Batman & Catwoman,

Here are your lesson notes regarding MLA formatting for your final draft of your personal essay, due in class tomorrow:

personal essay- reviewing MLA formatting   (PDF)

teacher sample- personal essay, final draft   (PDF)

Remember:

- in text citations for sources that have no page numbers (DVD, mp3, web articles, etc) include ONLY the author/composer/director name in brackets (***see the in text citations in my sample final draft for Wertheim, then Demovsky for correctly formatted examples)

Good luck! Looking forward to your essays tomorrow…

Hey Batman & Catwoman,

In writing your personal essay, here is the sample essay I’m working on in class with you to give you a sense of how you can use a specific part of one of the sources you identified in your annotated bibliography to help support your essay’s thesis, and how to use the “recipe” for a body paragraph (claim, reason, evidence, explain/discuss) can be used to create an effective body paragraph for your final essay.

Check it out:

teacher sample- body 1, with remarks   (PDF)

Good luck writing the first paragraph of your essay’s body for class tomorrow!

Hey Batman & Catwoman,

In writing your personal essay, here is the sample essay I’m working on in class with you to give you a sense of how the lessons we’ve had recently (5 strategies for starting an essay, 4 Strategies to Avoid in Starting an Essay) might look in practice, and how to use the “recipe” for an intro (lead, thesis, order) can be used to create an effective beginning for your final essay.

Check it out:

teacher sample- intro, with remarks   (PDF)

Good luck writing your introduction for class tomorrow!

Formatting steps for your annotated bibliography:

1. Separate title page

Title:
Thesis in italics

Name
Date you submit item
Class name/number
Instructor’s name

To create a page break select:
Insert > Break > Page Break

Make sure that your title page is
***Center (left/right) aligned
***middle (top/bottom aligned)
- To do this, select: File > Page Setup > Margins > Layout > Vertical Alignment > Center

2. State your thesis (ex: I believe life should be lived by…)
3. Present your FOUR annotated bibliography entries in proper MLA format (ABC order, running head)

To insert your running head select:

To do this select: View > Header and Footer
-        Right Align your text
-        Last Name, Brief Version of Your Thesis
-        Add page numbers (to do this select: Insert > Page Numbers)
***Make sure you select all text in the header and change the font/size to the same set up you use in the rest of your bibliography

Essential Links:

Annotated Bibliography outline, rubric  (PDF)

Annotated Bibliography, teacher model  (PDF)

Hey Batman & Catwoman,

For your final draft tomorrow, remember that your good copy should include/incorporate the following steps and formatting finishes:

1. File > Page Setup- set your margins to 1 inch or 2.54 centimeters all around the page

2. Edit> Select all- set your font to something standard (Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Calibri) at 10 or 12.

3. Select your title and enlarge the font to 24 pt

4. Select the body of your memoir and justify the text so that the ends of your lines are all even along the right side of your page- it’s a nice, professional finish to a good copy.

5. Insert and text wrap a photo/illustration you take/create that fits with the moment you deal with in your memoir. Save your picture file in a folder. Next, place your cursor where you want the image to appear in your memoir, and then select Insert>Image/Photo>From File from the Word menu. Navigate to the image in the folder you saved it in, select it and insert it.

6. Text wrap your image. Right click on the image, and select “Format Photo”. In the box that pops up, select layout, and text wrap “square” and align it to either the right or left of the page (your choice). Next, select the “size” tab/option and reduce the size of the image if it’s too large on your page. You can do this by typing a measurement OR by giving a percentage of original size.

7. Add a title page. It should include your enlarged title, and then an information block a little further down the page that includes your name, your teacher’s name, your class information and the date you are submitting your work on. This page should be centered from top to bottom AND from right to left.

You can have a look at a final draft example below:

ENG10- Example memoir, final draft (PDF)

Remember:

You need to include a table of contents as outlined on your grading sheet, as well as the items listed there. You all got a copy in class, but if you need another one, find it below:

ENG10, Memoir, final project rubric (PDF)

Thanks all! Good luck- I’m looking forward to reading your memoirs!