viernes, 29 de septiembre de 2017

Entry # 9 Thesis statement

                                                                 Thesis statement

To write a thesis statement you need to know:

  1. Your topic: what your paper will deal with
  2. Your claim: what you think about the topic
  3. Reasons that support your claim: 3 points that will persuade your readers to believe your claim
The reasons can be:

  • at the end of the thesis statement
  • at the beginning of the thesis statement
  • in a separate sentence after the thesis statement




miércoles, 27 de septiembre de 2017

Entry # 8 Literary Essay

                                                   LGBT struggle over the years

            For centuries belonging to a sexual minority meant discrimination, harassment and shame. Fortunately over the years this situation has changed and this minority group has gained acceptance throughout society and accorded many legal protections. Influential singers such as Elton John, Sting and Bono have used the lyrics of songs such as "All the Girls love Alice", "An Englishman in New York" and "Where the Streets have no Name" not only to raise awareness of their suffering but also to show their support and concern about segregated minority groups. 
          Elton John has been openly gay since 1988, since then he has became an activist for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender social movements worldwide. In 1973 his song "All the Girls love Alice" marked the first time he sang about a gay character. It tells the tragic story of a 16-year old lesbian who died in the streets. 
                            Poor little darling with a chip out of her heart
                            It's like acting in a movie when you got the wrong part 
                           Getting your kicks in another girl's bed 
                           And it was only last Tuesday they found you in the subway dead 
The lyrics of this song gives an account of his concern about statistics around self-harm and suicide in non-heterosexual young people. 
            Similarly to Elton John, Sting also inspired one of his songs in a gay person. The song "An Englishman in New York" is based on the gay author Quentin Crisp and his experiences as an outcast. "I´m an alien. I´m a legal alien. I´m an Englishman in New York". As the majority of gay people this man felt like an alien, society make him feel like someone who does not belong to this world.
                          If manners maketh man as someone said 
                          He's the hero of the day
                          It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile 
                          Be yourself no matter what they say 
With these lines Sting not only encourages his friend to be himself but also to everyone who feels the same way. 
         Bono was not inspired in gay people when he wrote "Where the Streets have no Name". Nevertheless, LGBT movements could feel identified with some of its lines. "We're beaten and blown by the wind. Trampled in dust" This line could mirror the violence they suffer just because they are different. In the same way the line "I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside" could mirror their struggle, since from the beginning they have struggled to live freely and not in the shadows. 
             In conclusion, whilst in countries located in Asia and Africa there are still laws criminalizing homosexuality, in other countries, most of them located in the Americas and Western Europe, struggle of this minority group obtained positive results and legal protection. The rights laws obtained include same sex marriage, allowance for LGBT adoption and antibullying legislation. 

 Consulted sources: www.time.com 
                                www.muse.jhu.edu 
Cited sources: www.songfacts.com 
                        Where the streets have no name. U2 (1987)   
                        An Englishman in New York. Sting (1987) 
                        All the girls love Alice. Elton John (1973)

Improve written assignment

The thesis statement should state the topic of the essay. The topic of my essay was the struggle of sexual minority groups. Then according to the theory I needed to state my claim. My claim was that influential singers used the lyrics of their songs to support that struggle. Finally I needed to mention three points that would support my claim, so I decided to rewrite my thesis statement and mentioned the songs and the purpose of those songs in supporting my claim that would later be developed in the body of my essay.

Improved thesis statement
Influential singers like Elton John, Sting and Bono have used the lyrics of songs such as "All the Girls love Alice", "An Englishman in New York" and "Where the Streets have no Name" not only to raise awareness of their suffering but also to show their support and concern about segregated minority groups.

Analysis of the third paragraph

  • The paragraph begins with the linker similarly because the previous paragraph is also about a gay character. There is a similarity between the two of them.
  • The topic sentence is: Similarly to Elton John, Sting also inspires one of his songs in a gay person. The paragraph is going to be about Sting´s song and how it is related to gay people.
  • a gay person is a cataphoric reference, the referent is the author Quentin Crisp, who is mentioned in the following sentence.
  • his, this man, him and his friend are all anaphoric references, the referent is also the author Quentin Crisp.
  • Society and everyone are exophoric references.
  • The linker As at the beginning of the fourth sentence is used to compare Quentin Crisp with the majority of gay people as they all feel like aliens. They feel as weirds.
  • The word gay is repeated three times along the paragraph. It is used as a cohesive device at the lexical level. It is direct repetition.
  • Supporting material: the lyrics of the song "An Englishman in New York"
Analysis of the fourth paragraph


  • The topic sentence is: Bono was not inspired in gay people when he wrote the song "Where the Streets have no Name". The paragraph is going to be about this song.
  • Nevertheless in the second sentence is used to contrast the idea that although the song was not inspired in gay people, gay people could feel identified with the song.
  • LGBT movements is the acronym of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender social movements mentioned in the second paragraph. It is used as a cohesive device at the lexical level. Repetition/Reiteration.
  • Modality is used in this paragraph as the song is not inspired in gay people there is only a possibility that gay could feel identified and that some lines could mirror their personal situation.
  • They and their are anaphoric references. The referents are the LGBT movements.
  • Its is an anaphoric reference. The referent is the song "Where the Streets have no Name".
  • In the same way at the beginning of the fourth sentence is introducing another example of how the song could mirror LGBT movements suffer and struggle.
  • The word gay was mentioned three times in the previous paragraph and it is repeated in the topic sentence of this paragraph to link the two of them.

None of my paragraphs have a terminator sentence to conclude the ideas discussed in the paragraphs.




jueves, 14 de septiembre de 2017

Entry # 7 From paragraph to essay

From paragraph to essay: Developing composition writting

Paragraph development by listing
The list paragraph has several parts. First, paragraphs introducers, which are sentences that establish the topic focus of the paragraph as a whole. Next, there are paragraph developers, which present examples or details with the aid of connectors. Transition or modulator sentences are used between different sets of ideas. Finally a terminator sentence, which brings the paragraph to a logical conclusion. Transition words such as first, second, third, next, finally are used.

Paragraph development by examples
The example paragraph is a kind of list paragraph, in which example sentences present a specific example or illustration related to the topic sentence. At  the end there is a terminator sentence, which gives the effect of rounding off the paragraph by circling back to the idea of the topic sentence. Transition words such as for example, as another example, on the other hand, as still another instance, etc. are used.

Essay development by examples
An essay developed by examples contains a topic paragraph, which states the topic of the essay. Example paragraphs and a restatement paragraph (conclusion paragraph). Transition words or phrases help to connect and show the relationship of the various parts, or paragraphs of the essay.

Paragraph development by comparison
The comparison paragraph compares similar aspects or qualities of two subjects, the similarities are emphasised. It should include a topic sentence, which state specifically the basis of comparison. Example sentences, which illustrate one subject and then the other. Transition sentences used to change from one point of view to another, from one set of ideas to another or from one subject to another and a restatement sentence to close the paragraph. Transitional words such as similarly, also, too, both are used.

Paragraph development by contrast
The contrast paragraph compares dissimilar aspects of two subjects. There are two ways of writting a contrast paragraph:

  1. alternate examples of subject A with examples of subject B , the contrasts may be in the same sentence,  or they may be in consecutive sentences.
  2. present all subject A examples together, then all subject B examples together.
Transitional words or phrases employed in this kind of paragraphs are: unlike, on the other hand, in contrast, etc.

Essay development by comparison and contrast
An essay developed by comparison or contrast contains a topic paragraph, comparison or contrast paragraphs and a restatement paragraph.

Paragraph development by definition
The definition paragraph describes, explains or defines an unfamiliar term by relating that which is unknown, to that which is already known. It makes use of the techniques of comparison, contrast and synthesis, often in combination. The terminator sentence in this kind of paragraph summarises the distinctive features of the term being defined.

Paragraph development by classification
The purpose of a classification paragraph is to group a large number of items or ideas into a small number of classes or categories. It is important to set up adequate categories and equally important to define what goes into these categories.

miércoles, 6 de septiembre de 2017

Entry # 6 Well written paragraph


Video: Parts of a paragraph -English Academic Writting Introduction. Site:"engvid Free English video lessons"

The following video explains the specific structure of a paragraph.

Parts of a paragraph:

  • Topic sentence: should include
  1. an  interesting topic
  2. opinion about it
  • Body:
  1. supporting details/arguments
  2. order by importance or chronology
  • Closing sentence: 2 functions
  1. restate the topic sentence in a different way
  2. keep readers thinking
Topic sentences (examples): site University of Ottawa

1-The first is the wear-and-tear hypothesis that suggests the body eventually succumbs to the environmental insults of life. The second is the notion that we have an internal clock which is genetically programmed to run down. Supporters of the wear-and-tear theory maintain that the very practice of breathing causes us to age because inhaled oxygen produces toxic by-products. Advocates of the internal clock theory believe that individual cells are told to stop dividing and thus eventually to die by, for example, hormones produced by the brain or by their own genes. (from Debra Blank, "The Eternal Quest" [edited]).

Topic sentence: There are two broad theories concerning what triggers a human's inevitable decline to death.

Explanation:
This paragraph is a straightforward description of two possibilities, neither of which is preferred over the other. In this case, it would be wrong to mention only one of the possibilities (the "internal time clock") in the topic sentence, or to treat it as a philosophical discussion of death itself ("we all must die..."). As for the biology professor, He or she might very well have given an interesting lecture, but that has nothing to do with the content of the paragraph.
2-The strictest military discipline imaginable is still looser than that prevailing in the average assembly-line. The soldier, at worst, is still able to exercise the highest conceivable functions of freedom -- that is, he or she is permitted to steal and to kill. No discipline prevailing in peace gives him or her anything remotely resembling this. The soldier is, in war, in the position of a free adult; in peace he or she is almost always in the position of a child. In war all things are excused by success, even violations of discipline. In peace, speaking generally, success is inconceivable except as a function of discipline. (from H.L. Mencken, "Reflections on War" [edited]).
Topic sentence:  We commonly look on the discipline of war as vastly more rigid than any discipline necessary in time of peace, but this is an error.
Explanation:
The topic sentence must emphasise the comparative nature of the paragraph. Mencken does argue that soldiers need discipline, but this is not all he argues in this paragraph. Likewise, while soldiers may well serve an important function in wartime, and while they may well be able to compete well in peacetime, neither of these points is discussed in the paragraph.
3- In Montreal, a flashing red traffic light instructs drivers to careen even more wildly through intersections heavily populated with pedestrians and oncoming vehicles. In startling contrast, an amber light in Calgary warns drivers to scream to a halt on the off chance that there might be a pedestrian within 500 meters who might consider crossing at some unspecified time within the current day. In my home town in New Brunswick, finally, traffic lights (along with painted lines and posted speed limits) do not apply to tractors, all terrain vehicles, or pickup trucks, which together account for most vehicles on the road. In fact, were any observant Canadian dropped from an alien space vessel at an unspecified intersection anywhere in this vast land, he or she could almost certainly orient him-or-herself according to the surrounding traffic patterns.
Topic sentence:  Although the interpretation of traffic signals may seem highly standardized, close observation reveals regional variations across this country, distinguishing the East Coast from Central Canada and the West as surely as dominant dialects or political inclinations. 

Explanation:
It is not enough simply to list all of the arguments in the paragraph ("People in Montreal drive faster..."), or to pick only one point to hilight ("People in Calgary are careful of pedestrians"). Instead, the topic sentence should highlight the interpretative nature of driving habits and their regional variations. Since the paragraph stresses the differences among drivers in different parts of the country, it would be entirely wrong simply to state in the topic sentence that "Canadians do not follow traffic signals properly."