Reflection: Final Paper

Directions: Write 200 words on how far you think you've come from the first phase to the final phase. What steps have you taken to make your paper more coherent and more audience-oriented? What have you learned throughout the class that has helped you write better papers? Due May 10th by midnight.

Reflection: Phase Three

Directions: in 200 words or less, explain what you learned from writing this last phase. Do you feel confident about your final? What might help you to feel more confident? Blog due before noon on Saturday, April 19th.

Contending Arguments

Directions: Write a paragraph from a contending source (to act as the counterargument to your argument). Answer one or more of the following questions: What might people who disagree with you have to say? What is the most rational argument from those nay-sayers? Where would you go to find a rational argument from those people? Due: April 9th before 4pm.

Reply: Find a classmate whose main argument you disagree with or that you can intelligently play devil's advocate with, and offer an opposing point of view. Be polite and professional in your disagreement. Argue intelligently. Due: April 11th before midnight.

Argument-Driven Paper

Directions: Write 200 words on how you believe you will use the main ideas in your essay (the thesis and your beliefs that drive that argument) to create unity in your paper. Think about how your beliefs on any topic can drive an argument. If someone cuts you off in line, you either choose to say something, or you choose not to. You make that choice based on several beliefs about yourself and your nature, as well as the subsequent argument you might have with yourself. Ask yourself why you chose this topic, examine the fundamental nature of the argument and what might drive that argument, and then you might get your 200 word answer: what will make up the skeleton of this paper? Example: my argument is about bees and their slow erradication over the past decades. I mean to discuss the ecological reasons for their disappearance, as well as the man-made reasons. I believe that bees are important to the ecology of the world, and the very existence of bees is necessary for life to continue. I will use what I know to be true about bees as the foundation of my reasons and analysis, and my evidence will prove my belief about bees to be true. Due before class on Wednesday, April 2nd. Reply: Respond to a classmate's post that does not yet have a reply. Ask your classmate a question of clarification. Example: do you think there might be other reasons behind the disappearance of bees? Could they be devolving? Reply due by midnight, Friday, April 4th. Note: if you can, try to reply when you post.

Reflection: Phase Two

Directions: this phase included several resources to support a single claim, and incorporated a definition of terms within or of your topic, as well as context. Reflect on how these different resources affected your paper, and how making the terms and history of your topic clear to your audience helped with your focus in the paper. Also reflect on how having more sources for your claim helped your writing. Did it make discussing your topic easier? If you feel that having more resources was negative, please explain why.

Post due by Saturday, March 22nd, midnight.

Getting your Annotated Bibliography Started

Directions: If you are using the two sources from your original annotated bibliography in the phase two AB, then post two new sources with the correct MLA formatting (see LBH). This is an easy seven points for those of you who have already written your annotated bibliographies for phase two, and a good way to get started for those of you who have not. Make sure you include the 2-3 sentences of summary for each source, and 1-2 sentences for why you need that source for your research. Identify in the 1-2 last sentences if you are using one of the sources for definition or context, and/or whether you are using the source to address your question or your purpose. There will be no response to a classmate. Due before class on Monday, March 17th.

Why Write?

We are approaching the middle of the semester, which is a great time to ask: what's it all about? For this blog, explain why you are writing your essay, and who you are writing to. Do not necessarily just write what you have on page one of phase two or phase one, but really think about why you are writing, beyond passing this class. What is your interest in this topic? Why did you choose it in the first place, yes, but what does the topic mean to you now that you have performed some research? Why is it important that your chosen audience receive this message? What do you want your audience to think and feel about the topic when you are finished? What do you want your audience to believe about you?

Initial post due before class on Wednesday, March 12th.

Reply to classmate: Find someone who does not yet have a reply, and ask him/her a clarifying question about his/her purpose. What is it that you would like to know about what can motivate someone else to write? If you feel that your classmate explained his/her purpose very well, then let him/her know this. Be detailed, clear and succinct in your reply.

Reply to classmate due before midnight on Friday, March 14th.

Paragraph of Context

Directions: Write your context paragraph, which should give some background about your topic for the benefit of your audience. Think about how you want your audience to come into this conversation (what are some pieces of the conversation that you needed or wanted to know before you began to think, feel and believe what you do about your topic?), and use your sources to illuminate the conversation for your audience.

Initial post due before class on Monday, March 10th.

Reply: find a classmate whose post has no responses. Imagine that you are the intended audience. Is there anything else you would want to know about the topic before moving forward in the essay? Ask a question of your classmate that will get him/her to think about what you want to know. If you feel that your classmate was effective in his/her contextual evidence, say why. Be detailed and succinct.

Reply due before midnight on Friday, March 14th.

Paragraph of Definition (Dang, I mislabeled this)

Directions: Write your paragraph of definition using one (or two) of your sources that address your question (your thesis). Think about what your audience will need to know in order for you to effectively write your argument. This is certainly more complex than, "According to Webster, terrorism is defined as..." You will need to explore how your source(s) approach the topic, and make it approachable to their audience (i.e. you). To help your classmates' responses, please name your audience as you have identified it for this particular phase.

Reply: Find a classmate's blog that has no reply, and post how you believe s/he might improve his/her paragraph. If you are not the audience, consider the audience in what you say. As always, be polite and academic.

Please respond to the initial post by March 5th. The Reply is due by March 7th, midnight.

Thinking about New Sources

Directions: If you have just begun looking at interviews and websites, explain how you think using these sources will help direct your research (and possibly make it more interesting?). If you have already been looking at websites and interviews, explain how you plan to integrate the sources into the larger work (your peers could benefit from your experience).

Reply: If you learned something from one of your fellow students, let him/her know, and be specific. If you can appreciate your classmate's experience, but do not want to appropriate his/her methods, politely tell the poster so (i.e. "I am very glad that you found a way to integrate your information in such an unconventional way. It is interesting how different people can approach research").

The initial post is due before class on Monday, March 3rd; the reply is due by Friday, March 7th, midnight.

Analyzing Interviews

Directions: Watch and/or listen to these interviews, and comment on one of them. Please state which interview you will be responding to.

Child Pageantry

Cyber Bullying

Politicians Posting in Social Media

Sports Psychology

Psychology of Introversion

I know that I haven't addressed all of your topics, but I would ask you to find interviews other than these for your papers. However, if you wish to use the work of those being interviewed, or an interview on a different topic by the same interviewer, you may.

Answer the following questions about your choice:

1. Who do you think is the audience (perform some due diligence here, and look up the details on the interviewer/show)?
2. Would you consider the person being interviewed an expert? Why or why not?
3. Do you think the interviewer asked questions that brought the best results? If you did not have many overt questions in your interview, what questions do you think the interviewer asked, and do you feel they were effective?--when considering effectiveness, think about how the video would make the audience, think, feel and believe, and whether or not the interviewer achieved those goals.
4. What questions might you ask?

Due before class on February 26th.

Reply: Reply to a classmate that watched the same interview that you did. Point out at least one aspect of the post you agree with, and at least one aspect you either learned from or might challenge (disagree professionally). Be specific with every aspect of your reply.

Reply by midnight on Friday, February 28th.

Reflection on Phase One

Directions: Please state a claim for how you think phase one helped or hindered you in your ability to write your essay and support your claims. Discuss class activities, blogs, and readings as proof for your claim. Make a suggestion on what might help you proceed better in Phase Two.

Due before class on Feb 24th.

Building Your Introduction

Directions: experiment with developing your introduction.

1. Consider the different ways that authors begin their academic essays or books: telling a personal story regarding the conversation at hand (consider the Davidson essay; establish a personal connection with your audience), asking a question (this could be your academic question), establishing a basis for the conversation/context (consider the Teare and Hade essays), or using a quotation (either from one of your sources, or from an expert on your particular conversation/claim--see "From Silence to Words: Writing as a Struggle" from Inquiry, page 989).
2. Think about how other writers/composers make claims, and how those claims are presented (either from your current reading, your 121 reading, or from recent news articles or newscasts; even comedy sketches have claims that comedians state near the beginning of their acts).
3. State your audience.
4. Write a paragraph or two with an element of #1, and your main claim.

Do not state 1 & 2 in your response. Just use them to compose #4.

Due before class on Feb. 19th.

Reply to a classmate: Remark on how your classmate has begun his/her essay. If you believe the beginning could get the intended audience interested in reading the rest of the essay, say so, and mention why. If the beginning needs improvement in getting the attention of the stated audience, ask a question. For example: Why do you think that your audience would prefer a quote over a personal story? You mention that your audience is mothers, and mothers sometimes prefer a deeper connection with a writer or speaker when discussing their children. 

Keep your language professional. For your reply, your classmate is your audience. Follow that titanium rule: comment unto others as you believe they would best receive that comment.

Reply by noon on Feb. 20th. (since the paper is due on the 21st).

Experimenting with Body Paragraphs

Take one of the paragraphs that you developed for your paper and examine the paragraph for unity, word usage, and clarity.

Consider the following:

1. Does the paragraph have a clear topic sentence that supports your main claim? 
2. Does the evidence in the paragraph support the topic sentence? 
3. Is there better evidence available that would add weight to the support of your topic sentence? 
4. Does the analysis of the evidence lead back to your main claim?

Then examine the paragraph for wording:

1. Read the paragraph aloud.
2. Look at your nouns. Are they concrete? Do they effectively describe the person, place, thing or idea that you are attempting to communicate?
3. Do you overuse adjectives to get your point across?
4. Look at your verbs. How many "to be" verbs do you see? Could you take out or replace that verb with a stronger one?
5. Do you overuse adverbs to get your point across?
6. Do you unnecessarily repeat words or phrases to get your point across?

Do your final edit of the paragraph by considering:

1. Read the paragraph aloud one more time (or have someone else read the paragraph to you), and climb into the shoes of your audience.
2. Pause on commas. Stop on periods. Use a different voice for quotations. As silly as this may sound, this is how your reader might interpret your writing.
3. Is your writing clear? If not, try rearranging words, and/or lengthening or shortening sentences.

Now, rewrite the paragraph in its best incarnation and post it here.

Due before class on Feb. 17th.

Writing Concisely

From the pages you read in the LBH, perform the exercise 39.1 on page 548-49, 39.2 on  pg. 550 on your own sheets of paper (which you do not need to turn in). Then perform exercise 39.4 on page 552 as your blog response.

Performing these exercises should be immensely beneficial for most of you and your future papers.

Due before class on Wednesday, February 12th.

Experience, then Share

Directions: Search for two articles relevant to your topic and describe your experience of searching.

1. How did you cast your broad net? Why did you choose that method? Was it helpful? 
2. What databases did you search first? Why? What route did you take through the databases?
3. Once you got into the databases, was it difficult or easy to find what you were looking for? What made the process difficult or easy?
4. What do you think might help you in the future when searching databases?

You do not have to list your experience. State your experience in a way that is natural to you (though you will want to keep an academic tone).

Due before class on Monday, Feb. 10th.

List of Topics

Directions: List no less than three and no more than ten topics that might interest you. If you know for sure that you want to research only one topic, please still come up with two alternatives that you might research, in case there is no evidence for your #1 topic.

Remember that these topics do not have to be what your final project results in, but they do need to be thoughtful, and realistic, topics.

If you brainstormed to get your topics, then express what you did (which exercises, what planning strategies, etc.).

Due before class on Wed., Feb. 5th.

Blog Reflection #1

Reflect on the paper you just wrote. What was easy? What was difficult? What will you do differently for future papers? You can write about any point in the process, from the directions (what you might need from me), to struggles (help you could get from your peers), to just simple tasks like using the writing center or building an annotated bibliography.

200 words.

Due Monday Feb. 3 (I changed the date, because I forgot to post the blog. Apologies).

Writing as a Reader

Directions: state an argument (thesis) that you believe both texts support. Note: Your thesis does not have to be exactly "values Teare and Hade see being promoted by children's book series that are linked to lucrative franchises," but it's a good place to start. 

If you have difficulty devising a thesis, go to your LBH and read pages 36-41.

Perform exercise #1 under “Writing as a Reader” on pg. 573 of Inquiry, but write a paragraph rather than an essay. Your paragraph should be approximately 200 words, but no more than 300. (Due before the beginning of class on the 29th.)

Replies: As usual, you are here to help and learn from your classmates.

Writing a Summary

Part One (due before class on Jan. 22nd):

Directions: Skim and summarize both “Harry Potter and the Technology of Magic,” by Elizabeth Teare (Inquiry 548-562), and “Lies My Children’s Books Taught Me: History Meets Popular Culture in the American Girls Books,” by Daniel Hade (Inquiry 563-573), according to the layout under "Writing a Summary" on pg. 144 of Inquiry; use the list form, only 1-3.

Ex. 

Teare:

1.

2.

3.

Hade:

1.

2.

3.

Part Two (due before class on Jan. 27th):

Directions: Re-read both “Harry Potter and the Technology of Magic,” by Elizabeth Teare (Inquiry 548-562), and “Lies My Children’s Books Taught Me: History Meets Popular Culture in the American Girls Books,” by Daniel Hade (Inquiry 563-573), and contextualize the two articles. Indicate why the articles would be important to a particular claim/argument/thesis. 

Part One and Two will help you to write your annotations for your first assignment.

Replies: stay professional, and offer any advice to your classmates that you think they could use to improve their work. Also look at the work of others and see how you might use their example to improve your own work.

Welcome!

This blog will be a place for you to log your progress in your research throughout the semester. Using your classmates as a research community, you will discuss your successes and difficulties in your process, and your classmates will offer support and their own best practices to help you improve your process.

Blogging is mandatory, as is respect for your fellow classmates. Each week, you will respond to a different prompt.

Blogging is graded in the following manner: 

1. Participation: blogs must be posted on time.
2. Following directions: while you may contribute additional comments or links, your primary goal in posting should be to satisfy the assignment requirements.
3. Remaining respectful of your classmates.

For this week's assignment, simply reply to this blog so that I know you are ready to get started.