IE3 Writing: Lesson 12

7/3/2015

Hi everyone,

Once again, we had another busy lesson. Just one more week, and you'll be finished your first draft for your persuasion essay.

Minor Technicalities:
At the start of our lesson, we had a short activity on a few technical errors to avoid when writing. Remember these points:

When you use romanji, you need to put a space after each word (e.g. Gendai no kokusai seiji)
When you use abbreviations or acronyms, make sure you "write out" the meaning when you first use it. For example, when you use the abbreviation for the United States, it will look like this when you first use it: United States (U.S.). After, you can just use the abbreviation U.S.
When you use numbers under one million, you can write out all the numbers (e.g. 420, 000 / 900, 000) With figures over a million, use both numbers and words (e.g. 3.2 million / 23 trillion).

Body Paragraph #3:
We then looked at the structure of body paragraph #3. For this paragraph, you need to introduce a counter-argument (=an opinion against your positions) and then argue against it with a rebuttal.

When you introduce your counter-argument, you can use this structure:

a. Opponents to (topic) + believe/claim + argument
b. Supports for (topic) + believe/claim + argument

Examples:
Opponents to nuclear power believe that it is too dangerous.

Supporters for holding the Tokyo Olympics believe that it will help the economy.

Concluding Paragraph:
For your concluding paragraph, remember to include these part:

thesis restatement
summary of body paragraphs #1 and #2
summary of counter-argument and rebuttal
final thought (e.g. prediction, recommendation, quote or question)

Quiz #2:
At the end of next week's lesson, we'll have our second quiz. For this quiz, please review the following:
a. how to paraphrase
b. how to write concluding sentences
c. persuasion essay structure
d. in-text citation

Homework:
1. Blog Comment #9
2. Prepare for quiz #2
3. Bring one copy of your essay to class next week
4. Complete entire first draft

email Monday, July 6 before 12:00 noon

Blog Question #9:

What were your biggest challenges writing a persuasion essay?

Do you feel it was easier to write your second essay? Why or why not?

*Write 8-10 sentences.
*Use capitalization, punctuation & spelling correctly.
*Submit by Tuesday, July 6 by 6:00pm

16 Comments

IE3W-Midori

7/2/2015 09:02:36 pm

I had two big challenges to write this essay. First, it was hard to write general sentences to specific sentences, using effective conjunctions. I had lots of things I wanted to write, so it was hard to organize them. However, I learned that using proper conjunctions can make my essay much better. Second, it was very hard to search good sources. When I wrote the outline, I borrowed five books and spent two or three hours searching on the internet. It was a hard work, but I learned that if we make a good outline, it is quite easy to write the rest of the essay.
I don’t feel it was easier to write this essay. As I said, there were many difficulties and I spent much time writing it. However, I felt very happy when I wrote a good rebuttal against the counter-argument and stated my position clearly, and became more confident through writing this essay.

IE3W-Chinatsu

7/4/2015 11:16:17 am

I had many difficulties when I wrote the persuasion essay, but especially the biggest difficulties are: to summarize what I want to write within the limts and to choose statistics which is appropriate to use in the essay. When I wrote the body paragraphs or introduction, I wrote the information too much because there are a lot of information I should write. But after I learned shared language, I managed to write the essay within the limits of word count. Also, I think that selecting good statistics is not easy. At first when I wrote the outline, I used the data which is disclosed thirty years ago because there are not so much information which is new. But after I think of the new information, there are much information than I had expected. Using new information makes my essay more reliable so I should use new information as much as possible. When I write the next essay, I should keep these points in mind so that I will be able to write better essay.
I don't think that writing the second essay is easier than the first essay because the content of the essay is more academic. When I wrote the essay, I thought that writing persuasion essay requires correct information about the topic and the ability to write the two position more logically. However, writing this essay made me more critical and think something more logically.

IE3W-Takahide

7/4/2015 02:26:53 pm

The biggest challege writing a persuation essay is the rebuttal. Except the third body paragraph, the way of writing a paragraph was basically the same as the classification essay. For the persuation essay ,we had to argue with the opposite position. Since it is the oppisite opinion, it was difficult to think of what we should write about. Also, gatehering information about the minority was challenging too. Therefore for writing the persuation essay, it was difficult to write the counter argument and the rebuttal of the counter argument.
I did not think was easier to write a persuation essay thant the first essay. Though, I was able to write more smoothly without gettin stuck. I think this was because I finished writing the first essay with tons of mistakes. It was only the thrid body paragraph that I spent a lot of time to finish since I had to undestand how the paragraph is constructed.

IE3W-Shusei

7/4/2015 09:58:29 pm

My biggest challenges of writing the essay was to force myself to write it. Aside from that being subjective was hard but not as before. Being honest, I got used to it a little. But still I have to think hard to how should I construct. Without a good thought, it is easy to loose tracks
I guess it was easier to write certain parts of the essay because I got used to it. However, counter argument and rebuttal were new, so it was hard. But parts like bibliography was the same.

IE3W-Fumio

7/5/2015 04:53:16 am

My biggest challenge was to make the outline for the essay. It is because I basically had to plan all the things I would write at the time. Thus, maybe making the outline was the least amount had to write, but was definitely the part that I used my brain the most. Thanks to making it beforehand and the feedback for that, I only need to follow the outline when I wrote the draft. To be honest, without the feedback for the outline, my idea for the essay could have been all over the place.

It was sort of easier for me to write the persuasion essay. As I said above, it was thanks to the outline with corrections. It may also be because I am more of a logical person. Thus, I just needed to take step by step.

IE3 W Azusa

7/6/2015 08:30:51 am

There were many hard things in writing this essay. But the hardest thing was to find right informations. My topic is a very new issue in Japan. Thus, there were very few informations and statistics both in Japanese and English.
To make the information more reliable, I tried to choose them from government sites or big company's research.

It was harder for me to write my first essay than second essay. As my first essay was about history of music, there were too much informations which differed in each site. In addition, it was my first time to write classification essay. I had written persuasion essay in my high school,so I think this is another reason for that.

IE3W-Kana

7/6/2015 12:19:12 pm

My biggest challenge writing this essay was that I chose a really hard topic to write about. I am usually interested in the news and have watched and read about the revision of Article 9. So I thought that it would be a little easy to write a persuasion essay on that topic. But as I kept on writing, I realized that I didn't really know that much about the topic than I thought. Writing the rebuttal was also a challenge for me. This was because I have never written a rebuttal before, and I had a hard time to think of a way to win over the opposite position's opinion.
The first essay was easier to write because I was able to write about something I really like. To write about something that is related to your hobbies is probably easier because you wouldn't mind that much to collect information. This might be because then, you'll be able to get more knowledge on your favorites.

IE3W-Soichiro

7/6/2015 12:20:58 pm

What I found most difficult in writing my essay was how to structure my body paragraphs. I often forgot to make a funnel organization and put irrelevant information instead of making a proper sentence. I have to get rid of the habit of losing sight of the whole picture and concentrate on each of my sentences as part of a bigger body.

I did not find writing my second essay especially easy, but I think I got a little used to writing sentences. By writing such long sentences, I got used to how to make a convincing essay, and I am sure it was good for future purposes. I am still not so good at writing English sentences, but by doing work step by step, I think I will be able to enhance my skills.

IE3W-William Haruki

7/6/2015 12:31:50 pm

The most challenging parts of writing a persuasion essay was placing my ideas in a convincingly "persuasive" manner. While it wasn't extremely difficult, it still was a pain to try and make everything connect smoothly and still make it sound simple and convincing.

I honestly felt my first essay was easier to write compared to this one, although this one wasn't very hard either. I think part of that has to do with how my topic for my first essay was more directly connected to my interests in music. While the topic for the second essay was still connected to music, the fact that I had to try and make everything fit the format specified made it feel more challenging. If I was allowed to just write a persuasive essay in whatever format I choose, it would've been a lot more easy and possibly more interesting to do.

IE3W-Mio

7/6/2015 12:33:43 pm

The biggest challenges writing my persuasion essay was that it was difficult to get information about it. I searched for the drinking age in Japan in English so there weren't enough information. So I had to search in Japanese to get statistics but I didn't want to since I was writing my essay in English.
Writing my first essay was easier because in my second essay, I had to write a counter argument in the third paragraph. In my outline, Nicole said that I was just stating a fact so I had to rethink about it. But I was able to write it in my draft. Writing it after I got some information was kind of easy and the process of getting the quotes or the in-text citation was difficult.

IE3W-Yuto

7/6/2015 12:59:35 pm

The biggest problem to me during this essay was the topic choosing. It was very hard for me to find a topic with proof and reasons to approve or disapprove a side of the argument. Another problem I had was to find the counter argument and the rebuttal. For my topic, this was almost impossible to find a concrete rebuttal.
My second essay and my first essay both had difficulties, so I cannot say which was harder.

IE3W-Tomomi

7/6/2015 03:16:00 pm

The biggest challenge I had when writing my persuasion essay was choosing the right information. Especially in my introduction, I have included unnecessary informations and had to cross out many sentences. Also it was hard to find the information itself for many sites were against GM foods.

It was easier for me to write my first essay. We had more time to finish than the second essay. Also, it was my first time writing a persuasion essay so I struggled more finishing it.

IE3W-Aoi

7/6/2015 03:48:58 pm

My biggest challenge was to make outline. It was harder to make outline for persuasion essay than outline for classification essay. I think it was because I had to pick right informations and organize them more carefully than I did when I wrote classification essay. If I choose unnecessary information or weak information, then my essay wouldn't be strong enough.

It was easier than my first essay but at some points, it was harder. Choosing necessary informations and organizing them from general to specific were harder than the first essay. But it was easier to write essay itself. I think I have became better at writing through writing the first essay.

IE3W-Aira

7/6/2015 04:23:14 pm

I had some difficulties writing persuasion essay. First is the topic was really hard and complicated. At first, I thought I know about TPP and was a little confident. However, the more I try to write about TPP the more I felt I know nothing at all. It was realy difficult for me to find the information to support my position.
Next is witing rebuttle. Although there are good information of ratifying the TPP, it was hard for me to rebuttle.
I think all these problems are because of my lack of knowledge and I should have noticed it before.

I don't think it was easier for me to write the second essay. It was tough for me to gather information to support my position.

IE3W Nodoka

7/6/2015 06:26:33 pm

My biggest challenge writing the persuation essay was writing the rebuttal. It was hard for me to come up with the opinion of different position. Also, it was hard for me to find the counter argument for that opinion. It was hard for me to keep the essay no longer than 800 words too. I cutted out alot of my opinions.

It was easier for me to write the second essay than the first one. Finding the citations for teh first essay was really really really hard. But for the most, my theme of the second essay was much easier for me too.

IE3W Luke

7/6/2015 06:42:58 pm

The hardest part of writing my essay was organising the body paragraphs. I had all the arguments and points ready in my head but when I try to put that in the essay, connecting and organising the whole thing was hard. However, the outline really helped and I was able to put it in the paragraphs.

The second one seems easier to me, because it's the second essay and it's easier to picture how you want to write your essay. Also, this essay was easier to bring up opinions and organising them.

IE3 Writing: Lesson 12

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