English 1301

 

Diagnostic Essay

 

Instructions:

Write a short 1-2 page essay on one of the following three topics:

 

            1) My Most Embarrassing Moment

            2) My Most Frightening Moment

            3) My Most Rewarding Moment

 

Development

1) Compose by hand a traditional thesis-support essay with an introductory paragraph, body paragraphs, and a separate concluding paragraph. 

2) Your thesis should be a claim about something the experience taught you—why it is a memorable event in your life.

3) Include sufficient detail in your paragraphs to support your purpose/claim.

4) Include somewhere in the body of your paper a quotation from someone with whom you may have already consulted or discussed this issue (I want to check you punctuation skills.)

5) Compose a title that reflects something of the perspective or attitude toward the subject without being “gimmicky.”

 

Editing

After composing your draft, edit it carefully, searching first for the most common errors you generally make—problems in spelling, subject-verb agreement, pronoun agreement with their, etc.  Make the changes on your handwritten draft.

 

Composing the Final Copy

Compose your final copy on a computer or typewriter.  Double-space the text of your paragraphs and use only one double-space between each paragraph.  Observer 1” margins or the default margins on your computer.  Use only 12 point font size and either Times New Roman or Arial fonts. 

 

Compose a heading in the upper left-hand corner like this:

 

Geoffrey Grimes

English 1301

June 2, 2003

 

Submitting the Final Copy

Staple the rough draft behind the final copy.  Do not use a coversheet.  Follow these same guidelines for submitting all out-of-class essays or written exercises throughout the semester.