Assignment #1: Manners in America

Hello everyone!

THIS WEEK'S ASSIGNMENT:

This week we will look at a web page where international students of English have written a little about traditional manners. Manners are the way a person acts to show respect to others. If someone is rude or impolite, we say they have bad manners. On the web page, the students wrote about manners in their home countries.

Click here to read "Traditional Manners and Changing Manners".

Read the web page. Then return to the Lehmann 356 page. In the "Comments", write a paragraph (at least 6 sentences) that answers these questions:

1. Which manners that the students wrote about are different from manners in the United States?

2. Do you wish some of the manners in the US would change?


Before you begin writing, read the assignment again. Are you sure you understand the topic? Do you know what you are supposed to write? Make sure you have a clear understanding of the assignment before you begin. Think about what you will write. Make notes of your ideas on some paper so you don't forget them later.

WRITING FOCUS:

When you are writing in English, it is important to use good writing mechanics. "Mechanics" means using correct spacing, capital letters, and punctuation. If your writing has good mechanics, it will look nice on the page. If it has poor mechanics, your writing will look sloppy. Here are some points to remember when you are writing this week:

1) Always use a capital letter for a proper noun. A proper noun is a word that is a name for a specific person, place, or thing. For example, Ethiopia and China are names of countries, so they need a capital letter.

2) Always type one space after each word, and two spaces at the end of each sentence.

3) Use a period ( . ), a question mark ( ? ), or a exclamation point ( ! ) at the end of every sentence.