I have just submitted grades for both classes. You'll be able to see them on Wednesday. I'm still finishing comments on papers and pulling together the packets to send back to you. I'm going to finish those slowly over break, as I am also working on course materials for next term.
I would appreciate it is you would do the following:
1. Have some patience with the packets. I'll email you personally once your packet is in the mail. Some of them may not get out until toward the end of break--again, I appreciate your patience.
2. If you have questions or concerns about your grades, I'd ask that you wait until you receive your packet, you read over the contents carefully, and then that you make an appointment to see me after spring classes begin. I'm very happy to debrief with any of you who would like to do so, but I would just ask that we wait to do it until after break.
Thank you all again for a great term. Have a great spring break!
Monday, March 25, 2013
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Last Minute Advice--Conclusions
Sorry that this is getting to you so late. I had a hard time locating the notes I like to give 102 students for writing conclusions. I hope this will get to a few of you and will help.
First of all, a conclusion has specific purposes and goals:
*Answers the "so what"? question. In other words, it helps to solidify the significance of the topic and the reason that the reader should care about it.
*Satisfies the reader. Makes the reader feel as if he/she had a complete experience.
*Bridges the reader back to his or her daily life. Give reasons about why your information and analysis can follow the reader back into daily life.
*Provides a last chance to make an impression on the reader, have a final say on an issue, summarize thoughts.
*Gives and opportunity to go beyond the confines of the assignment, talk about broader issues, make new connections, or ask questions.
There are certain things that you WANT TO DO in a conclusion:
*Return to themes in the introduction. Ensure that there is unity between the ideas and perspective in the introduction and conclusion.
*Synthesize rather than summarize. Really piece together the argument for your reader. Show the reader how the different parts of your essay work together.
*Propose a course of action, solutions, questions.
*Point to broader implications. Give rationale for the project. Why is this an important thing to study or discuss?
*End with a warning/discussion of consequences. OR suggest possible consequences or results. Look to the future.
*Call the reader to action. Call for further discussion or research. Rehearse unanswered questions.
*Reinforce your credibility.
*Remember that it is ok to end with complexity or unanswered questions. Life is messy sometimes!
There are certain things that you DON'T WANT TO DO in a conclusion:
*Don't use the phrases "in conclusion," "in summary," "therefore," or "thus." Your reader should be able to tell from your discussion that you are getting ready to conclude--even without one of these terms.
*State your thesis for the first time.
*Introduce a completely new subtopic or idea.
*End with a restated or rephrased thesis from the introduction.
*Use sentimental or emotional appeals.
* Include evidence that belongs in the body of the paper.
*Apologize for your views. (Don't say anything like, "I'm not sure but" or "At least this is my opinion" or "People need to decide for themselves")
*DON'T JUST TRAIL OFF! You do need to give your reader some sense of an ending.
First of all, a conclusion has specific purposes and goals:
*Answers the "so what"? question. In other words, it helps to solidify the significance of the topic and the reason that the reader should care about it.
*Satisfies the reader. Makes the reader feel as if he/she had a complete experience.
*Bridges the reader back to his or her daily life. Give reasons about why your information and analysis can follow the reader back into daily life.
*Provides a last chance to make an impression on the reader, have a final say on an issue, summarize thoughts.
*Gives and opportunity to go beyond the confines of the assignment, talk about broader issues, make new connections, or ask questions.
There are certain things that you WANT TO DO in a conclusion:
*Return to themes in the introduction. Ensure that there is unity between the ideas and perspective in the introduction and conclusion.
*Synthesize rather than summarize. Really piece together the argument for your reader. Show the reader how the different parts of your essay work together.
*Propose a course of action, solutions, questions.
*Point to broader implications. Give rationale for the project. Why is this an important thing to study or discuss?
*End with a warning/discussion of consequences. OR suggest possible consequences or results. Look to the future.
*Call the reader to action. Call for further discussion or research. Rehearse unanswered questions.
*Reinforce your credibility.
*Remember that it is ok to end with complexity or unanswered questions. Life is messy sometimes!
There are certain things that you DON'T WANT TO DO in a conclusion:
*Don't use the phrases "in conclusion," "in summary," "therefore," or "thus." Your reader should be able to tell from your discussion that you are getting ready to conclude--even without one of these terms.
*State your thesis for the first time.
*Introduce a completely new subtopic or idea.
*End with a restated or rephrased thesis from the introduction.
*Use sentimental or emotional appeals.
* Include evidence that belongs in the body of the paper.
*Apologize for your views. (Don't say anything like, "I'm not sure but" or "At least this is my opinion" or "People need to decide for themselves")
*DON'T JUST TRAIL OFF! You do need to give your reader some sense of an ending.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Office Hours this Week
Tuesday--CTC office from 10:30 to 12:30 (possibly later?)
Thursday--CTC office from 10:30-12:15 (definitely NOT later)
Friday--CTC office from noon-4:45
Saturday--CTC office from 10-4:45
Finished drafts, in paper form, are due on Monday, March 18 at 5pm. I will be in the office from after the 9:15 class (that is from 10:30) to 5pm.
Please also bring a self-addressed stamped envelope with you. I will finish grades and mail your final draft with grade back to you.
Thursday--CTC office from 10:30-12:15 (definitely NOT later)
Friday--CTC office from noon-4:45
Saturday--CTC office from 10-4:45
Finished drafts, in paper form, are due on Monday, March 18 at 5pm. I will be in the office from after the 9:15 class (that is from 10:30) to 5pm.
Please also bring a self-addressed stamped envelope with you. I will finish grades and mail your final draft with grade back to you.
Saturday, March 9, 2013
I am Still Working
For those of you in the 9:15 class, I have not forgotten about you. I'm still working on cover forms and scanning essays. I have a stack ready to send out now, and there will be more tonight and probably some tomorrow early.
I really hope that, after you see the amount of commenting, you will understand why this is such a time consuming process. I also want to assure you that all of my time (after work commitments) over the past week has been devoted to working on this.
In the meantime, you should NOT be waiting for comments. You can be working on revision plans. In terms of revision, I would suggest working in the following areas:
1. Documentation: Many of you have problems in your works cited. Many more of you have in text citations that are not corresponding with your works cited.
2. Completion: If you gave me a draft that is unfinished, for heaven's sake, FINISH IT.
3. Research: If you have paragraphs that are missing information or research, work on finding what you need to complete and fully develop those paragraphs.
4. Making corrections based on the comments you were given on half drafts--most of you had NOT made those corrections by the time you turned in rough drafts. There are things in those comments that you can use to begin revision on the fully finished draft.
5. Proofreading: Many of you could REALLY benefit from reading your draft aloud, or having someone else read it to you. Almost all of you have severe comma use issues. If this is the case for you, please be advised that I don't correct them all in your draft. You need to review comma use rules (use Rules for Writers) and find the errors in your own work.
If you have specific questions, it would be smart to begin a list to ask me about. You can, and should, be doing this as you revise.
Please do not make the mistake of thinking that I am going to be "fixing" your drafts for you. You are going to get a ton of feedback from me, but a lot of that feedback will be reminding you about what it is that you need to do on your own.
The point is, there is a lot that you can take responsibility for. Please do that. Don't sit on your hands and wait.
I really hope that, after you see the amount of commenting, you will understand why this is such a time consuming process. I also want to assure you that all of my time (after work commitments) over the past week has been devoted to working on this.
In the meantime, you should NOT be waiting for comments. You can be working on revision plans. In terms of revision, I would suggest working in the following areas:
1. Documentation: Many of you have problems in your works cited. Many more of you have in text citations that are not corresponding with your works cited.
2. Completion: If you gave me a draft that is unfinished, for heaven's sake, FINISH IT.
3. Research: If you have paragraphs that are missing information or research, work on finding what you need to complete and fully develop those paragraphs.
4. Making corrections based on the comments you were given on half drafts--most of you had NOT made those corrections by the time you turned in rough drafts. There are things in those comments that you can use to begin revision on the fully finished draft.
5. Proofreading: Many of you could REALLY benefit from reading your draft aloud, or having someone else read it to you. Almost all of you have severe comma use issues. If this is the case for you, please be advised that I don't correct them all in your draft. You need to review comma use rules (use Rules for Writers) and find the errors in your own work.
If you have specific questions, it would be smart to begin a list to ask me about. You can, and should, be doing this as you revise.
Please do not make the mistake of thinking that I am going to be "fixing" your drafts for you. You are going to get a ton of feedback from me, but a lot of that feedback will be reminding you about what it is that you need to do on your own.
The point is, there is a lot that you can take responsibility for. Please do that. Don't sit on your hands and wait.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Helpful Info for Revision Plan Assignment
FOR ETUTORING SUBMISSION:
The final paper will be a 10-12 page document that: 1) uses a variety of sources ( between 10-15, including 8 professional and/or academic) to explore a well-defined topic; 2) articulates an informed position on an issue, making a clear and reasonable argument based on your analysis of the research; 3) documents correctly the use of sources; 4) directs diction, voice, tone, evidence, and English language conventions (grammar, spelling, syntax) to a reasonable, interested, diverse, academic audience. The paper’s topic must focus on a particular historical event or moment. The term “historical event” might be understood very broadly here—you may write about anything political, cultural, scientific, natural, or anthropological, sociological, psychological, or economic—as long as your argument is centered on a particular moment or era in time. Remember that history, and specific events in history, can be interpreted in a variety of ways. These interpretations ARE arguments. We will discuss forms that your argument may take over the next several weeks.
This is a significantly revised version of your final research paper. Since the focus of the course is researching, writing and revising this paper, you will be expected to produce a much higher quality of writing than might be expected for research papers in other courses.
Please remember the following:
1. This project should reflect a topic that interests you and that is informed by a variety of sources, including professional and academic treatments of the subject. This is an academic research paper, and so you will need to rely on more than personal experience or knowledge, or on general resources like popular periodicals, encyclopedias or websites. You should use sources from a variety of different publications, organizations and perspectives. Your final works cited should contain between 10 and 15 sources.
2. Articulate an informed position on the issue, and address your argument to a general academic audience. You must make an argument in the paper that reflects the information you have gathered in research, as well as your assessments of the arguments and research presented by others. Keep in mind that you want to discuss viewpoints that may challenge your own; making concessions to good arguments by those with opposing points of view is good for your ethos. Use an academic tone and present reasoning and evidence. You should assume that your audience is general, diverse and educated. You should not assume that your audience is made up of experts on your topic or people who necessarily agree with your position.
3. Structure the paper according to your own reasoning. Use your sources to help you formulate and complement your own ideas, but follow your own sense of logic and organization. You should have a clearly defined thesis. Use topic sentences and transitions to make the organizational principles of the paper clear to your readers. The paper should not read like a source by source summary of articles on your topic. You have chosen the research—it is up to you to show your readers how this information goes together. In addition, remember that you can have entire pages without citing sources IF the ideas you are presenting are your own and are necessary to ensuring structural unity, integrity and rhetorical effectiveness.
4. Use spelling, grammar and punctuation that reflect American English standards.
5. Use MLA conventions for signal phrases, in-text citations and works cited. PRECISELY.
REVERSE OUTLINE INSTRUCTIONS: Reverse Outline Directions
What is a reverse outline? A regular outline is one that you write before you write your paper, usually to give you a sense of direction and to keep you focused. A reverse outline is an outline you write to describe a paper after you have written it.
Why would I write a reverse outline? A reverse outline can give you “the big picture” of your paper. It will tell you if you: 1) need to reorder paragraphs within the document; 2) have a number of paragraphs that contain too much information and don’t fit together; 3) write multiple paragraphs that contain repeated ideas.
Preparation: Number each paragraph in your paper. You may do this on a separate piece of paper or in the margins of the paper itself. Read each paragraph carefully and write down the main idea of that paragraph next to its number (If you can’t find a main idea, write that instead. If there are multiple ideas, mark that as well). When you have taken these steps, you will have an overview of the whole paper.
Ask yourself these questions: 1) Are the paragraphs properly focused? Or are multiple main ideas competing in one paragraph? 2) Now that you have identified the main point of each paragraph, does each topic sentence support the main idea of each paragraph? 3) Are there some ideas that are extraneous (unneeded) to the paragraph? Can they be removed? 4) Are there some ideas that can be moved to a different part of the paper? 5) When you look at the outline as a whole, does the organization of the paper reflect what you promised in your introduction and thesis to the paper?
ETUTORING LINK: Clark link for etutoring
The final paper will be a 10-12 page document that: 1) uses a variety of sources ( between 10-15, including 8 professional and/or academic) to explore a well-defined topic; 2) articulates an informed position on an issue, making a clear and reasonable argument based on your analysis of the research; 3) documents correctly the use of sources; 4) directs diction, voice, tone, evidence, and English language conventions (grammar, spelling, syntax) to a reasonable, interested, diverse, academic audience. The paper’s topic must focus on a particular historical event or moment. The term “historical event” might be understood very broadly here—you may write about anything political, cultural, scientific, natural, or anthropological, sociological, psychological, or economic—as long as your argument is centered on a particular moment or era in time. Remember that history, and specific events in history, can be interpreted in a variety of ways. These interpretations ARE arguments. We will discuss forms that your argument may take over the next several weeks.
This is a significantly revised version of your final research paper. Since the focus of the course is researching, writing and revising this paper, you will be expected to produce a much higher quality of writing than might be expected for research papers in other courses.
Please remember the following:
1. This project should reflect a topic that interests you and that is informed by a variety of sources, including professional and academic treatments of the subject. This is an academic research paper, and so you will need to rely on more than personal experience or knowledge, or on general resources like popular periodicals, encyclopedias or websites. You should use sources from a variety of different publications, organizations and perspectives. Your final works cited should contain between 10 and 15 sources.
2. Articulate an informed position on the issue, and address your argument to a general academic audience. You must make an argument in the paper that reflects the information you have gathered in research, as well as your assessments of the arguments and research presented by others. Keep in mind that you want to discuss viewpoints that may challenge your own; making concessions to good arguments by those with opposing points of view is good for your ethos. Use an academic tone and present reasoning and evidence. You should assume that your audience is general, diverse and educated. You should not assume that your audience is made up of experts on your topic or people who necessarily agree with your position.
3. Structure the paper according to your own reasoning. Use your sources to help you formulate and complement your own ideas, but follow your own sense of logic and organization. You should have a clearly defined thesis. Use topic sentences and transitions to make the organizational principles of the paper clear to your readers. The paper should not read like a source by source summary of articles on your topic. You have chosen the research—it is up to you to show your readers how this information goes together. In addition, remember that you can have entire pages without citing sources IF the ideas you are presenting are your own and are necessary to ensuring structural unity, integrity and rhetorical effectiveness.
4. Use spelling, grammar and punctuation that reflect American English standards.
5. Use MLA conventions for signal phrases, in-text citations and works cited. PRECISELY.
REVERSE OUTLINE INSTRUCTIONS: Reverse Outline Directions
What is a reverse outline? A regular outline is one that you write before you write your paper, usually to give you a sense of direction and to keep you focused. A reverse outline is an outline you write to describe a paper after you have written it.
Why would I write a reverse outline? A reverse outline can give you “the big picture” of your paper. It will tell you if you: 1) need to reorder paragraphs within the document; 2) have a number of paragraphs that contain too much information and don’t fit together; 3) write multiple paragraphs that contain repeated ideas.
Preparation: Number each paragraph in your paper. You may do this on a separate piece of paper or in the margins of the paper itself. Read each paragraph carefully and write down the main idea of that paragraph next to its number (If you can’t find a main idea, write that instead. If there are multiple ideas, mark that as well). When you have taken these steps, you will have an overview of the whole paper.
Ask yourself these questions: 1) Are the paragraphs properly focused? Or are multiple main ideas competing in one paragraph? 2) Now that you have identified the main point of each paragraph, does each topic sentence support the main idea of each paragraph? 3) Are there some ideas that are extraneous (unneeded) to the paragraph? Can they be removed? 4) Are there some ideas that can be moved to a different part of the paper? 5) When you look at the outline as a whole, does the organization of the paper reflect what you promised in your introduction and thesis to the paper?
ETUTORING LINK: Clark link for etutoring
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Revision Plan
You will be expected to complete a revision plan for your second draft, due Thursday, March 14 in class. Please choose TWO of the following activities and complete them as part of the revision plan. Chose the activities that you believe will benefit the final project the most:
1. Editing Checklist and Error Log: Looking through your draft, create a list of at least 10 items that you would check for as part of final revision. These items can be mechanical (grammar, sentence structure, punctuation) or they could be content-based (topic sentences, transitions, strong thesis carried througout the paper) or they could be documentation-related (proper in-text citations, good variety of signal phrases/lead-ins, correct works cited documentation). THEN, choose at least 10 errors from your paper and complete an error log for these 10 errors. (You can use the form that I provided you in class, or you can create your own.)
2. New Introduction and Conclusion: Isolate and revise just your introductory paragraph(s) and concluding paragraph(s), checking for strong thesis, unity, a hook, something to leave the reader with. These revised introductions/conclusions should be PERFECTLY edited as well.
3. Feedback Talkback: Provide me with a copy of your commented-upon draft with your own feedback and comments. Think of this as an opportunity to have a dialogue with me about your work, as well as an opportunity to begin to think about how you might integrate suggestions into your work.
4. Submission to Etutoring: Submit your essay to etutoring for comments. Provide me with a copy of the comments you received from etutoring, as well as a solid paragraph evaluating the usefulness of this activity. (Will you take the suggestions, which ones? What feedback did you find valuable? What feedback was confusing? Would you use etutoring again? Why or why not? Be sure, when you submit the paper, that you have answered all the questions they have asked in full (including uploading your ENTIRE assignment prompt and telling them what you'd like them to look at).
5. Narrative Revision Plan: Write a two page narrative explaining how you plan to revise the essay, what revisions you think are most vital, and how you are going to accomplish that revision. This should be detailed and thoughtful.
6. Attack the Draft: Pull your draft apart--use sticky notes, flags, highlighters, pens, scissors and tape (if needed!) to physically show how you plan to revise the draft both in terms of content and organization.
7. Perform a Reverse Outline: Go through the process on the handout from Tuesday's class. Provide me with a version of that work.
Informal Presentations
We will have presentations next week, beginning on Tuesday, March 12 for the 9:15 class and on Wednesday, March 13 for the 8 am class. Here is the outline of this part of the course.
I want to restate that this is a somewhat informal kind of presentation. It is a way for you to share with the rest of the class what you have been doing this term. I will have you sign up for slots Thursday, March 7 in class.
Each of you will do an oral presentation of about 7 minutes in which you
*state your thesis
*present the information in your paper that supported the thesis (your lines of argument)
*answer questions from your peers about your topic (this may be above and beyond the 7 minutes)
This is a low-pressure kind of public speaking. Consider yourself a discussion leader for the time that you are presenting. You are the expert, but you want to try to encourage discussion between yourself and your peers. The idea here is to share your research, have some closure for the class, and practice your speaking/leading skills. You may use a visual aid (such as a transparency, a diagram on poster board, a handout, or some media to share with the class), if you so desire.
Given these objectives, I will give informal assignment credit to any student who does a presentation.
Some minimal preparation is necessary to make sure you say something significant without running over the time limit:
*Prepare some notes or an outline to help you present the info in an organized manner without looking at the paper during the presentation. This is a presentation, not a reading of the paper. (A 10 page paper takes 15-20 minutes to read.)
*Do at least one timed run at home to make sure you can cover what you want to say in 7 minutes.
*Consider bringing a visual aid to add interest. (Please note: I cannot allow power point or single handouts that need to circulate around the room. These visual aid types require more time than we have available. Your visual aid must be instantly viewable by the whole class. You can, however, show media or use the document camera. I will ask you when you sign up for your time slot to indicate what media you will be using.)
Please attend presentations--we are a small class to begin with, so we need everyone there to ensure an audience.
**TO KEEP US ON TIME: No matter where you are in your presentation, I will cut you off at 7 minutes--we need to be able to get everyone in and have some time for questions/discussion. PLEASE PRACTICE AT HOME TO GET THE TIMING RIGHT!
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