experiment 3

BUSB 301 - ASSIGNMENT: Writing Experiments (20 points--4 x 5 points)

BACKGROUND

This assignment asks you to experiment with at least four exercises/techniques/strategies from our course modules or Writing Analytically.

Each week, I’ll let you know which exercises from the course lectures are appropriate to use. Any major exercise from Writing Analytically will work (the “Try This” exercises work well). You might try exercises that focus on areas of weakness in your writing. When possible, use experiments to help you with your analytical essays. Above all, engage the spirit of the assignment by trying out new techniques on different aspects of writing throughout the course. Experiment.

EXPERIMENT REQUIREMENTS

Each experiment submission must include the following THREE PARTS:

PART 1: Introduce the exercise: (at least one well-developed paragraph)

· Identify and explain the exercise you have chosen

· Explain your reason for choosing this exercise

PART 2: Complete the chosen exercise from Writing Analytically or a lecture

· Do the exercise

· Include/provide all evidence of the exercise itself (what you wrote to do the experiment).

PART 3: Reflect on the exercise and its results (at least two well-developed paragraphs)

· Explain and reflect upon how the process went for you. What happened? Why? What’s the prognosis? If the experiment was productive, why? If it wasn’t, why not? Would you use this technique in future writing projects? Under what conditions? What we should notice about what you did. Reflect in detail upon your process and your results.

GROUND RULES

· You have until the beginning of Session 8 to submit FOUR experiments.

· No more than one experiment can be submitted per week.

· No more than one experiment from a single chapter in Writing Analytically; no more than one experiment from a specific weekly session packet. Exceptions are possible, but you will need pre-approval. In other words, try different things and focus on improving your weak areas .

· Label your experiments #1, #2, #3, #4.

“EXPIRATION” DATES

Weeks 2 & 3: Submissions accepted from Writing Analytically chapters 1-12 & Modules 1-2

Week 4: Submissions accepted from Writing Analytically chapters 3-12 & Modules 2-3

Week 5: Submissions accepted from Writing Analytically chapters 5-12 & Modules 3-4

Week 6: Submissions accepted from Writing Analytically chapters 7-12 & Modules 3-5

Week 7: Submissions accepted from Writing Analytically chapters 9-12 & Modules 4-6

Week 8: Submissions accepted from Writing Analytically chapters 11-12 & Modules 5-7

TRY THIS 11.2: Find and Explain Commas in a Piece of Writing Circle all of the commas in a page of an essay. Figure out why each one is there. What modifying elements do the commas allow us to see as separate from the main clause or clauses?

Commas With Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Modifiers: That vs. Which Because commas cause readers to distinguish a sentence’s main clause or clauses from modifying information, it is important that commas not be placed in ways that send the wrong message about what are and aren’t essential parts of the main clause. Consider the following sentences.

People who live in glass houses should not throw stones. My sister, who lives in a glass house, has a stone collection. The tower that stands in the center of campus fell down. The tower, which had been slowly crumbling, fell down.

Why does the second sentence in each of these pairs require a pair of commas, while the first sentences do not? To answer this question, find the main clause in each sentence. Notice that in the second sentence of each pair you could take out the information enclosed in commas and the sentence would still make sense. The commas act, in effect, like parentheses. They close off a qualifying idea (something that can be referred to as a parenthetical element) that adds information to the sentence, but which is not essential to the meaning of the main clause.

Rosenwasser, David; Stephen, Jill. Writing Analytically with APA 7e Updates (p. 311). Cengage Learning. Kindle Edition.