1. Conventions and expectations
Write a Letter
Conventions and expectations

2. First, write me a letter
Following the format on the handout that was in your folder, write me a reflective letter about your experience in class thus far in the semester:

3. Compare your process paper and cause/effect: what did you do to improve your writing?
Cause or effect: in looking at the comments I made on your essay, where have you improved? In what two areas do you still need to improve in your writing? What will you do to make these improvements?
Comparison & contrast: what changes did you make on your final draft? How did these changes improve your essay?
Your Subtopics Go Here

4. [originator address]
Address line2
Address line 3
Address line 4
[letter date]
*skip line*
[Recipient Address]
[address line 2]
[address line 3]
[address line 4]
Dear Ms. Gottner:
[Subject Line – this is the reason for your letter, the focus of the text to follow]
The Semi-block style is the format you should follow for personal letters. One idea needs to be discussed in each block of text. Two or three sentences should be in each section of text, and you do not indent every time you start a new paragraph.
Each new idea, however, needs its own section of text. So start a new block every time you address each one of the prompts. First restate the prompt in your own language, and then give evidence and explanation.
This is the third paragraph for the content of the letter. A letter should ideally be three or four paragraphs long at the most.
Your final paragraph should thank the addressee for their time and attention to the matter.
Sincerely,
*skip three lines to sign the letter*
[name of writer (printed) – YOU]

5. Put your letter in your folder with the cover page

6. Now you need to turn your attention to separating the main points of a text in order to write an objective summary.
Every piece of writing has a main idea and supporting details: five paragraph essays, newspaper articles and editorials; even restaurant and movie reviews.
Your task will be to isolate those parts of the text which are essential from those that are supportive.

7. After reading the first review, take a moment to reflect.
What do you sense is the overall MOOD and TONE of the reviewer?
Was the review POSITIVE or NEGATIVE? What details from the text show this to be true?
How did the writer show their opinion of the movie Paranormal Activity?

8. Main Idea 1
“Yet before the lights went down there had been a buzzing sense of anticipation in the cinema. This was an audience who really wanted to be frightened and judging from the look of them, they were all members of the YouTube generation with every reason to be excited by the success of one of their own” (Hall 2).

9. Main Idea 2
“For that's the real thrill of hits like this one. They symbolize the revenge of the amateur in the face of Goliaths like Emmerich and Cameron” (Hall 2).

10. Supporting details: Box office figures
Comparisons to other “Blair Witch” offspring
Plot summary
Hype of the marketing surpasses the quality of the film

11. Judgmental Language:
“By then the hype had begun to matter more than the action on the screen, which turns out to be spectacularly banal, dwelling in that dead zone that opens up when a film can't decide what mood it's in. Scary? Satirical? Naturalistic? Absurd? What the hell, let's try for the lot.”
Banal: trite, ordinary, boring, commonplace, clichéd, unoriginal, etc.

12. Thesis
“When the object of the hype turns out to be as lame as this film, the whole exercise becomes just another Hollywood con job” (Hall 2)

13. Summary example:
In Sandra Hall’s review of Paranormal Activity, published in the Sydney Morning Herald on December 7, 2009, Hall delivers a scathing commentary about the overly-marketed and under-budgeted “ugly stepchild” of the Blair Witch Project. Through her satirical plot summary and analysis of box office figures, the reader learns that Hall’s opinion of Paranormal Activity is one disappointment. Hall compares this film to Quarantine, another failure. Through these details Hall reveals her overall negative judgment of the film.

14. Your turn: Turn to the Roger Ebert review Isolate main ideas
Determine what the TONE and LANGUAGE reveal about the writer’s opinion
Paraphrase his overall opinion
Write his opinion and details that support it
Draft a one-paragraph summary
Use OBJECTIVE language