Jack Lenosky
Today we began class by taking 12 minutes to write a single synthesis paragraph explaining any future tone (positive or negative) found in the film Wall-e and the novel Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. After completing the activity, we went on our Chromebooks and visited Turnitin.com and we all enrolled in our class using the class ID: 19474783, and the Enrollment key: 123frodo. We then turned in a random document to get a feel for how the website works. After we were all done with Turnitin.com, we took out our notebooks and began to take notes on the conclusion. We then began to dig deeper into what goes into writing a conclusion. The first piece of information listed was, “statement of conclusion that looks BACK and explains what this paper has shown (and how it has shown that)” this generally means that the conclusion should have a clear statement reflecting the rest of the paper which is backed by evidence and facts. Secondly, it was stated that in your conclusion you should, “Reinforce relationships among your separate points.” this means that you should draw final claims about what was explained in the body paragraph in order to establish the connection between them. Finally, it said that one should justify the experience by connecting back to the purpose. Following our discussion about how to conclude a paper, we were provided with a list of words,statements,and exceptions in which we should never use in our essay in order to maintain a scholarly tone. These terms and exceptions were:
-Since the beginning of time…
-Webster Dictionary defines…
-In conclusion…
-Most people…
-you,me,I,we,us,our,today,now,these days
-Rhetorical Questions
-”Air Quotes”
After making it very transparent that we should not be using any of the following from that list, we discussed MLA format. As for the paper as a whole, every single page should be size 12, times new roman font, double spaced, and should also have page numbers at the top right corner of the page, along with your last name. The header of the paper should be organized as follows:
Students Name
Teachers Name
Subject
Date (Day Month Year)
All titles/headers/works cited should not be underlined, bolded or italicized, but should always be centered on the page. When speaking about the Work(s) Cited, all sources should be listed in alphabetical order and should be indented after the first line of text.
Ex. Ready Player One
Ernest Cline. Level One. Ready Player One. Paperback, Random House, August 16, 2011
(hypothetically speaking if the citation were long enough it would go here)
After discussing how MLA format will be used in our class for papers, It’s also really important for one to know MLA for general use in the world. Whether it is writing papers in college or in the business world it can make a major difference to know your facts. For example, in college, you will be asked to write dozens of papers and it’ll be super important that you know MLA format so you don’t lose any unnecessary points. Also, making sure to use MLA format can ensure that you are turning in your own work that isn’t plagiarized. Another example to consider would be if you were looking for a new job: knowing MLA format can actually be a make or break in some cases. If your resume/letter/report//etc. Is well written and correctly formatted, you will have a huge leg up over anyone else who isn’t following MLA format. You will be perceived as much more sophisticated and intelligent than others who are simply writing in any way they choose.
GREAT post here, Jack! The extension is much clearer and you do a nice job finding MLA/TurnItIn in the world at large (I understand that it's tougher to do that on a day like today than on a day where we're talking about big picture film questions). Title is also very specific with clear depiction of the day's learning. The lists/formats break up the long paragraph style, but just stay conscious of the way your organization impacts the final product.
ReplyDelete