Welcome to Paragraph Writing, which is, as the name suggests, a skills course designed with the specific focus of improving your skill in crafting paragraphs for academic writing.

The aim of this course is continued development of students' English writing skills. In addition to time spent on vocabulary, style, and structure, this course includes learning about and using language corpora. Having written a total of seven essays that will constitute his or her writing portfolio, each student should complete this course with both the knowledge and confidence to create robust, effective paragraphs en route to completing various types of high-quality academic essays.

Note that this course will be meeting online and face-to-face in Autumn, 2021. Our class Zoom information is available on Toyonet Ace.

If you would like (for some inane or perhaps insane reason), here is the course syllabus for your reading pleasure. Of course, I reserve the right to amend it, so please treat this as a guideline.

For those of you that have taken courses from me, you will recall that we have had no textbooks, and in the present course we will also have no textbook. Class material will be available on both Dropbox and Google Drive, and feel free to download, save, print, or otherwise use it. I seldom make paper handouts, but if you prefer paper, please take care of printing files yourself.

You might be wondering about the course requirements. Not wanting to scare people away, I have wisely included them way, way, way down at the bottom of the page in 2-point font. Actually, you will find them hiding down below, but just not in 2-point font. Let's cover some admin things, just for fun.

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Hereafter you will find a reasonably detailed synopsis of the various class meetings ("sessions") that we will enjoy this term.

Sure, you were about to ask, right? That, Good People, is a sextant, a very necessary tool for navigation in the pre-GPS age.

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Session #1 (September 18; online) — Introduction; Paper Format; Word Advice 

As often happens on the first day of class, we'll be speaking in somewhat general terms about our course and some of the topics therein. First, note that this course includes all four skills that appear in academic work: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. There are, of course, certain requirments for this course, as is true for every course; please scroll down to the specific courrse requirements for your enlightenment.

Again, we will be making our Class Word Bank. I think we can increase our pace, so let's plan on 6.67 words per week, which would yield a grand total of 100 words this term. Note, too, that you will need to be reading and searching for vocabulary by yourself because we will have very few reading assignments. Of course, as you are doing your writing assignments, you should be reading and thus finding new words.

This morning I would like to devote some time to mind mapping, which is always a good first step.

Homework:

Session #2 (September 25; online) — Paragraph Structure 

This morning we'll begin with a look at the structure of the humble paragraph. This all begins with the topic sentence, which I explain in more detail here. In the meantime, however, I would like you to keep four key points in mind, please:

In the second half of our session this afternoon, I'd like to provide a brief introduction to corpus linguistics. Forgoing a (boring) theoretical introduction, I'd like to just dive in and provide an example of a technique called genre analysis, in which a collection of samples is culled from a database and then examined for patterns. To do so, we'll be using one piece of my own writing (Elwood, 2009) and an essay on the continued importance of handwriting instruction by Deborah K. Reed, the director of the Iowa Reading Research Center.

Because this is a large and growing area in our field, I've opted to add a separate page to only begin to scratch the surface. Follow this link to our resource page with some information on corpus linguistics.

Class Material & Homework:

Session #3 (October 2; online) — Paragraph Structure; Punctuation; Corpus Analysis Workshop 

Good morning, everyone. Today I would like to begin by spending some time looking at that important paragraph that begins each essay—the introductory paragraph. This should, of course, do much more than simply state your topic. Below we'll find some details about what I expect ...

In the second half of our session this afternoon, I'd like to provide a brief introduction to corpus linguistics. Because this is a large and growing area in our field, I've opted to add a separate page to only begin to scratch the surface. Follow this link to our resource page with some information on corpus linguistics.

Let's begin with a look at the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), which comes to use courtesy of Brigham Young University in the US. You will recall that I mentioned a series of very helpful YouTube videos on using this corpus, the first of which is at this link.

Finally, we need to be aware of punctuation, which is often given little attention.

Homework:

Session #4 (October 9; online) — Coherence 

Our first task today is to look quickly over English punctuation, which is an important yet seldom studied part of writing. Lest you question that statement, have a look (even a quick look) at the writing in the Sherlock Holmes stories. You will find that, for example, semi-colons were used much more extensively than they are now.

This morning I would like to have you good people consider how your fine paragraphs work together. Recall that we spent some time on topic sentences, with which you should all be quite comfortable. Those will, of course, begin your magnificent series of paragraphs, but those paragraphs must fit together into a coherent entity that will be transparent for your reader.

As we've mentioned in class, you will use various discourse markers (e.g., however, therefore, and so on) to indicate relationships. You will also employ sequential markers (first, second, etc.).

Class Material:

Session #5 (October 16; online) — Coherence 

Today we will spend most of our time looking at the notion of flow in academic writing. This morning I would like to have you good people consider how your fine paragraphs work together. Recall that we spent some time on topic sentences, with which you should all be quite comfortable. Those will, of course, begin your magnificent series of paragraphs, but those paragraphs must fit together into a coherent entity that will be transparent both to and for your reader.

Let's continue with a look at the language of academic papers. This is an area in which students can sometimes get perilously close to the register used in oral communication, which is generally much more casual. Here we have a useful chapter on (3) academic style, courtesy of Stephen Bailey and his 2018 book titled Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students. Below you will also find two of my articles, which we will glance at to check for my use of academic style.

Class Material:

Session #6 (October 23; online) — Introductory and Concluding Paragraphs 

Class Material:

Homework:

Note that October 30 is a holiday for the university festival, so we will have no class that day.

Session #7 (November 6; online)—  Documentation; Corpus Followup 

In today's session we will spend about half of our time looking at documentation skills, which you should employ in your Cause & Effect paper. As you will know from class, we will be using APA format for our references; this particular format is by far the cleanest and most consistent (in my humble opinion).

We will also delve some into the world of corpus analysis today. As noted earlier, we will be looking at the Corpus @ BYU webpage. In addition, you can find quite a few helpful videos about COCA on YouTube; I've included two in the class material section below.

Class Material:

Session #8 (November 13 @ Hakusan) —  Cause & Effect 

Good morning, everyone. Today our class will be devoted to considering cause-and-effect papers, which are an important tool in the writer's arsenal.

Note that you will need to create a corpus analysis addendum about some point in your cause-and-effect paper. Details are below in the video.

Class Material:

Having thus covered considerable material on cause-and-effect essays, allow me to explain my expectations for your next essay (which is due on December 4). Your essay should be at least four pages and should include the title page and the references (your sources). Second, all paragraphs in your essay must be constructed and written well (i.e., topic sentence, sufficient length, use of transitions, and so forth).

Timetable for your cause-and-effect essay:

Session #9 (November 20; online) —  C&E Practice; Consultations 

This class will be devoted to consultations with individuals. I invite you to come to class and talk with me individually about your writing, but this is strictly optional. If you would prefer, you may spend this time working on your cause-and-effect paper or exploring the corpus analysis websites.

Note that you will need to create a corpus analysis addendum about some point in your cause-and-effect paper. Details are below in the video.

Class Material:

Session #10 (November 27 @ Hakusan)—On-Demand Class—  Abstracts 

NEW: We will have NO class meeting today.

Please hand in your preliminary cause-and-effect paper via this File Request (preliminary C&E paper)

Readings & Homework:

Session #11 (December 4; Class Cancelled)—  Persuasive Papers 

Cause-and-effect paper due via this File Request. (My apologies that this link was not working! It is OK now.)

Session #11 (December 11 @ Hakusan)—  Persuasive Papers 

Today I would like to introduce your final paper, which will be a persuasive paper. Your task, of course, is to craft a paper on one side of an issue that convinces your reader (me) that your position on that particular issue is the correct one. Note that your topic needs to be an issue with two distinct viewpoints (sides). For example, if your topic is "Students in Japan should learn English from Grade 1 of elementary school", there are certainly two sides (i.e., agree or disagree). However, "We should think about global warming" certainly does NOT have two sides.

We will begin by examining the student papers above. As we do so, please notice (a) the topic with two distinct sides, (b) the clear thesis statement, (c) the support paragraphs, (d) the brief look at the 'other side', (e) the concluding paragraph that repeats the main points, and (f) the sources (citations or references).

To help you on your journey:

To help you on your journey (Part 2):

Session #12 (December 18 on-demand class) —  Persuasive Essays, More 

As you will have cleverly surmised, today you do NOT have to come to class. However, you need to spend some time—whenever you want to—completing the following tasks:

Homework:

Session #13 (January 8 @ Hakusan) —  Collective Essay Writing 

Building on our discussion last week, today I'd like to have you writing the body paragraphs for one of the following topics. As you'll see, the structure of the essay is already finished and you will only have to replace the red font. As always, remember that each paragraph should be 5-8 sentences long and should include sources as appropriate. In addition, note that the thesis is stated clearly (e.g., "Japan should ..."). Finally, note that the concluding paragraph includes the thesis again, a brief recap of the main points, and a final comment. Of course, your final persuasive paper (due by January 30) should have a similar structure.

Class Material:

Session #14 (January 8 @ Hakusan) —  Refutation 

As I mentioned last week, in your persuasive paper it is important (dare we say crucial?) to briefly address the other side of your topic. In doing so, you provide yourself the opportunity to (a) demonstrate that your knowledge of the issue is balanced and (b) refute the other side's point(s) to an extent. Of course, this ultimately makes your paper more persuasive.

A second point for your consideration today: As you're crafting your magnum opus, consider using the strength of corpus data to enhance your work. One source is, of course, your basic dictionary, which will provide you with concise definitions, examples of usage (to an extent), as well as synonyms and antonyms. If you google your search term using "define [term]", you'll find several online dictionaries, among which the Free Online Dictionary and Merriam-Webster are quite useful. For a more extensive set of examples, you would do well to consult some of the corpora available online; I would suggest BYU's corpus resources.

Recall that I mentioned how important support is for your persuasive paper. Please include at least five sources (not Wikipedia!), and you are expected to use correct format for the reference section (where you list your sources). Please see the example papers from our earlier classes.

Note that next Saturday, January 15, is a university holiday, so we will have no class that day.

 Class Material: 

Session #15 (January 22; online) —  Consultations 

Good day, everyone. Today we will have no formal class, but I will be available to meet with individual students to provide feedback on your writing or answer specific questions. If you would like to speak with me via Zoom (our regular class Zoom meeting), please sign up here. Note that this is optional. Note also that you may choose any open time, either before lunch or after lunch.

Session #16 (January 29; online) —  Persuasive Paper Due 

We will have no formal class, but please remember that your persuasive paper is due today.

Readings & Homework:

1. Regular and active participation in class. I expect you to be physically present and mentally engaged. Questions? Always good, as are opinions, comments, and even random thoughts you have. (10%)


2. A series of essays that will include the following:
• Self-introduction (10%);
• Contemporary Japan paper (20%)
• Cause-and-effect paper (30%)
• Persuasive paper (40%)