A few comments before Golden Week

Greetings everyone! Next week is Golden Week, so you have an extra week to edit your first essay, My Special Thing. Following are some points I'd like you to remember as you edit your essay.

1. Please begin using Google Docs. Even if you wrote your first draft on Word or some other program, you can copy and paste it into a blank Google Docs document and begin editing. Using Google Docs will ensure that you always have the latest version of your document available, no matter where you are. Don't wait! Use Google Docs now!
2. Your essay needs a title. A typical title for this essay would be something like My Special Thing - My Family. The title will go at the top of the essay. It can be aligned left or centered. Please capitalize the title.
3. Your essay should be in paragraph form. Kevin will explain more about paragraphs in class. You may use indent style or block style, as you like. (See below for more information about these two paragraph styles.) If you indent, use the Tab key on your keyboard.
4. A good font and font size (on Google Docs) is Arial 12 or Times New Roman 14.
5. Your paragraphs should be aligned left or justified. They should not be centered! The title only may be centered.
6. Use the line spacing function in Google Docs to double space. Kevin needs room to write corrections on your paper. If you single space, there is no room for corrections.
7. Remember, there is always one space after a period! Not 0, not 2; one!
8. You may print your Google Doc document and hand it in to Kevin or you may send it to Kevin before the due date using your Gmail account. Either way is fine.

More about paragraph styles:

Indent Style
This is the most common paragraph style in books and magazines. You will notice that the first line of the paragraph is indented about 4 letter spaces. In Japanese magazines, it's OK to indent just one character space, but in English writing, this doesn't look like an indent. Four letter spaces looks great for English essays!
You'll also notice that there is no space between paragraphs. When you want to begin a new paragraph, you hit Enter on your keyboard, and you'll go to the next line. If you use Tab for your indents, the word processor will indent for you automatically. You can also adjust the indent size if you like.
When we write paragraphs, there is sometimes some space after the last word of the paragraph. This is not a problem.


Block Style

Block style paragraphs are most commonly used in business letters, but in Essay Writing Class, you may use block style if you like. With block style, you'll notice that you don't indent the first line of the paragraph; you just begin typing.

But if you don't indent, how will you know when a new paragraph begins? The space between paragraphs tells you! Notice that in the Indent Style paragraphs above, there are no spaces between paragraphs.

Please remember that I'd like you to choose one format or the other. Please don't combine them! That means, if you indent, please don't make a space between paragraphs. If you use block style, then please don't indent (not even one space!)


Next, it's blog comment time ...

Let's try a simple blog comment in the comment box below. How will you spend Golden Week? If you have no plans and no ideas, you can write about something else. For example, tell me what you do to study English in your daily life (besides school homework). If you never study English, then just tell me what you usually do in your free time. Try to tell me a few things. Please write your name at the end of the comment and use the Anonymous blogger tag.