow instructors to determine formatting requirements, while
others have students use the formatting/documentation style that will be
expected for the field in which the student is seeking a degree. Review
the assignment directions sheet for such indications. If your
documentation style is not clearly listed in the directions for your
assignment, review your syllabus for such a requirement. If you
do not find this information in either place, be certain to contact your
instructor as soon as possible, for I assure you she will be looking for the
writing to follow a specific style of formatting.
Keep in mind that it is important for you to create
ORIGINAL writings of your own, with an original 'take' on a
topic. By doing this, you bring something NEW to the topic
conversation. The writing is based on your understanding.
Even if you are assigned a paper that requires research, YOUR view (in 3rd
person voice) is the primary content of the paper as you assess a point,
provide support on the point, analyze the source's views, and argue the
validity of the source's claims. As you can see, the body paragraphs
would be set up like this:
· Your topic
sentence
· Your first
main point
· Source
Materials
· Your analysis
of that material
· Your second
main point
· Source
Materials
· Your analysis
of that material
· Your final
sentence to argue that your point is valid.
Look at YOU! You are all over that
paragraph. Keep learning. Keep understanding. Keep
being original.
You won't regret it!
Need More Help?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.