Your topic and your audience for this paper depend on where you live!

Vermillion Students: The readers, or audience, for your essay are the off-campus students in the remote sites, who are attending this class by satellite. Your writing task is advising them on how to adjust to student life at a university. If you want to get specific and talk about USD and Vermillion, that's fine. Or you can talk about aspects of any university experience.

Off-campus (remote) sites: The readers, or audience, for this essay are the Vermillion students taking this class with you. Imagine that these Vermillion classmates have graduated and are moving to your hometown. (Possibly, they got jobs at your local school or bank.) Your writing task is advising them on how to adjust to life in your hometown.

Your advice should be

• easy to read,
• adequately explained,
• and formatted in such a way that information is accessible to a reader who needs to go back and reread parts of the instructions.

1. Analyze your audience (readers) for this essay. What do they already know about your topic? What is their age, gender, education, etc.? What possible biases may they have? What is their purpose in reading your text?
2. Use a thesis, directly stated, in your essay, preferably near the beginning.
3. Consider which patterns of development will be most effective:
   1. Step-by-step (process): 1. Do this, 2. Then do this, 3. Finally, do this.
   2. List or enumerate points you want your reader to remember (preferably near the end of your text).
   3. Use a narrative to advise readers (narration is a pattern that you learned how to use in your previous essay). Many writers use a brief narrative or anecdote in their introduction. Narratives can be included anywhere in the essay but are especially effective at the beginning and at the end.
   4. Use cause-and-effect. With this pattern, you can caution your readers of the consequences if they do not do what you are suggesting or assure them of the benefits if they do follow your advice.
   5. You can also use other patterns such as exemplification, comparison/contrast, definition, classification, and analysis.
4. Choose an effective format.
   1. Use numbers or bullets to designate major steps or points.
   2. Use headings and subheadings to indicate major and minor parts of your text.
   3. Use clear signals such as first, second, third, next, then, and finally to help your reader recognize each new step or point.
   4. Pay attention to your paragraphs. In general, you will discuss only one step or point in each paragraph.
5. Establish an appropriate voice for your essay. Taking into consideration your topic, your writing voice should be fairly informal and yet direct.

DEADLINES:

Draft 1 due: Monday, October 6 (peer revision).

Draft 2 due: Wednesday, October 15 (peer revision). Include grammar exercises #2.

Final draft due: Monday, October 20. Your final draft and your two earlier workshop drafts should be placed in a folder, along with the peer revision sheets. The final draft should be placed in the left-hand pocket; the earlier drafts and the peer revision sheets should be placed in the right-hand pocket.

Format: Your paper should be 1000-1250 words. All three drafts should be typed, double-spaced, with 1" margins. All pages but the first should be numbered in the top right-hand corner. The following information should appear on the first page of each draft:

• Your name
• Essay #, Draft #
• Title of paper (centered)

Chris Wilson

Essay #2, Draft #1

                         Independence Christmas

     Christmas at our house always began with a bang. Early on Christmas 

morning--much to the chagrin of our neighbors--Dad brought out of hiding the

fireworks he had been saving ever since the Fourth of July and lit them

outside in the front yard. We awoke to the sound of firecrackers and

whistling bottle rockets and knew that it was time to get up and discover what

Santa Claus had left for us underneath the Christmas tree. . . .

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