Brief Assignment 1: Pre-Diagnostic and Synthesis

Your BA1 is due on Friday, January 29 on Raider Writer by 11:59:59 p.m.

Objective: To enable you to discuss your prior academic writing experiences and gain practice
in some of the reading and writing skills covered in this course.
Purpose: BA1 has two parts. Part one is designed to give you an opportunity to reflect on your
prior writing experiences and articulate them to your instructor. Tell your instructor about your
prior writing experiences and discuss what you see as your strengths and weaknesses as a writer.
Part two gives you an opportunity to practice the type of synthesis of sources expected in college
courses.
Description: To complete Part one, answer each of the following questions in paragraph form,
being as specific as possible as you discuss each topic:
1. What is your experience with academic writing? What types of writing have you done in the
last few yearsyou might discuss high school, college-level, or workplace writing, for example.
Also, be sure to include a discussion of your work in ENGL 1301 and how those assignments
have assisted in strengthening your writing skills.
2. What do you think your strengths are as a writer? Your weaknesses? (Note that your ehandbook provides descriptions of many writing strengths and problemsrefer to it if you need
to in discussing your particular abilities). How do you intend to build on those strengths and
overcome those weaknesses as you complete this course and write in other college courses?
What are your goals for this class?
Your response to Part one should be 250 300 words in length.
To complete Part two, read the following two essays linked here and discuss how the ideas
presented in each have impacted your own post-high school experiences, here at TTU or
elsewhere. Youll be writing a brief argument that synthesizes the content of these two sources in
support of your discussion. The St. Martin's Handbook: Chapter 12f, "Synthesizing Sources" will
help you with strategies for synthesizing your sources.
The Myth of Helplessness (link on Raider Writer)
What I Learned about School Reform (link on Raider Writer)
Your response to Part two should be 400-500 words in length.
*Update of instructions for Part two of BA1
Your goal on Part 2 of BA1 is to find a few common themes presented in both essays and talk
about how you have personally witnessed some of these themes in your own post-high school

experiences. Since this is a personal reflection, do not be afraid to use the first-person I
pronoun. As we discussed in class, it would be helpful for you to read Chapter 7 in your FirstYear Writing textbook before you complete this assignment.

On Part 2, I would recommend that you write two paragraphs. In the first paragraph, synthesize
the essays. Read Chapter 7 in your textbook for ideas on how to synthesize. In paragraph 2, talk
about how the ideas that you just synthesized have impacted your post-high school experiences. I
hope that this simplifies Part 2 for you all. Please let me know if you have any questions.