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In each module, the second discussion always focuses on the essay
you are writing! The first discussion has you analyze someone else’s essay to
see how it uses the basic features. This discussion (the second discussion) has
you analyze your essay–the one you are writing for this module.
For Remembered Event 2
Discussion, you are going to analyze and write on your own Remembered Event
essay…the one you are planning and drafting now.
Create a framework or
outline of the Dramatic Arc of your essay (review page 15 of the St. MArtin’s
Guide and the diagram top left on that page for more on this.)
1. Write a very brief
one or two sentence summary of your essay story.
2. Go through the key moments of your dramamtic
arc and give us an overview of 1 Exposition moment, 2 Rising action moments, 1
Climax moment, 1Falling Action Moment, 1Resolution moment. SEE EXAMPLE RIGHT BELOW…
Here is an example from
a student’s essay written several years ago: SAMPLE….
My essay is about a
party I went to when I was 19 and a scary event that happened that night that
made me really grow up and start thinking about my life in a different way.
Exposition (1 moment): I
am at a “house party” drinking with my friends. Someone suggests that we head
down to the beach to swim. Someone else says “race ya” and we all go flying to
our vehicles.
Rising Action (2 moments) : A. I’m flying down
the Ocean Parkway on my motorcycle. I’m racing my friend Kevin who is also on a
bike. I’m very drunk and barely in control. B. My friend Joel
races into the scene with his car. I almost swerve into him changing lanes at
80 mph but it seems funny to me at the moment.
Climax (high point or 1
big moment}: I am way ahead now. And I am very drunk. I can’t fight it off. I
black out while riding. The last thing I see is the dunes and I pass out.
Falling Action: (1) I
wake up early morning in the sand beside the dunes. My bike is all the way down
the beach and pretty beat up. By some miracle, I crashed into soft sand. I am
scraped and bruised but not really injured. It seems impossible.
Resolution (1) Hours
later I find all my friends at another party—a daytime pool party. They went
swimming last night without me. Never noticed my absence! They “thought I went
home.” They’re drinking and having a grand old time but I’m thinking how I
could be easily dead right now. It hits me hard how stupid and immature my
friends are. It hits me even harder how stupid I am.
NOTE: YOUR ACTUAL ESSAY
WILL HAVE MORE MOMENTS. YOU’LL PROBABLY HAVE 7-10 RISING ACTION MOMENTS, FOR
EXAMPLE. BUT HERE YOU ARE JUST GIVING AN OVERVIEW OF KEY MOMENTS.
THAT IS PART 1 The initial post. REMEMBER that you will follow this with 2
replies to peers’ posts….
Part II write
two (2) replies to your peers’ posts. Don’t forget this part. You can comment
on their arc, ask questions, suggest adding information about areas of interest
etc. etc. (200 words each.)
For more, read the
discussion guideines below.
Each and every discussion assignment has two distinct parts:
1) An Initial Post— Each discussion assignment
starts with a prompt or topic that I put forward for you to write on. An
example of this might be something like this: “From the profile essay you are working on,
tell us about the subject of your profile. Explain who/what the subject is,
tell us why you find the subject interesting, tell us what you’ve lea

rned, thus
far, about the subject.” In response to this, you would create an initial post to
answer my question.
These posts are a minimum of 500 words. These must be very carefully edited and free of surface errors.
Additionally, they should address the topic of the discussion assignment fully
and be VERY specific.
2) TWO (2) REPLIES to message posts from your peers. Each discussion assignment
will ask you to reply to 2 peers’ posts after you create your own post.
Usually, you will wait a day or so after you initial post to do your REPLY
work. (Keep in mind that you must submit your discussion work on time NEVER
LATE so plan ahead and leave time to complete these assignments properly.) When
you do your replies, you read the posts of your classmates. You will choose two
messages that interest you and respond to these. Your response should
SPECIFICALLY address the post of your classmate and the original topic. You may
respond to what your peer said, add to their comments, agree or disagree etc.
etc. Always be professional and constructive when responding to
peers! (You can disagree and you can be constructively critical, but
you must do this professionally and with consideration of classmates’ feelings.) These
responses are a minimum of 200 words for each reply (2 x 200 = 400 words
total).
When you begin to write in the discussion areas, here are some guidelines:
Work on a word processor. Save your entry on your
computer with a name that you will recognize. As you work, save the piece
every five lines or five minutes. After the entry is complete, copy and
paste it into the discussion area. FOLLOW THIS GUIDELINE! Nothing is worse
than drafting a post only to find that your computer has frozen and it is
lost. And once you’ve cut and pasted the document into the course, check
to make sure the formatting is correct and it looks the way you want it
before clicking to submit it. YOU MAY NEED TO PASTE YOUR WORK IN 1
PARAGRAPH AT A TIME TO MAINTAIN FORMATTING.
Edit your work carefully using the word processor tools
(spelling and grammar), your own knowledge, and, if necessary, the help of
good or professional writers (professional writing help is available for
free in the writing skills center on your campus). Unedited work (work
that is full of errors) is unacceptable in this class. Submitting unedited
work regularly will cause you to fail the class. (After all folks, this is
a college-level writing class.)
Be sure you write specifically with your message post
and replies:
Non-specific post: “I liked the essay because the
writing was good…” This post is saying nothing.
There is no specific explanation of what this “liked the essay”
means nor is there a specific explanation of why the writer
“liked” the essay. This is no good.
specific post: “The essay is very effective at
describing people and places. When the writer describes her Uncle Phil,
she shows us his hands in great detail describing how battered they are.
She also shows us the clutter and mess of his house. All this description
makes you feel like you’re there with him. This works well because we
begin to feel like we’re part of her world…” This
is the way to do it. Be specific and refer to the essay specifically
and/or the classmates post specifically.
NEVER POST YOUR DISCUSSION POSTS AS ATTACHED DOCUMENTS. THE ONLY PLACE IN THIS COURSE TO USE
ATTACHMENTS IS IN THE DROPBOX.