Before class you need to...
- Read Student introductions to essays in First-Year Writing p. 375 (Joy Van Marion), 411-412 (Janette Curtis), 451-452 (James R. King), 490-491 (Megan Sheehan), 524-525 (Arianne Fokema), 567-569 (Curt Gritters).
- Your quiz grade will occur at the beginning of class this week. Other than the assigned reading listed above, there is nothing for you to study or prepare; just come to class.
In class today we will...
- Take a quiz
- Complete course evaluations (part 2)
- Discuss Writing Review and ENGL 1302
- Watch the History of the English Language parts 1-5
- Read handout and discuss difficulties of English language
- Watch History of the English Language parts 6-10 & class discussion
- Break into work groups and read Bryson's article & class discussion
- Watch postcolonial videos
Writing Review
Objective: To review the work you have completed in the course and to reflect on what you have learned from it.
Description: To complete this assignment, begin by taking the post-semester diagnostic. You will need to include a discussion of the pre- and post-semester diagnostic in your review. Then look back at your pre- and post-semester grammar diagnostic scores and results, all of your assignments and commentary, and class notes and in-class activities. Based on what you find when you examine these materials, write a 400 - 550 word reflection on what you have learned about academic writing and what you understand about it that wasn’t clear to you before. Develop a thesis that helps your readers understand what you will focus on in the review.
Then, give specific examples that help you illustrate your thesis. For example, you can discuss specifically what you have learned about summarizing and paraphrasing texts, about analyzing texts, as well as what kinds of challenges those tasks posed for you. You should also discuss what you have learned about grammar and mechanics that has helped you become a stronger writer in that respect. In addition, you should also talk about other learning experiences you’ve encountered during the course. Finally, you should discuss how the work you’ve done in 1301 has or has not transferred to the writing you have been asked to do in other courses this semester.
You may use first-person pronouns in this review, but keep in mind that the language and tone of the review should be professional.
Some things the graders are looking for...
C1: Issue Identification and Focus
Does the student thoroughly explore and reflect on what he or she has learned about academic writing?
C2: Context and Assumptions
Does the student consider his or her writing experiences prior to this course to contextualize the knowledge that has been attained?
C3: Sources and Evidence
Does the student support his or her reflection with evidence from the various assignments? In other words, does the student directly refer to specific parts of his or her assignments (paragraphs and/or sentences). This criterion is particularly important because students tend to use vague and generic language that could apply to any student’s situation.
C5: Own Perspective
Does the student show authority in relaying his or her perspective about the learning experiences?
C6: Conclusion
Does the student provide an evaluative statement of his or her learning experiences that also encompasses how the attained knowledge might be beneficial in the future?
C7: Communication
Does the student communicate his or her reflection effectively? Is the student's tone professional? Has the student organized his or her reflection effectively? Is the reflection relatively free of grammatical errors?
Monday, November 28, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Class 11/17/11 & Draft 1.2
Draft 1.2 is due Tuesday, November 29th by 11:59 pm!
Before class you need to...
- Read Part 7, Sections 34-39, "Confusing Shifts," "Parallelism," Comma Splices and Fused Sentences," Sentence Fragments," "Modifier Placement," Consistent and Complete Structures" (pp. 643-678); Part 8, 41-42, "Coordination and Subordination," "Sentence Variety" (pp. 686-699) in the St. Martin's Handbook.
- Read over your Draft 1.2 that you have been working on the last few weeks. This assignment is due the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (November 29th); therefore, this Thursday's class is our last chance to discuss it. As you read over your draft, what are you still struggling with? Are you unsure if you should use a certain example? Are you confused about a grammar rule? For your quiz grade this week, you need to email me a specific question you have regarding Draft 1.2. It can be grammar related or a more general question. I will answer as many of these questions as possible in class. You must email me your question before 8 pm Wednesday night (November 16th) in order to receive credit for this quiz.
Today in class we will...
- Answer draft 1.2 questions
- Watch grammar video clips
- Complete course evaluations
Draft 1.2: Rhetorical Analysis
Objective: To complete a final, polished draft of your analysis paper
Purpose: In the first half of the course, you honed your writing skills so as to prepare you for college level writing. You used all of these skills, (summarizing, paraphrasing, critical reading, constructing thesis statements, and using supporting material via quotations) throughout the writing of the initial draft of this assignment. Since completing Draft 1.1, you have written peer critiques and practiced revising various sections of the draft. This assignment asks you to put everything you’ve learned this semester together in writing a final draft of your rhetorical analysis.
Description: To complete this assignment, first evaluate your initial draft (Draft 1.1) by answering the following questions: Did you select a text to analyze? Recall that you may either select an essay from Ch. 11 of your textbook, or another piece of writing from a scholarly journal, reputable newspaper or website. Your classroom instructor may also have suggestions for you as to appropriate texts to analyze.
Did you select your text and critically read it to determine the writer’s purpose and intended audience for the text? Do you have a good understanding of those elements? Have you analyzed the text so as to determine the specific strategies the writer uses to achieve his or her purpose and to meet the needs of the audience? For example, you might have chosen to look at such elements as the types of evidence a writer puts forward and how he or she does so. Remember that you should have examined several strategies, including tone, word choice, and sentence structure. After you determined what these strategies were used, you were to have considered how well these strategies actually worked.
If you have not completed any or all of the above, your revisions should start by addressing these concerns. If you did, your revisions might begin with adding additional discussion of the text, or they may begin with a close analysis of your own evidence, sentence structure, word choice, and tone. How could you improve the communication of your own points to your intended readers?
Given that this is a final draft, it should be proofread carefully to ensure that it is grammatically and mechanically correct. Please use MLA format for your works cited and your in-text citations.
Your revised draft should be 1300-1500 words.
Some things the graders are looking for...
Issue Identification and Focus
The student’s understanding of what a rhetorical analysis is should be the basis for this evaluation. The degree to which the student exhibits that understanding will determine what score is assigned.
Context and Assumptions
The student should demonstrate an understanding of the context in which the artifact being analyzed was written. That is, if the student doesn’t understand the purpose of the text in the first place, it will be difficult to write an analysis of it.
Sources and Evidence
Critical criterion here—consider the choice of quotations, balance of quotations used to identify v. quotations to analyze original author’s choices. Most of the time, this and communication will determine whether the analysis is an A, B, or C piece.
Own Perspective
The thesis will be the primary point of focus for determining this score. Specificity, accuracy, and overall understanding will be primary. Also, does the remainder of the draft indicate that the writer understood what he/she said in the thesis?
Conclusion
What conclusions does the writer draw about the effectiveness of the writer’s choices and of the resulting text overall? How specific and accurate are these?
Communication
Organization is the first thing I’d look at here—if the organization is poor, even if sentence level matters are adequate to good, the score should reflect that.
Before class you need to...
- Read Part 7, Sections 34-39, "Confusing Shifts," "Parallelism," Comma Splices and Fused Sentences," Sentence Fragments," "Modifier Placement," Consistent and Complete Structures" (pp. 643-678); Part 8, 41-42, "Coordination and Subordination," "Sentence Variety" (pp. 686-699) in the St. Martin's Handbook.
- Read over your Draft 1.2 that you have been working on the last few weeks. This assignment is due the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (November 29th); therefore, this Thursday's class is our last chance to discuss it. As you read over your draft, what are you still struggling with? Are you unsure if you should use a certain example? Are you confused about a grammar rule? For your quiz grade this week, you need to email me a specific question you have regarding Draft 1.2. It can be grammar related or a more general question. I will answer as many of these questions as possible in class. You must email me your question before 8 pm Wednesday night (November 16th) in order to receive credit for this quiz.
Today in class we will...
- Answer draft 1.2 questions
- Watch grammar video clips
- Complete course evaluations
Draft 1.2: Rhetorical Analysis
Objective: To complete a final, polished draft of your analysis paper
Purpose: In the first half of the course, you honed your writing skills so as to prepare you for college level writing. You used all of these skills, (summarizing, paraphrasing, critical reading, constructing thesis statements, and using supporting material via quotations) throughout the writing of the initial draft of this assignment. Since completing Draft 1.1, you have written peer critiques and practiced revising various sections of the draft. This assignment asks you to put everything you’ve learned this semester together in writing a final draft of your rhetorical analysis.
Description: To complete this assignment, first evaluate your initial draft (Draft 1.1) by answering the following questions: Did you select a text to analyze? Recall that you may either select an essay from Ch. 11 of your textbook, or another piece of writing from a scholarly journal, reputable newspaper or website. Your classroom instructor may also have suggestions for you as to appropriate texts to analyze.
Did you select your text and critically read it to determine the writer’s purpose and intended audience for the text? Do you have a good understanding of those elements? Have you analyzed the text so as to determine the specific strategies the writer uses to achieve his or her purpose and to meet the needs of the audience? For example, you might have chosen to look at such elements as the types of evidence a writer puts forward and how he or she does so. Remember that you should have examined several strategies, including tone, word choice, and sentence structure. After you determined what these strategies were used, you were to have considered how well these strategies actually worked.
If you have not completed any or all of the above, your revisions should start by addressing these concerns. If you did, your revisions might begin with adding additional discussion of the text, or they may begin with a close analysis of your own evidence, sentence structure, word choice, and tone. How could you improve the communication of your own points to your intended readers?
Given that this is a final draft, it should be proofread carefully to ensure that it is grammatically and mechanically correct. Please use MLA format for your works cited and your in-text citations.
Your revised draft should be 1300-1500 words.
Some things the graders are looking for...
Issue Identification and Focus
The student’s understanding of what a rhetorical analysis is should be the basis for this evaluation. The degree to which the student exhibits that understanding will determine what score is assigned.
Context and Assumptions
The student should demonstrate an understanding of the context in which the artifact being analyzed was written. That is, if the student doesn’t understand the purpose of the text in the first place, it will be difficult to write an analysis of it.
Sources and Evidence
Critical criterion here—consider the choice of quotations, balance of quotations used to identify v. quotations to analyze original author’s choices. Most of the time, this and communication will determine whether the analysis is an A, B, or C piece.
Own Perspective
The thesis will be the primary point of focus for determining this score. Specificity, accuracy, and overall understanding will be primary. Also, does the remainder of the draft indicate that the writer understood what he/she said in the thesis?
Conclusion
What conclusions does the writer draw about the effectiveness of the writer’s choices and of the resulting text overall? How specific and accurate are these?
Communication
Organization is the first thing I’d look at here—if the organization is poor, even if sentence level matters are adequate to good, the score should reflect that.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Class 11/10/11 & BA 9
Before class you need to...
- Read Part 1, Sections 4i, 4k-l, 5a-b, 5d-e, "Revising Paragraphs Sentences, Words, and Tone," "Editing," "Proofreading the Final Draft" (pp. 94-98,100-104) ; Part 8, Sections 40, 43, "Concise Writing," "Memorable Prose" (pp. 680-685, 700-706) in the St. Martin's Handbook
- Homework and quiz grade for this week: After you have read, complete Exercise 4.7 (located in 4i), Exercise 5.3 (located in 5b), Exercise 40.2 (located in 40c), and Exercise 43.4 (located in 43c) in St. Martin's Handbook. Type directly into the boxes and when you are finished click "view notebook." Remember to put your name in the first box (Exercise 4.7) right before your answer. If your name is not on it, you will not get credit. Make sure all four answers are there, then click "email answers." Then type in your class section (1301.59 for 9:30am, 1301.62 for 11am) and my email (hannah.weems@ttu.edu). Because these exercises are in two different chapters (chapter 1 and chapter 8), you need to send me two emails (one for each chapter). You must email this to me BEFORE our class on Thursday to get credit.
Today in class we will...
Brief Assignment 9: Sentence-Level Revision
You may use first person in this assignment
Objective: To demonstrate your ability to revise paragraphs at the sentence level
Purpose: When you revise papers, you begin by reexamining content and organization of the paper overall before moving to more specific concerns such as the thesis, introduction, and conclusion. Usually, one of the final steps involves revising the body paragraphs to ensure that they reflect your intended purpose and reach your intended audience. This final brief assignment will help you accomplish that.
Description: First, review your Draft 1.1. Consider the following:
Does the initial focus of your draft as expressed in your thesis statement need revision? Are your purpose for writing and target audience easily identified after reading your draft? If you need to revise your thesis (and thus, a substantial portion of your paper), or if you need to better focus your purpose and identify your audience, your revisions of your body paragraph might start with those areas. You may need to make sure that your main point(s) are restated clearly, and that your readers understand the implications of your analysis.
For this assignment, use the guidelines from Chapters 4, 5, 40, and 43 in the St. Martin’s Handbook to revise a substantial body paragraph (i.e. at least 4 sentences in length) from your Draft 1.1. Paste the original paragraph from your 1.1 draft into the assignment so that your instructor will be able to compare the original with your revision. Finally, write a short summary and evaluation of your revisions. Identify and explain which new strategy you used from the textbook and explain how changing the strategies used in this paragraph will influence your readers’ response to your analysis. Also let readers know here which paragraph, your original or the revision, is the strongest and why you believe that to be so.
The total length of the analysis should be 350-500 words, NOT including the original and revised body paragraphs.
Some things the graders are looking for...
C1: Focus
Does the student thoroughly examine the quality and specificity of the body paragraph? Does the student use this examination to guide his or her revisions to the body paragraph?
C3: Sources and Evidence
Does the student’s revised paragraph show noticeable improvement? Does the student support his or her critique by directly referring to specific parts of his or her body paragraph? This criterion is particularly important because students tend to use vague and generic language that could apply to any draft.
C5: Own Perspective
Does the student show authority in relaying his or her perspective about what should be revised in the body paragraph and in justifying the effectiveness of the revisions that he or she has made?
C6: Conclusion
Does the student provide an accurate evaluative statement about the overall effectiveness of the revisions? Does the student discuss the significance of the revisions her or she has made?
C7: Communication
How effectively is the revised version of the body paragraph delivered? Does the student communicate his or her critique of the revisions effectively? Has the student organized his or her critique effectively? Are both the revised introduction and the critique relatively free of grammatical errors?
- Read Part 1, Sections 4i, 4k-l, 5a-b, 5d-e, "Revising Paragraphs Sentences, Words, and Tone," "Editing," "Proofreading the Final Draft" (pp. 94-98,100-104) ; Part 8, Sections 40, 43, "Concise Writing," "Memorable Prose" (pp. 680-685, 700-706) in the St. Martin's Handbook
- Homework and quiz grade for this week: After you have read, complete Exercise 4.7 (located in 4i), Exercise 5.3 (located in 5b), Exercise 40.2 (located in 40c), and Exercise 43.4 (located in 43c) in St. Martin's Handbook. Type directly into the boxes and when you are finished click "view notebook." Remember to put your name in the first box (Exercise 4.7) right before your answer. If your name is not on it, you will not get credit. Make sure all four answers are there, then click "email answers." Then type in your class section (1301.59 for 9:30am, 1301.62 for 11am) and my email (hannah.weems@ttu.edu). Because these exercises are in two different chapters (chapter 1 and chapter 8), you need to send me two emails (one for each chapter). You must email this to me BEFORE our class on Thursday to get credit.
Today in class we will...
- Complete a practice BA 9 in work groups
- Take notes on video clips
- Take notes on video clips
Brief Assignment 9: Sentence-Level Revision
You may use first person in this assignment
Objective: To demonstrate your ability to revise paragraphs at the sentence level
Purpose: When you revise papers, you begin by reexamining content and organization of the paper overall before moving to more specific concerns such as the thesis, introduction, and conclusion. Usually, one of the final steps involves revising the body paragraphs to ensure that they reflect your intended purpose and reach your intended audience. This final brief assignment will help you accomplish that.
Description: First, review your Draft 1.1. Consider the following:
Does the initial focus of your draft as expressed in your thesis statement need revision? Are your purpose for writing and target audience easily identified after reading your draft? If you need to revise your thesis (and thus, a substantial portion of your paper), or if you need to better focus your purpose and identify your audience, your revisions of your body paragraph might start with those areas. You may need to make sure that your main point(s) are restated clearly, and that your readers understand the implications of your analysis.
For this assignment, use the guidelines from Chapters 4, 5, 40, and 43 in the St. Martin’s Handbook to revise a substantial body paragraph (i.e. at least 4 sentences in length) from your Draft 1.1. Paste the original paragraph from your 1.1 draft into the assignment so that your instructor will be able to compare the original with your revision. Finally, write a short summary and evaluation of your revisions. Identify and explain which new strategy you used from the textbook and explain how changing the strategies used in this paragraph will influence your readers’ response to your analysis. Also let readers know here which paragraph, your original or the revision, is the strongest and why you believe that to be so.
The total length of the analysis should be 350-500 words, NOT including the original and revised body paragraphs.
Some things the graders are looking for...
C1: Focus
Does the student thoroughly examine the quality and specificity of the body paragraph? Does the student use this examination to guide his or her revisions to the body paragraph?
C3: Sources and Evidence
Does the student’s revised paragraph show noticeable improvement? Does the student support his or her critique by directly referring to specific parts of his or her body paragraph? This criterion is particularly important because students tend to use vague and generic language that could apply to any draft.
C5: Own Perspective
Does the student show authority in relaying his or her perspective about what should be revised in the body paragraph and in justifying the effectiveness of the revisions that he or she has made?
C6: Conclusion
Does the student provide an accurate evaluative statement about the overall effectiveness of the revisions? Does the student discuss the significance of the revisions her or she has made?
C7: Communication
How effectively is the revised version of the body paragraph delivered? Does the student communicate his or her critique of the revisions effectively? Has the student organized his or her critique effectively? Are both the revised introduction and the critique relatively free of grammatical errors?
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