Formulating Arguments in Areas of Interest - ELA - Capstone

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Writing - Connect and Dream


Make Connections and Point to What's Important.

Part I

Generate some writing by doing one of the following in a new Google Doc:

Use Docs. Share with your teacher and peers. Later you will add transcriptions and citations from your research and revise before you post it as a Discussion.

Choose one of these missions for Part I of this task:

Image for a mission on Youth Voices

At the beginning of
each new project,
inquiry, or writing
assignment you should
create substantial
personal, committed,
passionate pieces of
writing. It's a good idea
to collect your freewriting,
focused sentences, and
more freewriting in
Google Docs (or a similar
platform) that you can
share with your teacher
and others. It's important
to give the time, not just
at school but at home as well.
Image for issue at Youth Voices

"The loop writing process
is a way to get the best
of both... control and
creativity. On the one
hand it lets you steer
where you are going...
But on the other hand it
expands your point of
view.... It is especially
useful if you can't think
of much to write or are
stuck with a topic that
bores you." (Peter Elbow,
"The Loop Writing
Process," Chapter 8 in
Writing With Power.
Image for issue at Youth Voices

Sondra Perl's Composing
Guidelines sometimes
work differently for
different people--and
even differently for you
on different occasions.
The main thing to
remember is that they
are meant for you to
use on your own,
flexibly, in your own way.
There is nothing sacred
about the exact format
or wording. They are not
meant to be a straitjacket.
The specific details of the
procedure are much less
important than the
charitable, supportive,
and generative spirit
behind the whole thing.

When you have finished this first draft by freewrting, loop writing or using the Composing Guidelines, get a few peers and your teacher to respond to your writing. Share your Goggle Document with your teacher and 2 or 3 other students. You can find the link to a Google Document under the Share button, also, make your document Public.

Part II

Next, revise your writing based on feedback you recieve from your teacher and peers and  by adding, subtracting, rearranging, replacing text. Use Structured Essays to organize your writing, but don’t post it yet. Finish your “quote sandwiches” in second task on for this Challenge before you post a Collage Essay.

Add the following to a comment on this task before you click Yes, I'm done :

  • Copy your first draft writing (freewrite, loops, or composing guidelines) and paste it into a comment box.
  • Copy your "Structured Essay" revision below your first draft.

Task Discussion


  • Anthonyf said:

    http://youthvoices.net/discussion/young-lords-can-gangs-actually-turn-something-good

    on Dec. 17, 2012, 9:56 a.m.

  • ZoeC said:

    WHY DO PEOPLE PUT LABEL ON OTHERS?

    Fat, low-class, ugly, stupid, ETC! There’s so many labels that people put on each-other. The girl you just called fat? She’s overdosing on diet pills. The girl you called ugly? She spends hours trying to make herself look pretty, drowning her face with so much makeup just so someone can notice her one day. The boy you just shoved into the locker? He gets abused at home enough. I understand that labeling/bullying will always exist no matter what it is human nature to want to overpower another. I get that it’s natural for people to label you, it’s like our society relies on labels but there’s limitations. We might point out the differences which helps but we don’t accept the differences. We don't do it well. I am sure none of us wish to all be identical that’s boring! Yet we judge our differences so harshly. Doesn't make sense really. “Bullies kill. Words scar. Rumors destroy.”

    on Dec. 7, 2012, 4:26 a.m.