Entry #10 Essay/More on Refugees

 Entry #10  

(AKA Second part of entry #9. To view Zephaniah's and Bilston's poems plus paragraphs on those poems, please go to Entry #9)

_________________________________________________________________________

And now, it's the

Joyful time for us to write our own five-paragraph essays, but first we must learn, investigate and do some research. Through two selected videos, we summarize the main and most important points on how to write an academic essay. The following are study notes and a Padlet board mentioning the most salient characteristics, apart from the ones mentioned in the campus and posted by our teacher.

THE FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY is also known as

> The basic essay

> The Academic essay

> The 1-3-1 essay

...and more playfully, the "easy essay"

There are 3 FORMULAS to produce a five-paragraph essay

1) THE MAGIC OF THREE

Once we have the topic, we ought to define the three main points (causes, effects, reasons, etc.) that will organize the second, third and fourth paragraphs. Through these 3 main points, our position and opinions towards the topic will become explicit.

(We must limit ourselves to 3)

In the organization and structure of the second, third and fourth paragraphs, REPETITION is a desirable feature. The paragraphs can start with "in the first place", "in the second place" and "in the third place", respectively. Thus, the idea of summative sequence is reinforced.

IS REPETITION GOOD? YES, IT IS VERY GOOD.

2) THE ESSAY FORMULA FOR THE THESIS

This formula combines the TOPIC + OUR position/opinion (YOU HAVE TO HAVE ONE!!)  to obtain a THESIS.

TOPIC + OPINION = THESIS STATEMENT

Then come the 3 main points that were mentioned before

The THESIS STATEMENT works as:

> A controlling idea

> An overall point

> A position statement

3)THE 1-3-1 OUTLINE

There is a first paragraph for the  

> INTRODUCTION that contains the THESIS STATEMENT (near or by the end of the paragraph)It is the purpose of the introductory paragraph to introduce the thesis (NOT THE WHOLE ESSAY) The thesis then works as an umbrella.

There are

> THREE BODY PARAGRAPHS (THE 3 MAIN TOPIC SENTENCES LEAD THE 3 BODY PARAGRAPHS)

And there is a last paragraph for the 

> CONCLUSION

Information retrieved from https://youtu.be/GwjmMtTVO1g on Sep 29th, 2020

WRITING  A  KILLER 

THESIS  STATEMENT

Theses statements are about figuring out the main idea

of our paper, and

explaining it to our readers.

• We begin with a question, and we answer it. PRELIMINARY THESIS.
• Then, we refine our answers, going back to the source (book, research, etc.)
• We revise our thesis statement.
• We resort to examples and, with them in mind, we revise the TS one more time. (VERSION #1 FINALIZED, more focused)
• Last step(optional)Go deeper. Am I saying ALL that can be said? We refine our TS so that it answers our question in a creative, thoughtful and profound way.

Retrieved from https://youtu.be/9R0ivCaLtnY on Sep 29th 2020

   

Last contribution on the topic of our essays...

Upon the teacher's proposal, I have watched a few TED Talks concerning refugees, and I found this one, by Luma Mufleh, particularly bold and worthy. It is SO good that I hope that some of you, readers, take the time to hear what this Muslim woman has to say. If you don't, at least go through these smart lines (an excerpt from her talk):

"We have seen advances in every aspect of our lives, except our humanity."

"Not only do we shame, blame and reject them for atrocities that they had absolutely nothing to do with: We re-traumatize them when we're supposed to be welcoming them in our countries." 

I presume that the second quote could be seen as a synopsis of my essay, and how glad I was to realize that Luma Mufleh—a refugee herself—had put in words what I only imagined. That quote is almost a calque of my thesis statement, which I wrote a week before running into this video. Really, I strongly recommend watching it, I feel nothing but respect and admiration for women like this.

Posted on July 25th, 2017 

at  https://www.youtube.com/TED

Very very last contribution (this time, for real)

I didn't want to miss the chance to pay homage to the late Quino, through this timely reflection about empathy and the tricks of language.

Metacognitive reflection 

Writing, in terms of second language acquisition, is perhaps the most uncomfortable skill to deal with for most students. Even so, communication and thinking skills result highly stimulated when we write. We refine out thoughts during the writing process, our ideas are examined when there is room for reflection and insight, and we become more aware and more awake. Against all odds, we must encourage our students to write with a double aim: to provide them with more chances to produce speech in the target language, and also to release them(albeit momentarily)from their "mind-forg'd manacles"—in Blakean terms.