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.