Prepare for your next writing assignment and be sure to hand in HARD COPIES of your music review by next class, properly typed, of course

Students,
For your next assignment you will write a restaurant review. Usually we "brain storm" in class the first thing. But this time we didn't have the time. So you have to brain storm yourselves. By next class certainly you should have a restaurant picked out and have already thought of what to include in a restaurant review. To do this of course you must download restaurant reviews and analyze them. That will be part of your assignment due next class session, the Thursday after next. Remember the 5 W's and H. Remember the "Topics" or "Commonplaces" (Definition, etc.). Remember the W/R dialogue (what do you as an average reader want to know or feel is lacking in draft version of your review?). Remember the P/S (problem/solution) Q/A (question/answer) models, though in this case I think the latter two will not help much.
    Then don't forget, too, the COMMUNICATION TRIANGLE. Never forget this except at your peril. If you treat it gingerly, as a mere homework assignment, it's useless; but if you take it seriously it's very productive. What do you want to communicate to the reader of your restaurant review. (Don't just do it as a homework assignment to show the teacher that you followed instructions in handing it in on time, etc. You've got to have excitement, like there's something you wish to communicate: hate the food, love the surroundings, etc.)
    Who is your READER? (The average consumer, of course, whom you have to convince to go or not to go eat there.)
    What is your PURPOSE in writing this review? (Excitement again; in both senses of that word: you're excited and you wish to excite someone about SOMETHING. That's your purpose.)
    TEXT? This involves several issues. Style, for one. To convince, you have to do so with style, the medium of your ideas. Simple words. Sophisticated words. Fancy words. Clever words. Balanced sentences: "Go there for a fine evening out. Go there, though the prices are steep." Alternation of long and shot sentences. Some technical jargon, of course. Menu. Soup du jour. Apertif. Seating. A la carte. Wine list. Imported wines.
    Like a painting, every writing assignment is unique. Therefore the painter collects different brushes for an outdoor scene in bright colors than for an indoor scene in gray shades. Therefore the writer collects special words for each assignment. ESL students have to search for a vocabulary. But be sure you use the words correctly. Don't just take words without knowing their proper use. Then they belong to you.
    Begin with this paradigm question, related to models already discussed in class (H's, etc.). What is it the average reader who wants to dine out wishes to know about a restaurant in your review. When you answer all those questions, you're halfway home.
    Don't forget, too, advice I gave about speaking at least some parts of your review into a recorder. Somehow ESL students speak better (more coherently) than they write. Like sane people who go wild behind the wheel of a car ("road hogs"), some ESL students change when they write.
    Remember too, I don't want length. Length is important for A FIRST DRAFT, but not for the draft you hand in, even though that's the first draft to your teacher. I want to see some better student editing before I get the review for the first time.
    Without exception all of your so-called four and five paragraph CD reviews could have been better written, edited, revised as 2-3 paragraphs.
    Good luck.
    By next class you should come prepared to discuss at least one (perhaps two) restaurant reviews, printed up. (DO NOT RISK PUTTING IT ON DISK UNLESS YOU'RE 100% CERTAIN YOU CAN PLAY THE DISK. NO EXCUSES. OTHERWISE USE MORE CERTAIN METHODS, SUCH AS PUTTING IT ON A WEB SITE YOU CAN ACCESS.)
    The class should also be percolating with ideas for what to put in a restaurant review, since you've had 2 weeks to think about it.
    Finally, you should certainly have at least chosen a restaurant and discussed with the owner or cook that you need to review it. However, since this is NOT A PROFILE, you need not speak to the restaurant owner or cook except, if you choose, to get some technical information, like how a dish is prepared, etc.
    At the same time, remember FOCUS. You've got to include all this information coherently, without losing focus, which often means selectively, both in terms of content and style (a lot can be said in even a short parenthesis if the writer is skilled enough).