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6.3: Criterion-Referenced Skills for College Writing (Part 1)

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    7156
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    Appendix D

    Section I. Common Errors (Editing)

    Usage

    The student writer demonstrates a thorough knowledge of usage by eliminating:

    yes no N/A note
    you” from the writing
    a lot” from the writing
    would” from the writing
    started to,” “began to,” “headed out” from the writing
    needless to say” from the writing
    obviously” from the writing
    etc.” from the writing
    clichés from the writing

    The student writer demonstrates a thorough knowledge of usage by correctly using:

    yes no N/A note
    “…” (ellipses)
    myself
    a person who” rather than “a person that
    “every day” or “everyday”
    “he or she” or “they”
    a comma before “and” in a list
    punctuation marks inside the end quotation marks
    quoted material incorporated into the grammar of a sentence
    defined words in quotation marks
    book titles underlined and all other titles in quotation marks
    words and phrases from foreign languages in italics
    a spell-check
    a grammar-check
    Peer Editing
    yes no N/A note
    Did the student use the above checklist?
    Did the student ask a peer to edit his/her paper according to the checklist?
    Did the student make all changes previously requested by the instructor?

    Section II. Essay Structure

    A. Argument Essay Assessment

    Matrix for Argument Writing Patterns

    Choosing an Issue

    The student is able to arrive at an issue by answering the following questions:

    yes no N/A note
    What is something that is very important to me personally or professionally?
    Is it really an issue?
    Is it something I know much about already?
    Is it something I really want to talk about?
    Is it within the guidelines or restrictions of the assignment?
    1 Introduction

    The student is able to arrive at a claim statement by writing the answers to each of the questions:

    yes no N/A note
    What is my issue, stated generally?
    How may I restate the same issue as a very specific statement or series of statements?
    How may I summarize in one statement what I have written so far?
    Why do I think this will work (or why should this be accepted)?
    How are some practical ways to implement my summary statement above?
    What is my purpose for dealing with this issue (as an anecdote)?
    How may I restate my summary statement as a claim?
    2 Review of the Literature (Annotated Bibliography)

    The student is able to summarize EACH SOURCE by writing the answers to each of the questions:

    yes no N/A note
    What is the title, who is the author, and what is a summative statement about the selection?
    The point to the selection seems to be what?
    This point is best summed up by what quoted from the selection?
    How do I assess or evaluate this selection as a whole?
    3 Evaluation

    The student is able to evaluate the claim statement by writing the answers to each of the questions:

    yes no N/A note
    Does this issue/claim exist? (Is it really an issue?);
    Who will this claim most affect?
    How could I prove this if I had to?
    Where does this issue seem to come from? (How did it begin, as far as I know?)
    How could I prove this if I had to?
    What is the cause of this issue?
    How could I prove this if I had to?
    What will change (How will the world be different) if my claim is accepted?
    How could I prove this if I had to?
    Why is mine a good claim to deal with?
    Why should it be sought or accepted?
    Why is it better than (some alternative)?
    4 Definition

    The student is able to define key terms in the claim statement by writing the answers to each of the questions:

    yes no N/A note
    What are the key terms in my claim statement?

    For Specialized Key Terms:

    yes no N/A note
    Are there any terms in my claim from a specialized vocabulary?
    How does a resource or an authority in that specialized area define each term?

    For Common/Ambiguous Key Terms:

    yes no N/A note
    Are there any common terms in my claim that need clarification?
    What different senses of the term are defined in the dictionary?
    What different senses of the term existed in the past (what is its etymology) from the dictionary?
    What are some antonyms, synonyms, and examples of the way the terms is used from the dictionary?

    Re-define Common/Ambiguous Key Terms:

    yes no N/A note
    How do I re-define each term as a formal definition?
    5 Procedure

    The student is able to outline how to implement the claim statement by writing the answers to each of the questions:

    yes no N/A note
    How may I outline each step, in great detail, of my practical statements from my Introduction?
    What has to happen to initiate changes?
    What is the process if this proposal (or claim) is accepted?
    6 Refutation

    The student is able to refute counter arguments by writing the answers to each of the questions:

    yes no N/A note
    What are some major objections to my claim?
    How do I respond (as copiously as possible) to each objection?
    Why won’t my opponent’s claim work?
    Why is it wrong?
    7 Argument (conclusion)

    The student is able to state claim, warrants, and grounds by writing the answers to each of the questions:

    yes no N/A note
    What is the central claim?
    What sorts of warrants underlie my claim?
    Which of these underlying assumptions needs some clarification in order for the audience to agree?
    Which of these warrants is the audience most likely to disagree with? How do I explain why my assumptions are different? On what do I rest these assumptions?
    What are some examples of where [my claim] works (or applies, exists, is true, etc.)?
    What is an analogy for my claim? or What is something analogous to my claim?
    What causes this claim to be true?

    This page titled 6.3: Criterion-Referenced Skills for College Writing (Part 1) is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Stephen V. Poulter.

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