Directions for Draft Turn In

I'm very much looking forward to rough drafts this weekend!  Please keep the following in mind as you prepare to turn in your draft:

1.  Drafts are due by regular class time (that is 8 am for the early class and 9:15 for the later one) on Thursday morning.

2.  I will acknowledge successful receipt of your drafts, but please give me until late Thursday afternoon to do so. 

3.  In the body of your email, please answer the following questions:  1)  Is this draft complete?  If it is not, what is it missing?  2)  What problems, difficulties or questions do you have at this point?  3)  Are you missing any research?  If so, what do you think you are missing?  Please be as specific as you possibly can be. 

4.  Do not submit a draft that does not have a completed works cited attached to it.  Please also do not send me a draft without page numbers--this makes my commenting much more difficult.  I may choose to send your paper BACK to you if it comes without page numbers.

5.  In an attempt to be fair, I won't send comments out to anyone over email.  Everyone will receive comments back at the same time, during class, on Monday, March 4th.

6.  If you are done or mostly done with your draft, take the weekend off.  I will probably be back in the office on Friday, but I'm going to request the weekend off from meeting with any of you so that I can concentrate on commenting on drafts. 

7.  I recognize that our current schedule runs out on Thursday--I'll be providing you with a schedule for the last two weeks of class on Monday.

Be nice on Monday--it is going to be a little bit of a rough weekend! 

Apologies to 8 AM Class

I hit a bad accident coming in on 205 this morning, which added about 30 minutes to my commute.  I didn't want you to wait, because I didn't know how long it was going to take to get up here.

Go ahead and complete the "three introductions" assignment for tomorrow.  If you have a conclusion written for the paper, bring that as well.  (I know that many of you won't--but if you do, it is helpful.)

We will get in as much tomorrow--including some discussion of "half drafts" tomorrow in class. 

Thank you.

Weekend Notes

1.  To get ready for Monday's class, please have a look at this.  Read through the whole thing and then take a look at the link under:  "Can I get some practice with this?"  We will also be doing an activity in class on Monday related to fallacies.  Be prepared!

2.  My availability over the weekend will be very limited.  I'll be in the office on Friday from 10-noon.   If you need an appointment with me, make it ASAP because I'm not going to be in for more than 2 hours.  I WILL NOT be answering email this weekend from 5pm Friday until Sunday at about noon.  I also will not be available Sunday night.  Plan accordingly.

3.  I will be reading over draft pages and your peer review comments this weekend.  I'm not sure on a timeline for this.  If I can complete all comments, I'll have them to you by Friday evening.  If not, Monday morning.  I'm not sure how long they will take.

4.  One last thing--we will be doing an introduction workshop on Tuesday.  I will be asking each of you to bring THREE DIFFERENT (yes, that's right, 3 different!) introductions for your paper with you to class on Tuesday.  You can approach this in a variety of ways.  You may decide to write three different hooks with all the same thesis statement.  You may have all the same hook with different versions of your thesis statement.  You may have a one-paragraph intro and two two-paragraph intros.  How you make them different is up to you.  Do not spend hours on this assignment.  Part of the point here is to draft quickly.  You all each have one version now, draft two more in minimal time.  You'll see why on Tuesday.  Don't question the methods yet! 

Other than all that, draft, draft, draft your little hearts out.  Remember that all rough drafts are due by classtime on Thursday via email.  We won't have class on Wednesday (you will all need it either for sleep or for writing) and we won't have class on Thursday because I will be starting to read and give feedback for drafts.  The goal is to have them back to you on March 3 (Monday).  We'll see how that works out! 

Papers for Grade Norming

I am getting these to you a little later than planned, although that is probably fine.  My guess is that we won't get to them until Tuesday, which means that we are unlikely to get to half drafts until Wednesday.  (This is ok, since a few of you could use an extra day.)

As I mentioned before, the idea with these drafts for norming is that you read each carefully and make some notes.  Don't fill out the rubric yet, but you can consult it if you would like to.  We'll work on the grade norming together. 

In addition, be sure that you are finding time to draft. 

Rubric

Essay One--Atomic Powers

Essay Two--School Massacres 

**Note, I did not write either of these papers--they are from students from several years ago from a different institution.  Their names have been removed.

Homework for Wednesday's Class:Early Drafting Questions

Please handwrite or print the answers to the following questions.  Please remember that this counts as an informal assignment.:

1.  Where are you in the drafting process at this time?  (How much have you drafted?  Are you still working on revising your outline?  Are you doing additional research?)

2.  If you have not been cleared to draft, when do you plan or when have you scheduled to meet with me?  (If you have NOT scheduled this, and I am requiring it, tell me when you would like to schedule a meeting.)

3.  At this point, do you have any questions or problems with drafting?  Please explain what those are.  (If there are repeated questions, I will discuss in class.  If there are questions specific to you, I will track you down to answer them!)

4.  At this point, are you still feeling like you are missing research?  If so, what do you still need?  And is ther anything that I can do to help with that?  (Be specific!)

5.  Do you have any other concerns about the project? 

Thank you, I look forward to reading your answers! 

Announcements and Reminders

**Remember that you are responsible for having read pages 448-456 and 464-479 in RFW for this week.

**If you have been cleared to begin writing, you are now on your own schedule.  You should write as you have time.  It is smart, at this point, to be writing a couple of pages every couple of days.  As we have discussed in class, if you get stuck for any reason for more than 24 hours, get ahold of me--we'll find a way to help you get you unstuck.

**If you got a grade lower than a B- on your paper proposal, you can (and should) rework your proposal and resubmit it for regrading.  I would like them by the end of the week at the latest.  This goes for proposals that I asked to be rewritten as well.

**8 am class--PLEASE bring your proposals to class on Monday so that I can record grades.

**I will be in the office this week on Tuesday and Thursday from 10:30 to 12:30.  I will also be in the office on Saturday (that is the 16th) from 9-1.  If you need to see me, please make an appointment so that I can hold a time for you.

**I will be giving you a schedule for the next few weeks on Monday.  In the meantime, please keep these significant due dates in mind.  I will be collecting a "half draft" (that is, 5-6 pages of draft WITH works cited) on Tuesday, February 19.  Your rough drafts are due on Thursday, February 28.  (This is a few days later than what is on your syllabus.)

I am Missing

several proposals.  What is more alarming is that I have not heard from anyone who has not yet turned in a proposal.  This is a vital and REQUIRED part of the paper writing process.  All proposals must be submitted and signed off on before you can begin to draft your final paper.

If you have not yet submitted a proposal, I expect to hear from you in the next day with an ETA for the submission of your proposal.  If I do not hear from you before Wednesday, I will be suggesting that you drop the course immediately.

Check Your Email

I will see you all in class in just a bit, but I have sent all of you an email that has some information and a reading attached.  PLEASE let me know if you didn't get it, and I will resend it to you.  See you soon--I'm looking forward to seeing your proposals.

Last Change Conference Options

If anyone is DYING for a conference about proposals and outlines, I do have time tomorrow open between noon and three.  I also could do facebook or skype sessions on Sunday--just not during the Super Bowl!  Please email me to set up one of these options.  So far the conferences I've had with you guys have been SUPER SUPER FANTASTIC!  I'm starting to get really excited about some of these topics. 

On my way to PSU now.  See some of you there!