Essay #1 Class Discussion Notes

Philosophy of/about Work

• Work gives us meaning.
• We find meaning in work.
• It is what we work for.
• We work for: Someone else? The greater good? Happiness? Wealth?
• We work to get . . .
• Our philosophy is what we think, our thoughts.
• Our philosophy is why we work.
• Our philosophy is inside of us.
• Our philosophy is what we think to ourselves.

Work Ethic

• It is how we work.
• It is how we apply ourselves to our work.
• It is how we approach our work.
• Our work ethic is what we do, our actions.
• Our work ethic is how we work.
• Our work ethic is outside of us.
• Our work ethic is the way others perceive our work.

Other questions

• Who we are
• What we do for work
• Where we work
• When we work

The Writing Process

• The reading assignment
• The writing assignment
• Prewriting – generating ideas and material
• Planning and organizing
• Drafting
• Revising
• Editing
• Proofreading
• Publication – submission

Linear vs. recursive

Beginning college students typically spend 80% of their time drafting, agonizing over the draft and getting writer’s block.  They spend 10% of their time prewriting and planning and 10% editing and proofreading.

More experienced writers typically spend 40-50% of their time prewriting, planning, and organizing.  They spend only 10% of their time drafting.  The remaining 40-50% of their time is spent on revising, editing, and proofreading.

The basic structure of an essay:

• Introduction
• Body
• Conclusion

The introduction normally begins with a “lead” that gets the reader’s attention (2+ sentences).  Then, the introduction normally ends with a thesis statement (2+ sentences).  The thesis statement holds the entire essay together.  It expresses the central/main idea for the overall essay.  As essays become longer, more than one introductory paragraph may be necessary.

The body section should be at least 2 paragraphs long.  In high school, they say 3 is the magic number, but in college more than 3 paragraphs is typical.

The conclusion normally begins by restating the thesis statement (using different words than the introduction).  The conclusion then normally ends by looking at the bigger picture, by trying to get the reader to think beyond the essay.

Charlie’s plan (5 paragraphs so far)

• Introduction
• Work philosophy
• Work ethic
• Compare the two and ask the reader questions
• Conclusion, what I think

Sean’s plan (4 paragraphs so far)

• Introduction
• Work ethic
• Work philosophy
• Conclusion

Scott’s first example (5 paragraphs)

• Introduction
• Your choice of a career
• Your work philosophy
• Your work ethic
• Conclusion

Scott’s second example (5-8 paragraphs)

• Introduction
• Your choice of a career – your history, your family
• Your work philosophy – your history, your family
• Your work ethic – your history, your family
• Conclusion

Scott’s third example (4 paragraphs)

• Introduction
• Your history
• Your family
• Conclusion

Scott’s fourth example (4-8 paragraphs)

• Introduction
• Your history – choice of career, work philosophy, work ethic
• Your family – choice of career, work philosophy, work ethic
• Conclusion