Research Proposal on "Restaurant Downtown on Main Street Called Joe"

Quoted Instructions for "Restaurant Downtown on Main Street Called Joe" Assignment:

Purpose;

Using the following writing process, develop two or three descriptive paragraphs, 250*****“500 words, that vividly describe your favorite room or a particular place where you spend a great deal of time.

Process:

1. Start with the prewriting and rough draft you completed for Self-Checks 10, 11, and 12. (If you don*****t spend much time in the location described for the Self-Checks, pick another place where you do spend a lot of time.) Use the following strategies to guide you as you brainstorm, freewrite, and gather specific details about the place you*****re describing.

â–  Stay in your place for at least 30 minutes each time.

â–  Visit at different times of the day and night and remain for at least 30 minutes each time.

â–  Place yourself at different vantage points, such as the

middle of the room, the window seat, or the chair at the

desk, so you see the room from different perspectives.

â–  Gather concrete details for each sense: sounds, sights, textures,smells, and even flavors, if you often eat or drink there.

â–  Include phrases that reflect how you feel at that time and why.

2. Review your prewriting and choose the time of day in which to set your description. Then decide on one specific mood related to yourplace at that time of day. Finally, choose one spot or vantage point from which you*****ll describe this place. From that vantage point at the chosen time, scan the room from left to right to identify two or three of the primary objects/points of interest you want the reader to see. These are the topics of your two or three paragraphs.

Open a Word document. Under the heading Organization, type

the mood, the vantage point, and your two or three primary

topics. Then write a topic sentence for each idea. Under each topic sentence, organize the elements you*****ll use to describe the physical details of the object or point of interest within your room at the one time of day. Show a deliberate ordering of details for each topic sentence on which you*****ll build your paragraph. Save this

document using your name, student number, and exam number

(Example: ***** Doe, 12345678, 05085704).

3. Review the examples of focusing lines and leads from Chapter 15 in ( Write to Learn Donald M. Murray ISBN: 1413001734) and your topic sentences from number 2. Choose the one you*****ll use in the first paragraph of your description. Begin a new page in your 05085704 Word document and begin a new page labeled ((Openings)).

Type the topic sentence you chose. Under it, number 1*****“5 and write five even more creative versions of that topic sentence, each different from the other. Experiment playfully with Murray*****s suggested ways to spark your readers***** attention.

4. Begin another new page in the 05085704 Word document and type the heading ((First Draft)).Pick the one topic sentence from number 3 that best reflects your choice of mood and vantage point for the room you*****re describing, one that also engages your readers. Draft your 2*****“3 paragraphs of physical description from your point of view, the first-person, using the pronoun I.Remember to word your description so you maintain the same vantage point, time of day, and chosen mood. Include vivid sensory details to make each object or point of interest come alive. Telling about a room or location merely provides readers with facts*****”bits of information.Describing, however, involves strong verbs, concrete modifiers, specific sensory details, and figurative language. Be sure you use at least one simile or metaphor. Your goal is to engage the reader in a fresh, living picture of the place. (Don*****t describe other events or other times of

day, but stay focused on a physical description of your objects in the room at one time.)

Save your work and close your document.

5. Set your work aside for a day or so. Then, reopen your 05085704 document, copy (highlight/copy) your first draft, start a new page labeled ((Revised Draft)),and paste in your first draft. Do all further work on this second draft, not your ((first draft)). Keep the first draft as you first

wrote it (whether too long or too short, full of errors, etc.) When you finish revising your essay, put it away for a day or two and try to forget about it. Don*****t think about it at all. After that time, read it with fresh eyes. Read it aloud for rhythm and word choice. Ask another person to read it. Circle any areas that you or the other reader

stumbled over, that were confusing to the reader, or that don*****t work with the other details to enhance the mood and descriptive focus you want to convey. Does your last paragraph come to a conclusion that reinforces your main descriptive focus? Does it maintain a descriptive approach or does it fall into reporting or stating your final

ideas? Does your introduction work to establish the focus as given in the conclusion? What can you do to make the introduction more attention-grabbing for the reader? Revise your essay again, always remembering that describing is different than telling or reporting on. Your draft must be at least 250 words long. If your description is too short, you may need to return to your location once more to gather more information. Also review your work from the self-checks and from your prewriting for details you may have overlooked.

6. After letting your revised draft sit for a day or so, edit each word of your essay to make sure it*****s concrete and vibrant (conveys a clear, living picture to the reader). For example, instead of sat, try words like plopped, gracefully balanced, or dropped like a spider. Perform the following

steps to test whether you*****ve used effective descriptive language:

â–  With a printed copy of your ((revised draft)),go somewhere other than the place you*****re describing. Close your eyes and picture for several minutes the place you*****ve been

describing. Now read your essay out loud and ask yourself questions like, What*****s my description missing? What do I see in my mind that*****s not represented in my writing? What colors are most memorable or remarkable? What does this place smell like?

â–  Now ask another person to read your description silently and then aloud to you (in a different location from the place you*****ve described, of course). Ask this person to describe what he or she sees and feels. Does the description match your picture? Does your reader picture the chosen physical objects in your room from one vantage point and feel the mood you*****ve chosen? What does this reader want to know more about? What is this reader confused about?

â–  Read through your revised essay backwards, first word by word, then sentence by sentence, and then paragraph by paragraph. Word by word. In this way you can locate spelling errors. Just be alert*****”you may see the word here in your essay, a correctly spelled word. But also check the words on either side. Did you mean here in terms of location or hear in terms of your senses? Sentence by sentence. By looking at each group of words separately from the context, you can more easily locate run-ons or fragments. You also need to compare the length and structure of each sentence for variety. Check the connections between sentences*****”do they provide coherence? Paragraph by paragraph. Locate the controlling idea of each paragraph and check your essay*****s focus. Does the paragraph help to develop that focus in a specific way? Then match controlling ideas of each paragraph to the one before it and the one after it. Do they follow in

logical order?

7. Now look at the descriptive details of which you are most proud. Be honest with yourself*****”have you used too many words, cluttering the description, when one or two more concrete

words would work better? Is that detail really developing the overall mood and focus, or is it merely spectacular writing that pleases you? If it doesn*****t help develop the focus, cut that portion from your essay. Check your use of figurative language (rich sensory details, metaphor, simile, imagery). Have you inflated your description with too much flowery language? Would stating the detail in a simpler, more direct fashion better enhance the overall description?

Apply the evaluation criteria below to revise your work into a final draft of two or three

paragraphs totaling no more than 500 words. For this assignment, you must submit a

Word document containing the following:

â–  Under ((Organization)), the mood and the vantage point; two or three ideas; topic sentence

for each idea; ordered details for the paragraph under the appropriate topic sentence

â–  Under ((Openings)), topic sentence from Organization and five different versions of that sentence

â–  On a new page under ((First Draft)), the very first draft you wrote with no revisions

â–  On a new page under ((Revised Draft)), your final draft of the description.

Evaluation Criteria:

Your instructor will use the following criteria to evaluate your description:

Prewriting and first draft (20 points)

You identify the mood, the vantage point, and the two or three main objects followed by each idea written as a topic sentence; appropriate details are organized under each topic sentence.You list five different versions of the topic sentence you chose for the opening paragraph.

You also provide your first draft.

Opening paragraph (15 points)

The opening line of your final draft captures your readers***** attention in a unique way. The

paragraph effectively begins to develop the mood and reflect the vantage point from which

you describe your chosen place.

Use of descriptive mode (35 points)

You use effective descriptive methods to create a vivid word picture of a location in which you

spend a large amount of time. These methods include at least one simile or one metaphor and

varied concrete sensory details. Your two or three paragraphs are unified, cohesive, and coherent,

using appropriate connective words to guide the reader and to maintain logical flow.

Grammar and mechanics (20 points)

You correctly use different sentence types (compound and complex, short and long). The essay contains no run-on sentences, no comma splices, and no fragments. Your essay is free of errors in grammar and usage, spelling, and punctuation.

Length and format (10 points)

Your typed essay uses Times New Roman font, size 12, and is double-spaced using left justification with the first line of each paragraph indented by one tab. You have two or three paragraphs and a total word count between 250 and 500 words. Required header information is given as detailed in the instructions for submitting your work.