In Span 203, you will be writing two formal compositions in addition to the paragraphs you got accustomed to in 201 and 202. For each composition, you will need to submit a rough draft. Though there will be errors in your borrador, dedicate time and effort to it because it will be graded. The higher the grade on your borrador, the higher your final composition grade will be since both the rough draft grade and that of the final version  will be averaged.

 It is strongly recommend that you see your instructor regarding corrections made on your borrador. It should not take more than 10 - 15 minutes. A one on one exchange can be very effective and productive.

Late compositions will not be accepted.

When working on your borrador - and the final version - please have handy the  "COMPOSITION CHECK-LIST" you were given a while back. If you cannot locate it, you will find a version on the Spanish 203 web page. On the web page you will also find a list of "TRANSITION WORDS" and other helpful hints to improve your writing.

Both your borrador and final version must be typed double-spaced.

You will be furnished with a list of grammar points which you must incorporate in your composition.

You will need to identify the grammar points you have used by underlining them and putting in the left margin the number of that particular grammar point which corresponds to the number in the list given to you by your instructor.

For example, if SE IMPERSONAL is number 3 on the list and you wrote:

        Se sabía que el brujo tenía poderes mágicos.

You would underline and number thus:

GP# 3 Se sabía que el brujo tenía poderes mágicos.

Write in the past tense paying special attention to the use of the PRETERITE and IMPERFECT tenses. The present tense is fine in specific situations but your entire composition should not be in this tense alone.

If you need examples of compositions written by students at this level, please click on this link: "STUDENTS' COMP'S".

The following elements result in severe markdowns. With some diligence, they can be easily avoided. Please spend some time editing your composition. It's a good idea to have a classmate proofread your borrador before submitting it to your instructor. The more eyes, the better.

1. Writing the composition in English first and then trying to translate it. This results in serious sentence construction and meaning. Please do not do this!

2. Spelling errors

3. Accentuation

4. Non-agreement of: 1) Subject/Verb

                                2) Article/Noun

                                3) Adjective/Noun

5. Overuse of short sentences . This results in unnecessary repetition and poor style.

6. Repetition (See above)

7. Incorrect use and placement of object pronouns

8. Overuse of subject pronouns: yo, tú, ella, etc. Not necessary unless you want to emphasize or there is ambiguity.

9. Incorrect use of grammar points studied. (¡¡ ¡Sacrilegio!!!)

10. Lack of transition. Refer to  link to: "TRANSITION WORDS". 

11. Ideas not organized and developed

12. Sentence poorly constructed thus affecting meaning

13. Lack of content

14. Lack of pertinent and sophisticated vocabulary

15. Limited use of grammatical structures studied and required

16. Incorrect use of ¡OJO! words. (By the way, these can come in handy - NOT  the incorrect use but the CORRECT use of ¡OJO! words!!! Try to use as many as you can in your comp.)

17. Not a Caesar sentence in sight!!!!!!

18. Other mechanical errors.

Return to: Writing Assignments

Return to: Español 203 home page

Return to: Ganesh Basdeo's home page

BACK TO TOP

Last updated 10/04/2004