Ramadan Timings

As you know, classes will change timings during Ramadan. I am proposing the following change in schedule:

Section B (Monday class)
Old time: Monday 3-6 pm
Ramadan Time: Monday 10:45 am-12:45 pm

Section A (Friday class)
Old time: Friday 3-6 pm
Ramadan Time: Thursday 10:45 am - 12:45 pm  (it would be highly inconvenient to have class on Friday 1-3 pm during namaz so I am shifting the class a day early)

Please let me know if this suits you by leaving me a comment here. I have to finalize the timings before Ramadan starts on Tuesday, so will announce on the blog when I am sure these will be the new class timings.

Class 2

Today in class we did the following activities:

• Grammar: articles and prepositions
• Discussion of "Urdu My Love Song"
• Lecture on Working on Good Writing
• Listened to the two Poynter Podcasts (available here)
• Active voice/passive voice exercise

Your assignments are to:

• create your blog and write your self-introduction (section B)
• write the first draft of your personal narrative essay ("Answer the question Who Am I  by narrating a scene or anecdote or story from your life that illustrates who you are and how you became to be who you are today"). Essay drafts must be 1000 words long, typed, double-spaced.
• Read "Urdu My Love Song" if you haven't read it already
• Complete the Active Voice/Passive Voice exercise and bring it to the next class.

I was disappointed to see how many students did not read "Urdu My Love Song" in preparation for the class. Preparation is a VITAL part of every class at SZABIST and I expect all students to take full responsibility in being adequately prepared for the class. It makes a huge difference in your class participation which will of course make a huge difference in your grade.

Warning! EWS A

Hardly any of you are properly registered for the EWS Section A class. As of today, these are the only students on my ZABDESK records:

1. Fahad Ali Shah
2. Ahmed Amin Memon
3. Khadija Karim
4. Alina Iftikhar
5. Asad Amin
6. Fatima Zia
7. Muhammad Faizan Sheikh
8. Muhammad Umair Bilal
9. Sarmad Latif Mahar
10. Yousuf Zia Ali
11. Shanza Shahid

So the rest of you have to go to the Department head to make sure that you're registered otherwise I can't let you attend class on Friday.

What is Good Writing?

Good writing expresses a clear point, is tightly structured, grammatically and syntactically correct, substantive, and interesting.

• To express a clear point means to convey the writer's main idea or--in the case of descriptive writing--the significance of the object, place or person described; in other words, an attentive reader should be able to grasp the writer's purpose.
• To be tightly structured, writing should contain logical or associative connections and transitions that clearly express the relationship of the ideas described.
• To be grammatically and syntactically correct, writing should adhere to the rules of Standard American English, including proper punctuation and spelling. If writers choose to use unconventional syntax, they should be able to justify their choices.
• To be substantive, writing should convey the impression that the writer is informed about the subject. The writer need not be an authority on the subject but should demonstrate awareness of its significance and its implications within a specified context. Informed writing might include any or all of the following: citations of authorities, experiential evidence, discussion of debatable issues related to it, and relevant questions it raises.
• To be interesting, writing should engage its readers through original insights and precise, fresh language expressed in a "human" voice. It should demonstrate the writer's awareness of the specific audience for whom she or he is writing (the audience's degree of knowledge of the subject as well as its age, ethnic background, gender, and assumptions).

Makeup Class for BSMS 1-B - IMPORTANT!

The makeup class for Section B will be held on Thusday, 28th August, at 11:30 am in Room 25 at the 90 Clifton campus.

Can you identify all the prepositions in this sentence?  Leave a comment if you can.

Welcome

Welcome to the EWS Blog. I'll post information that you need to know for EWS, recaps of what we do in class, and links to interesting resources for writing. From here I'll check your blogs and make a list of everyone's blogs in class so you can get to your fellow classmates' blogs easily.

In the first class, we went through the following:

• Course outline
• What is good writing? Structure vs. style
• Grammar Assessment test and review
• Your favorite word
• Lecture: What is good writing?

Your assignments were to create your own blog, to write a self-introduction of one paragraph and post it on the blog, and to read "Urdu My Love Song" which is available at the photocopying shop.

I asked you to think about your experiences with writing, your comfort level with writing, and how strong you feel you are in English writing and language skills.

Please feel free to leave me any comments about the class in the comments section below.

See you next week!