Mariah Jessen

ESL 6063
Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

Writing Prompt Critique

The following seven prompts will be analyzed using information, techniques, and

guidelines discussed in Ferris & Hedgcock (2014) and Reid & Kroll (1995). Two prompts will

be rewritten so as to conform to guidelines I find more acceptable for the assignments. One of

the key concepts I frame my analysis around comes from the belief that, “an effective academic

writing assignment should be clear, appropriate, and sound pedagogically; it should offer student

writers...the best possible opportunity to demonstrate their strengths and to learn from their

writing” (Reid & Kroll, 1995, p. 19).

1. Take-home essay exam for an undergraduate comparative philosophy course: Do you believe

in fate or free will? Explain.

This first prompt is full of flaws and weaknesses across the board. When looking at the

context of the question, while it can be assumed that these concepts have been covered in class,

there is nothing in this prompt that relates back to their class experiences or conversations which

may leave the question of how to write about this topic. In connection to this flaw, the rhetorical

structure of the question is lacking any shape. What is the final product supposed to look like?

Are they trying to persuade someone, state their beliefs with evidence or compare and contrast

the two stand points? Based on this prompt alone, there were no “comparable products” given to

the students for reference (Ferris & Hedgcock, 2014, p. 127). In addition, there was no criteria

provided for how this assignment will be evaluated. Depending when this assignment was given,

this may already be known, but it should always be clarified by either stating that the

requirements are the same as usual or specify anything new about the requirements.
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Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

2. Timed essay exam item for an undergraduate geology course: In a short essay, describe

tectonic plate movement. Include drawing.

The second prompt contains many of the same flaws as seen in the first prompt. While it

will not be as pertientant to set up the context as thoroughly, as this is most likely over a fixed

topic discussed in class, it is missing several important elements from Ferris & Hedgcocks’s

(2014) “Assignment and Task Guidelines” including providing the time limit, clearly stating the

genre of the essay and giving a recommended length (p. 127). A huge portion not explicitly made

clear in this prompt is its socioliterate nature, which has its own set of guidelines in Ferris &

Hedgcock’s (2014) previously mentioned guidelines (how does it connect to other genres, why is

this important for their learning etcetera). Lastly, there is no information about how this essay

will be evaluated and therefore the students may not know what to include. I do like that it asks

the students to include a drawing as this may permit learners to better clarify their meaning

through pictures rather than writing.

3. In-class writing prompt for an intermediate-level IEP reading-writing course: Define

friendship.

The third prompt has the obvious flaw of being too short and not giving enough context

to help the students understand what exactly they should be writing. If I were to receive this

prompt, I would assume that I would only need to write one to two sentences defining what

friendship means to me or perhaps what we learned it meant in class. There are also no rhetorical

indicators to help students understand the purpose or formatting of the paper. And there is no

evaluation criteria provided which means the students will not know what is expected of them
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ESL 6063
Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

based on this prompt alone. This prompt would need a lot of work in order to be used in an

actual classroom setting.

REVISION: We have been discussing the meaning of friendship and how we have different

kinds of friendships with different people. Based on these conversations and from your personal

experience(s), define friendship in your own words and how the meaning changes depending on

who you are talking about. Include at least 2 different kinds of friendships you have. You will

have 15 minutes until class ends to complete this writing (I would say how many minutes if I

knew how long the class was). Please write a minimum of 500 words (approximately 2 pages). If

writing on a piece of paper, be sure to write clearly and with a pencil. This paper is a first draft

and will not be graded. See the rubric for details on final paper expectations. I have examples of

previous student writing if you’d like to see them.

4. Take-home exam item for a community college U.S. history course: Choose one: (a) Using a

contemporary federal political issues, discuss aspects of the separation of powers doctrine that

should be changed; (b) Explore how the American Republic evolved from 1782 to 1789.

This prompt is slightly better written than some of the previous prompts, but still has

many issues. The context while better directed is still too vague to fully understand what exactly

the students are expected to write. What are examples of “contemporary federal political issues”

and what are the aspects about the American Republic that the teacher is wanting to know the

evolution of? When looking at rhetorical features, we once again do not know how long of an

essay this is expected to be nor in which genre each prompt is asking the student to write. Lastly,

there is no evaluation criteria provided to inform the students of the expectations of the paper and

what they will be graded on.

Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

5. Essay assignment for a freshman composition course: U.s. consumer food companies have

aggressively marketed products containing dangerous quantities of fat, sugar, and salt to

children and adolescents. Should corporations be allowed to target young people who may lack

the judgement needed to avoid adopting unhealthful dietary habits?

This prompt is the first that provides a decent amount of context in order to have a more

complete picture of what is expected of the student’s approach to this paper; However, if this

topic was not discussed in class or if the students are expected to research this topic more, it is

not indicated and may lead to the turned in paper not meeting the teacher’s expectations. A

specific issue that ESL learners may have with this prompt is that they lack a sufficient cultural

context for this prompt and may cause them to really struggle with writing an effective paper.

While having a discussion about this in class would help them make those connections, the

prompt could ask them to explain why they take that stand allowing them to pull from

knowledge they have about their own countries. Once again, no rhetorical information or

evaluation criteria is given to the students.

6. Bibliographic assignment for an undergraduate history of science course: Write a five-six

page biographical report on a 20th century chemist, physicist, or astronomer who has strongly

influenced an applied science such as genetics, bioengineering, climatology, or computer

science. Your paper must cite at least three separate sources and be well-written.

This prompt provides enough context to allow the writers to know what they are

supposed to do. This is also the only prompt to explicitly state how long of a paper is expected of

them and which genre they are to write. In addition it even states that there must be at least 3

citations. This gives this prompt stronger contextual and rhetorical features. There are still some
Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

features missing from the rhetorical side. It could more explicitly explain what kind of citation

format they should use as well as spacing, font, and size expectations. Just like the other

prompts, there is no indication as to what it means for a paper to be “well-written.”

REVISION: Write a biographical report on a 20th century chemist, physicist, or astronomer who

has strongly influenced an applied science such as genetics, bioengineering, climatology, or

computer science. It must be five-six pages, double-spaced, size 12 font, and in times new

roman. Please include a page (insert a page break and it is not included in your page count) for

three citations using the MLA style. Please remember to be careful not to plagiarize. See the

links below if you have questions about our university’s plagiarism rules and for more

information about how to avoid plagiarism. (would have links here) Please see the attached

rubric for details about how you will be graded. If you have any questions, please feel free to

email me at ​yourprofession@uni.edu​ or schedule a time to meet during my office hours.

7. Writing a personal essay focused on rhetorical moves (see Appendix A for the complete

writing prompt).

The last prompt I will analyze is the prompt I used to write part of my assignment in

module 5. Compared to the other prompts, this one was strong in all areas. It provided locations

where they could find more information about rhetoric and even included a guide on how to

write a personal essay. Each product is clearly defined and explained so as not to confuse the

students. A rubric is provided to inform students of the criteria that will be graded. The biggest

issue I found with this prompt is that there would definitely have to be definitions and concepts

discussed in class to clarify them such as what a “rhetorician” is and how to discuss how rhetoric

works in different genres by providing examples. There was also no example given for the final
Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

assignment products which some students may have found to be a helpful starting point to better

understand the assignment.

Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

References

Ferris, D., & Hedgcock, J. (2014). ​Teaching L2 composition: Purpose, process, and practice.

(3rd ed.). New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.

Reid, J., & Kroll, B. (1995). Designing and assessing effective classroom writing assignments

for NES and ESL students. ​Journal of Second Language Writing,​ 4(1), 17-41.

doi:10.1016/1060-3743(95)90021-7
Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

Appendix

Appendix A

Personal Experience Assignment

(Inquiry 1)
Instructor: XXXXXX
ENG109 (upper-intermediate); Spring 2014
XXXXX University

About the Assignment

This first Inquiry invites you to think about yourself as a rhetorician in a variety of
contexts. The assignment is a startup project that asks you to write about your rhetorical
experiences; you might use narrative, memoir, descriptive or deductive writing, and reflection to
establish and explore your composing practices, experiences, and existing knowledge of how
rhetoric works in your life. You can read examples of this kind of narrative reflection posted
under the Resources section in Blackboard. The examples illustrate how you might write about
yourself as a critical user of rhetoric.

​Purpose

For this assignment, you will write a paper reflecting on your own personal experience
with rhetoric. In other words, you will describe a situation in which you persuaded a person or
group that disagreed with you into taking your side on a particular issue. Like all projects, this
one begins with your inquiry—a question for which you want to find an answer. You will not
have to do any research for this project; just think carefully and a little critically about why you
initially disagreed with your audience, the strategies you chose to convince them and why you
chose them, the final outcome of the situation, and other strategies that you might have used that
would not have succeeded with this audience.
If you have not convinced anyone, but you have been persuaded to change your mind on
something, you can also use that too! Remember, this inquiry serves as an exploratory task in
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Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

which you are going to analyze and reflect on how you have used rhetoric or how rhetoric has
been used on you.

Products
Ultimately, you will submit ​two​​ items in this project: 1) a 500-800 word paper; and 2) a
learning log explaining the process you went through to complete this assignment. You should
put both items in the same document. Make sure to ​insert a page break​​ between them (I’ll
explain this in class).
The ​reflection​​ should meet the following format criteria:
• Double-space the paragraphs in your paper. Use Times New Roman 12 font.
• Indent the first line of any paragraph.
• Come up with an original and interesting title. Center your title.

The ​learning log​​ should be in paragraph format, have specific insights, and contain the
following information:
• How would you ​define​ rhetoric to a high school student who is going to take this class next
semester?
• How did you go about writing your reflection? (you can talk about it in steps, phases, parts,
etc.)
• What do you like about your reflection? Why is this a strong reflection?
• What do you dislike about your reflection that you wish you could do differently if you had
more time?
• If you had to write another reflection, what strategies would you use again? What would
you do differently?

​Evaluation

Your reflection will be evaluated based on the rubric attached. This grade is worth 10/100 points
(10%) of your grade.

Questions?
Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

Contact me at professor@university.edu with your questions regarding this assignment.

How to produce a reflection

1. Think about a rhetorical situation, topic, purpose, and audience
2. Explore ideas brainstorming, freewriting/looping, clustering, etc.
3. Plan your paper based on the rhetorical situation.
4. Make sure you have a working thesis.
5. Gather information to support your thesis
6. Organize ideas and work on a draft.
7. Revise
* Read Rhetorical Situations under red section on textbook, and two genres of your choice under

green section.
Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

Writing Task Construction

Target Group: Adult ESL and NES in introductory composition courses in a university or college

Introduction

Rhetorical Analysis of a Personal Experience

Prompt:

Write a 2-3 page reflection about a time when either you convinced someone to change their

minds about something to match your own point of view or someone convinced you to change

your mind about something. Think about the concepts of logos, ethos, pathos, kairos that we

have discussed to help focus on how you approached the conversation and the rhetorical moves

you made (see the link below for an article to remind you of the meaning of each one). You do

not have to do any research but think critically about the moves you used to convince them and

what moves you didn’t make and why. If there is room, discuss moves you could have made that

would not have been successful with this individual(s) and why. For tips on how to write a

personal essay, see the list at the end of the assignment sheet.

https://louisville.edu/writingcenter/for-students-1/handouts-and-resources/handouts-1/logos-etho

s-pathos-kairos

Products:

This assignment will be completed in two parts:

● 2-3 page personal reflection

● Peer feedback form

Format Specifications:

● Double-space all paragraphs and use 12 font in Times New Roman

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ESL 6063
Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

● Include a title that is to be centered at the top of your paper

● Indent the first line of every paragraph

● If you do use a source, be sure to cite your source using the APA standards

You will submit this paper in two places on Blackboard (BB):

● In your assignments tab

● On the discussion board

Peer Feedback:

You will be divided into a group of 3-4 students and will be expected to read their personal

essays before the next class after the paper is due. For each paper, you will be expected to fill out

a peer feedback form, as we have discussed in class. During class you will be given time to

discuss each others papers and are expected to take notes on any suggestions your classmates

have about your essay that you think is important or helpful (we will discuss what this means in

class). These will be important for your next assignment so please take detailed notes.

(find the link to the feedback form on BB)

How to Write a Personal Reflection: ​(borrowed from the assignment sheet as I really liked it)

1) Think about a rhetorical situation, topic, purpose, and audience

2) Explore ideas brainstorming, freewriting/looping, clustering, etc.
3) Plan your paper based on the rhetorical situation.
4) Make sure you have a working thesis.
5) Gather information to support your thesis
6) Organize ideas and work on a draft.
7) Revise
Mariah Jessen
ESL 6063
Module 6 activity 4.5 & 4.6

References

University Writing Center. (n.d). ​Logos, ethos, pathos, kairos.​ University of Louisville.

Retrieved

from:https://louisville.edu/writingcenter/for-students-1/handouts-and-resources/handouts-

1/logos-ethos-pathos-kairos