In Week 9, we return to our usual schedule: Day 1 being full-class meetings, and Day 2 being small-group meetings. However, we’re going to start with a “fun” exercise to keep things light, since students are usually so tired after the Midterm Exam period.
On Day 1, we’re going to analyze a longer piece of writing: a Cover Letter for a job application. We’re going to look at how to turn it into a template for a longer form—the cover letter—as well as considering how template sentence extraction and template form extraction are different.
On Day 2, we’ll talk about the exam and how it went.
For your Paragraph Blog you’ll post a cover letter for an imaginary character applying for a mundane job. See below.
Day 1 Materials
For Week 9, Day 1, we will analyze one of the sample cover letters from the Indeed Cover letter guide (linked below). We’ll choose the letter in class together. We will look at formatting, structure, and template sentences, and discuss the function or purpose of each paragraph in the letter.
After analyzing one letter as a class, you will split into smaller groups and analyze a second cover letter of your choice, examining it in the same way.
By the end of Day 1, you should have a clear understanding of the overall structure of a Cover Letter, and should also have a collection of Template Sentences you can use to write a new cover letter.
• LINK: Indeed Cover Letter Guide (website)
Day 2 Materials
For Day 2, we’ll meet and discuss your Midterm Exams. Please print your exam and my comments, and I’ll answer any questions you have.
Week 9 Supplementary Materials
There are no Supplementary Materials for Week 9. I’m going easy on you since, you know, you had exams last week.
Paragraph Blog Prompt
For this week’s Paragraph Blog, here’s what you need to write about:
Choose a character that fascinates you from a film or TV series. Here are some examples of possible choices:
- John Wick (from the John Wick film series)
- Hermione Granger (from the Harry Potter film series)
- Totoro (from My Neighbour Totoro)
- Spider-Gwen (from Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse)
- Bilbo Baggins (from The Lord of the Rings)
The film doesn’t need to be in English, just make sure the film isn’t in your native language. Also, you don’t have to choose main characters, either. (For example, you could choose Samwise Gamgee, “Sam” from the Lord of the Rings film series, or Dr. Watson from the Sherlock Holmes films and books.) However, it is helpful if you choose a character that most people will know about. Don’t choose a very obscure character!
Finally, remember that you don’t have to choose from the list above. Those are just examples. You can choose any character you like.
Watch one film or TV episode featuring this character, and take notes about the character’s skills, ability, personality, strengths, and knowledge.
After you finish, imagine the character is applying for one of the following jobs:
- Night security guard at shopping center (a shopping mall).
- Elementary School Teacher (kindergarten).
- Clerk at a grocery store.
- Janitor for a large business building.
- Host of a new late-night TV talkshow.
… or some other mundane, real world job. (The character should not apply for a job similar to the one they have in the film or TV show.)
Use the material we generated on Day 1 of Week 9 (when we analyzed several example Cover Letters in class) to build an appropriate Cover Letter for the character who is applying for the job.
When you finish writing the cover letter, post it to the paragraph blog as your post for this week.