Topic 2 - Research Papers, due-dates
Topic 3 - Lesson, Writing a College Application Essay
Topic 1 - Angelina College Schedule and Jasper High School Schedule for Thanksgiving Week
Angelina College and Jasper High School have a contract which applies to dual-credit students only. JHS will take off the entire week of 19-23 November for Thanksgiving, and so JHS dual-credit classes will not meet. However, I will be present on campus on Tuesday morning for one-on-one assistance for anyone from any of my classes on our current projects, the research paper and the college admissions essay. I will be on campus by 8:30, and I will leave by 10:45 to give a speech to Lakes Area Hospice.
Monday night class, 19 November. You are not dual-credit and so class will meet. We will take the entire period for working on your research paper and your college application essay.
Angelina Thanksgiving holidays begin at 2:30 P.M. on Wednesday.
Topic 2 - Research Papers, due-dates
Because of my failure to anticipate the holiday schedule, submission of your paper at the beginning of class at 6:00 P.M. on the 26th (for the Monday class) or at 9:50 A.M. on the 27th (for the Tuesday and Thursday class) will merit you ten extra points. These are absolute; after all, you have an extra week on the bonus points.
Topic 3 - Lesson, Writing a College Application Essay
We will begin this lesson on the week of 12-16 November. I will talk (probably too much) about writing this essay and how to avoid common mistakes in content (The proper MLA format should be haunting your dreams by now).
English
1301 / 1302
Angelina
College
M.
Hall
College Application
Essay
Employing
one of the prompts below, write an essay of less than 500 words in the MLA
format.
Although
this project is objective-specific, its carry-over value is very high – think of
scholarship and job application essays.
These
topics are from http://collegeapps.about.com/od/essays/a/EssayPrompts.htm,
which I highly recommend, especially for the sample essays.
Tips for the Personal
Essay Options on the Common Application
Avoid Pitfalls and Make the Most
of Your Personal Essay
By Allen Grove,
About.com Guide
The first step to writing a stellar
personal essay on your college application is to understand your options. Below
is a discussion of the six essay options from the Common
Application. Also be sure to check out these 5 Application
Essay Tips.
Option #1. Evaluate a significant
experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced
and its impact on you.
Note the key word here: evaluate. You
aren't just describing something; the best essays will explore the complexity
of the issue. When you examine the "impact on you," you need to show
the depth of your critical thinking abilities. Introspection, self-awareness
and self-analysis are all important here. And be careful with essays about the
winning touchdown or tie-breaking goal. These sometimes have an off-putting
"look how great I am" tone and very little self-evaluation.
Option #2. Discuss some issue of personal,
local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.
Be careful to keep the "importance to
you" at the heart of your essay. It's easy to get off track with this
essay topic and start ranting about global warming, Darfur, or abortion. The
admissions folks want to discover your character, passions and abilities in the
essay; they want more than a political lecture.
Option #3. Indicate a person who has had a
significant influence on you, and describe that influence.
I'm not a fan of this prompt because of the
wording: "describe that influence." A good essay on this topic does
more than "describe." Dig deep and "analyze." And handle a
"hero" essay with care. Your readers have probably seen a lot of
essays talking about what a great role model Mom or Dad or Sis is. Also realize
that the "influence" of this person doesn't need to be positive.
Option #4. Describe a character in fiction,
a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that
has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.
Here as in #3, be careful of that word
"describe." You should really be "analyzing" this character
or creative work. What makes it so powerful and influential?
Option #5. A range of academic interests,
personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix.
Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what
you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that
demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.
Realize that this question defines
"diversity" in broad terms. It's not specifically about race or
ethnicity (although it can be). Ideally, the admissions folks want every
student they admit to contribute to the richness and breadth of the campus
community. How do you contribute?
Option #6. Topic of your choice.
Sometimes you have a story to share that
doesn't quite fit into any of the options above. However, the first five topics
are broad with a lot of flexibility, so make sure your topic really can't be
identified with one of them. Also, don't equate "topic of your
choice" with a license to write a comedy routine or poem (you can submit
such things via the "Additional Info" option). Essays written for
this prompt still need to have substance and tell your reader something about
you.
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