Our Experiment in Writing

This past week we had parent conferences, and one of the most prominent aspects of the conferences was how much everyone wants YOUR writing to improve, both in class and on standardized tests.
We should have two writing tasks per quarter, done well now that we have two classes per day. Also, we would like to do timed writing practice in the coming weeks to improve standardized testing results.

Writing is certainly an important component of our course. I've posted in other places on how to write well, and while it is not my goal to summarize those things here and now, you should be able to find links to on them to the right of this blog. Two of them are the current British Literature blog and last year's Literature 9 blog, where you can find general writing advice. Somewhere I have a list of good books on the craft of writing, which you could possibly borrow from me (if you ask nicely!), and later I hope to update this post with that list.

You should be finishing up your persuasive writing this week, by Thursday. A way to increase effectiveness would be to find out more information on the topic - on both sides of the issue, in the form of statistics, quotes by famous people, or well-known examples. Statistics should come from reliable sources like governmental or international agencies. We'll come back to this later in the year.

For the second writing of the First Quarter, or Q1, we are doing an informative/research paper. I'm calling it a mini-research paper, but it is not heavy on research for you. However, you will need to use a bibliography with three (3) sources, and at least 2 different categories. The idea here is to get you used to doing a bit of research and making a bibliography early in the year, because in Q2 you will have a longer research paper for your science classes that is related to science fair. That paper is counted twice - also for your English class - so it needs to be done well. If for some reason your science teacher or the school is not asking you to do a paper related to science fair, I will ask you to do a science-related paper that is longer in Q2. This current assignment is meant to be practice for that longer one coming up.

Notice that we are starting to read an interesting short story called Dr. Heidegger's Experiment (HW11, which is to be done two days early) in our literature textbook. This is about an old doctor who calls four elderly friends into his study to invite them to participate in an experiment. He claims to have liquid drawn from the Fountain of Youth in Florida, and pours them four glasses. They readily accept. They drink, and drink, and drink...wouldn't it be a boring story if the experiment totally failed? But note that the old doctor himself did not drink, but observed only. What he learned is different from any learning the participants had from drinking the liquid.

Now, for the writing, you have each been assigned a unique, health-related, informative article on the theme of staying young. The title of your article is the topic of your paper. For example, one of them is "How to Live Longer by Having a Little Fun" and the person doing this must inform me of the contents of this article plus do a bit more research on this topic. You should have three sources, and the summary of the three sources becomes the three body paragraphs in a 5-paragraph structure. For the introduction and conclusion, you keep it short and tell me what is coming & summarize, like this:


Topic (same as title of article) - How to Live Longer by Having a Little Fun

Paragraph I - Introduction - You say people can live longer by enjoying themselves, You are going to introduce three things, from the original article, from a web site on comedy & health, and a book on wine & health.

Paragraph II - Summarize the article you received - here you say too much stress increases the hormone called cortisol in your body, etc.

Paragraph III - Summarize what you find from your web site on how laughing and comedy can make you live longer. Keep it simple.

Paragraph IV - Say something from a book you found on how drinking red wine can help you live up to 20% longer, but only if you drink exactly one glass per day. Refer to examples in France of people who lived to over 100 years old doing this. Mention, as well, that some people don't find drinking red wine "fun."

Paragraph V - Conclusion - Say again that having fun makes you live longer, and mention the three things in paragraphs II, III, and IV, that you just said.

Last page - Use Bibme.org to cite your three sources, the article you received, the web site you used, and the book you used. This part is IMPORTANT as I am considering making this a separate grade.


You may use other kinds of things, such as personal interviews, to help you. Bibme.org allows you to cite personal interviews - while it is best to record them, you must at least take your own notes and remember the date on which it happened and the location, and the first and family name of the person interviewed. Some cases where that might work - one student has an article on avoiding cancer, and has a family member as a cancer survivor - interviewing that family member is a great idea.  Another student has an article that basically says to eat more vitamin E and C to live longer, but she works at a restaurant. So she can interview the boss, asking about the demand for healthy foods (especially containing those vitamins, like almonds & strawberries) in the restaurant. Be creative, but learn to cite your sources, and keep your paper simple and to around one page in length. The bibliography should be on a separate, second page. We'll look at Bibme.org in class together soon.

Later, I will update this post with a list of articles given, and links to the articles. Enjoy researching!

Here is a list of articles assigned last week for the Q1 informative/research writing - for the names of the students assigned to each article, please follow this link:


6 Causes of Cancer that Can Be Prevented
9-Step Plan to Control Your Anger
10 Bad Habits that Age You
A Blood Test for Depression Shows the Illness Is Not a Matter of Will
Among Malaria Parasites, a Real Feel for Mosquitoes
Beating Back the Risk of Diabetes
Cheating Ourselves of Sleep
Drink Soda Take 12,000 Steps
Eat These Treats, Live Longer
Happiness and Your Health
How Can I Slow Aging with Exercise
How to Live Longer by Having a Little Fun
Important Numbers to Keep Track of For Better Health
In a Chair, Take a Break
Learning How to Exert Self-Control
Purpose in Life Brings Longevity
Stems Cells, Plenty of Hope, but Halting Progress
Training Dogs to Sniff Out Cancer 
What are Some Anti-Aging Superfoods
What are the Most Important Things I can Do to Live Longer
Would Most Women Rather Look Young or Thin? Survey Says
Tai Chi Eases Depression in Elderly


It may also be good, in your writing, to tie together your article with the story - Dr. Heidegger's Experiment. For example, if the four guests had just shown a little more self-control, the outcome might have been better. These brief allusions may be used in either the introduction or conclusion paragraphs, or both.

Also, it may be possible to have a follow-up activity in class, where groups of students get together and share similarities in their articles & research, then share with the whole class. We could have groups on anti-cancer, good nutrition, good habits, and so on. One way is to have each group just stand up and talk about their findings. Another way is to have a "jigsaw," where representatives from each group are sent to the other group, and come back and explain their findings to their original group. Then the original group could stand up and briefly share a summary of their findings in comparison with what they learned from the other groups. It takes longer but is more fun, assuming everyone's prepared.

I urge you to start early on this assignment, while keeping up with the reading in class. Our reading, writing, and speaking schedule take priority over things like grammar practice or standardized test practice. Keep a good attitude and steady pace, and watch the results over a few months!