Personal Narratives 2018

We are starting the year with personal narratives.  If done correctly, you should be able to use or adapt your narrative as the essay for your college applications.

As we work on your narratives, and later as we work on application coaching, use the information in this folder to help you: Essays and Applications 18-19.

There are several useful links on the right side of this page that you may want to consult as you work on your essays and your applications.  I would also recommend taking a look at these articles as you brainstorm and write:
The Best and Worst Topics for a College Application Essay
How to Come Up with Great College Essay Ideas
5 College Application Essay Topics That Always Work
Stuck on the Essay? Try Writing a Letter to an Imaginary Roommate

Good luck!  Remember that your personal narrative is due on Monday, September 24th, and that you are required to show proof of at least one completed college application by Wednesday, October 31st.

Presentation Days Reminders

In-Class Presentations:
You will be presenting in class on your chosen day, which is either May 9, 10, 11, 14, or 17.  If you are not prepared to present on your day, you lose 10% off your grade.  

You can earn extra credit for being dressed up for your in-class presentation, but it is not required.

Presentation Fair Day, May 15 & 16:
You will be presenting in the library for the Presentation Fair days on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 15 and 16.  You will have a station with your presentation board and a Chromebook with your slideshow.  This event is open to anyone who wants to come, so be prepared to speak to high school and middle school students, administrators, School Board members, and parents.  

You must be dressed up for both days; this is part of your grade.

Scholarship list

If you are planning on going to college or trade school next year, you may want to take a look at this article.  There is a lot of scholarship money still available, here and out there in the world (or on the internet), and all you have to do is apply:

33 Scholarships to Apply to by the End of May

Editing advice from Grammarly

This article from the Grammarly blog might be helpful once you start editing your research essay.  I especially suggest #2, #3, and #8 as being very good ideas:

10 Perfect Pieces of Advice on How to Edit Your Writing

Tips and Tricks

Very useful site - Tips and Tricks from the Writing Center at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/

I especially recommend you check out the links on Transitions and Editing & Proofreading.

Reminder as you write your essay

Every body paragraph should looks something like this:

Topic Sentence (NEVER a quote) - should be your point

Support #1

Detail #1

Detail #2 or example or quote

Support #2

Detail #1

Detail #2 or example or quote

Support #3

Detail #1

Detail #2 or example or quote

Conclusion sentence or transition sentence

Notes from CMPL Guest Speakers on March 1

To begin:

Go to cmpl.org.  If you have a login/library card number, click on “My Account” and log in.  This will give you access to everything on the library site.  If you don’t have a login, you can still use many of the library services, including most research databases.

To do research:

Click on “Research.”  Under “Advanced Research Databases,” use the drop-down to choose the database you want to search based on the topic you are searching.  Once you pick a database, remember to search using KEYWORDS, not sentences - you will get a better result that way.

“MeL” (Michigan eLibrary) and “ERIC” are good for scholarly sources like academic journals.  “InfoTrac Student Edition” and “Britannica School - High” are good for magazines and newspapers, as well as academic journals.  There are many, many databases to choose from, but they should all give you good, reputable, scholarly sources that you can use for your research and Senior Project essay.

Once you open an article from any of the CMPL databases, you will find a toolbar on the right side of the page to help you.  Tools include citations, the ability to print or download articles, and the ability to highlight text and save notes about your highlighted sections.

If you need to pick a topic (also helpful for researching):

On the Research tab, use the drop-down and pick “Opposing Viewpoints.”  Once there, click on “Browse Issues.”  This brings you to a list of possible topics.  Clicking on any of these will bring you to a dedicated page of information, sources, and links about that topic.  

OR

On the Research tab, use the drop-down and pick “InfoTrac Student Edition.”  Once there, click on “Topic Finder.”  This brings you to a search box that then gives you a chart (wheel or tiles) of increasingly narrowed topics related to the broad topic you search for.  Clicking on any of these will bring up a list of articles that could work for your research.