essay summary

ESL 201 Fall 2017

Essay 1 At a Glance

In Essay 1, we are learning how to apply the concepts from a text to our personal experience. In order to develop this skill, we will work on carefully reading and understanding the texts, choosing strong specific examples to illustrate our connections to the concepts in the text, and explaining how our specific examples connect to these concepts. For Essay 1, you will also complete your first formal conference in the LAC.

Main Goals for Essay 1

· Effectively summarize a key concept from the text for readers who have not read the text.

· Choose specific examples from your personal experience as a student and discuss how those examples illustrate how your chosen topic has impacted your motivation as a student.

Texts for Essay 1

· “The Significance of Grit” by Deborah Perkins-Gough and Angela Duckworth (handout)

· “The Key to Success? Grit” Angela Duckworth’s TED talk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H14bBuluwB8)

· “Brainology: Transforming Students’ Motivation to Learn” by Carol Dweck (handout)

· “How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading” by John Holt

· Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink—Chapters 1, 4, 5, and 6

Essay 1 Prompt

For this assignment, we have read about several traits and concepts that can influence how students perform in the classroom: grit, fixed and growth mindset, the influence of teachers on students, autonomy, mastery, purpose, and effort shock. For this assignment, choose one of these traits or concepts, explain it for your readers by using information from the text that explains that trait or concept, and describe how this trait or concept has impacted your motivation as a student. You should choose one trait or concept as your focus, but you can bring in others that feel connected as well if you would like.

Be sure your essay includes:

· A clear and specific explanation of your chosen trait or concept for readers who are not in this class and have not read the text. This means you’ll need to spend some time summarizing key ideas, defining any terms that might be unfamiliar, and choosing short quotations from the texts to help your reader get a sense of what the author is talking about.

· Choose at least two specific incidents from your educational history to illustrate the impact of this trait or concept on your motivation as a student.

· Please close by bringing me up to the present—How do you think you can use what you know about this trait or concept to help you succeed in this specific writing class? Is there anything you’d like me to know so that I can support your learning? Anything you’re concerned about? Anything you feel excited about?

· Length: 3-3 1/2 pages

Turn-in Procedures

· Your final draft is due: Thursday, October 5, 2017