2018-04-27 TOEFL: independent writing

Greg Malivuk
[email protected]
http://www.pastebin.com/u/gmalivuk - notes from all classes
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https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-we-study-living-brains-john-borghi-and-elizabeth-waters
What’s the problem that needs to be solved?
- How to understand the brain in a way that’s safe for the person who owns it.
How many solutions does the video mention? - 3
What are they?
1 EEG = electroencephalography
2 fMRI = functional magnetic resonance imaging
3 PET scan = positron emission tomography
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Look at your writing from last week. Do you have any questions about my comments?
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Writing Section: fourth and final section, after speaking; 2 tasks, 20&30 minutes writing, about 60m total
1 integrated: 3 minutes to read a text, then listen to a lecture about the same topic, then 20 minutes to write about the lecture and how it relates to the reading
2 independent: read a prompt (a choice question), then 30 minutes to state and support your opinion
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Indepdendent Writing: the prompt is always a choice question (most often between two clear options)
- agree / disagree
- some people / other people
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DELTA p. 498
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
There are times when it is acceptable not to tell the truth.
Use specific reasons and details to support your answer.
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What are some reasons to disagree? - negative consequences of lying
- religion: it’s a sin to lie
- slippery slope: if you lie once it becomes easier and easier to do it more
	(And you’ll have to tell more and more lies to keep the first one going.)
- crying wolf: if you lie a lot people will stop believing you even when you’re honest
	(If you have a reputation for honesty, people will trust you more.)
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What are some reasons to agree? - describe some of the times when it’s acceptable
- surprise party: lying makes the party more exciting; your friend will forgive you because it’s fun
- white lies: telling the truth might hurt feelings
- lie to protect someone: maybe someone told you a secret in confidence and you can’t tell others
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You should organize your response like this:
Introduction: introduce the topic, state your opinion and a lead-in
Body: 2-3 paragraphs stating and supporting your reasons
Conclusion: restate your opinion and summarize your reasons, give the reader a take-away (advice, prediction, suggestion)
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Each body paragraph needs to do a few different things:
- state the reason
- show that the reason is true (often with an example)
- show that the reason supports your thesis/opinion (possibly with some additional details or consequences from the example)
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“Typically, an effective essay will have a minimum of 300 words.”
If you’re worried that your physical typing speed is a problem, you can go to https://www.typingtest.com/ to see how fast you type and improve it.
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p. 410 prompt 1 - Take 5 minutes to brainstorm and write an outline for this topic.
Then take 5 minutes to write one body paragraph.
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BREAK
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Whether you agree or disagree, you can choose which part(s) of an agree/disagree prompt to focus on.
All high school students should be required to have three years of studying a foreign language.
- If you agree, your reasons need to be a bit more than simply describing the benefits of learning a foreign language. Why should it be required? Why should it be three years? Why should it be all students?
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You also need to make sure you don’t answer a question that’s much more general than the one asked.
“The use of electronic mail (e-mail) makes people become better writers.”
- This is not a statement about the Internet.
- This is not a statement that “email is very useful”.
- This is not a statement about whether technology helps us more than it hurts us.
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Take 5 minutes to prewrite (brainstorm and outline) and then 5 minutes for a body paragraph for #3.
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Make sure pronoun use is consistent, especially when talking about people in general.
“The first reason I prefer to be the leader is because then you have power.”
-> The first reason I prefer to be the leader is because then I have power.
-> The first reason it’s better to be the leader is because then you have power.
-> The first reason it’s better to be the leader is because the leader has power.
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You also need to be careful that pronoun references are clear (in this case between leaders and other members of a group). (One easy way to clarify is to use the pronoun for only one of them, and repeat the noun for the other.)
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Unity and Coherence in Writing
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unity = all the ideas and information support and are relevant to the thesis
coherence = it’s easy to understand because the ideas are arranged effectively and logically
p. 407 lists transition signals that can help with unity and coherence
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“nevertheless” concedes a point (admits that it’s true), and then introduces a contrasting idea:
The text states that dinosaur fossils have Haversian canals, which are common in endotherms. Nevertheless, the speaker believes we can’t conclude they were endotherms because they also had growth rings in their bones.
The speaker states that even though fossils have Haversian canals, we can’t conclude they were endotherms because…
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You can go to https://www.wordandphrase.info/analyzeText.asp to see lots of examples of how a word is used in sentences.
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Homework: write a response to this independent prompt and email it to me:
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Playing computer games is a waste of time. Children should not be allowed to play them.
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.