09 Apr ENGL101:9:Online English Composition I

ead the feedback from the essay you wrote last week. Make changes to improve your essay and re-submit it. Then fill out this  self-evaluation form .

Revision suggestions:

-Check the organization of your essay. Do you have a clear argument in your introduction? Do you have a clear topic sentence for each body paragraph?

-Check the development of your essay. Do you have support and evidence in each body paragraph? Do you use your own ideas, examples, and opinions (not just research)?

-Check grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure, etc. 

self-evaluation form .

Describe some ways you changed your essay from the first draft to the revised draft. (Give at least three examples)

Your answer

How do you feel about your own writing skills after this essay? What do you think you do well? What improvements would you like to make? 

Your answer

Do you feel like you learned anything about your topic by writing this essay? Explain.

Argument Essay – Reading and Discussion

Read the argument essay below. Then answer the questions in your own words:

1. Look for the counterargument in this essay. According to the essay, what do people who disagree with this author believe?

2. Briefly describe two of the arguments this author makes to support the thesis statement.

3. Do you agree with this author? Why or why not?

Argument Essay:

As online learning becomes more common and more and more resources are converted to digital form, some people have suggested that public libraries should be shut down and, in their place, everyone should be given an iPad with an e-reader subscription.

 Proponents of this idea state that it will save local cities and towns money because libraries are expensive to maintain. They also believe it will encourage more people to read because they won’t have to travel to a library to get a book; they can simply click on what they want to read and read it from wherever they are. They could also access more materials because libraries won’t have to buy physical copies of books; they can simply rent out as many digital copies as they need.

However, it would be a serious mistake to replace libraries with tablets. First, digital books and resources are associated with less learning and more problems than print resources. A study done on tablet vs book reading found that people read 20-30% slower on tablets, retain 20% less information, and understand 10% less of what they read compared to people who read the same information in print. Additionally, staring too long at a screen has been shown to cause numerous health problems, including blurred vision, dizziness, dry eyes, headaches, and eye strain, at much higher instances than reading print does. People who use tablets and mobile devices excessively also have a higher incidence of more serious health issues such as fibromyalgia, shoulder and back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and muscle strain. I know that whenever I read from my e-reader for too long, my eyes begin to feel tired and my neck hurts. We should not add to these problems by giving people, especially young people, more reasons to look at screens.

Second, it is incredibly narrow-minded to assume that the only service libraries offer is book lending. Libraries have a multitude of benefits, and many are only available if the library has a physical location. Some of these benefits include acting as a quiet study space, giving people a way to converse with their neighbors, holding classes on a variety of topics, providing jobs, answering patron questions, and keeping the community connected. One neighborhood found that, after a local library instituted community events such as play times for toddlers and parents, job fairs for teenagers, and meeting spaces for senior citizens, over a third of residents reported feeling more connected to their community. Similarly, a Pew survey conducted in 2015 found that nearly two-thirds of American adults feel that closing their local library would have a major impact on their community. People see libraries as a way to connect with others and get their questions answered, benefits tablets can’t offer nearly as well or as easily.

While replacing libraries with tablets may seem like a simple solution, it would encourage people to spend even more time looking at digital screens, despite the myriad issues surrounding them. It would also end access to many of the benefits of libraries that people have come to rely on. In many areas, libraries are such an important part of the community network that they could never be replaced by a simple object.