Tuesday, April 21 2009

Today’s  Agenda

ALL CELL PHONES AND MESSAGING TECHNOLOGY MUST BE TURNED OFF

In class with you today you are to have the following:

Three copies of the revised paper,  the argument.

We only have two class meetings left, and we have quite a bit of work to do in that time. However, if you stay organized and focused, you should have no trouble getting your portfolio ready for next Friday. Today we are going to begin with a conversation about our papers, and we will be performing some proofreading of the documents that you have with you today.

The second half of the class is going to involve a conversation on the portfolio. In particular, we will be talking about the letter that you will be including at the beginning of this document.  I will end class today by letting you know exactly what will need to be in the portfolio. I will be giving you several shorter assignments to complete over the course of the week. This is to ensure that, when you walk through the door next Tuesday, you are ready to compile most of the portfolio, and then we can move into a discussion of the final examination.

Paper drafts:

• Let’s take our current drafts, flip them over, and write in specific details – citing actual examples in the writing – how and why this draft is an improvement over the last draft.

• Group Discussion

• Class Discussion

General areas of concern:

• Appropriate sources

• Appropriate Citation

• Topic VS. Argument. I am seeing some improvement here, but there is still a lot of room for growth in some papers.

Proofreading Rounds:

1) Eyeballing it!

i.      Are the paragraphs constructed appropriately? 6-8 sentences long? Focused on one topic? Is a quote or citation included? *NEW: HAS THE AUTHOR MADE A REASONABLE EFFORT TO TRANSITION FROM ONE IDEA TO THE NEXT?

ii.      Use of quotes and citations. When the author uses quotes or citations, do they follow the three-step process?

iii.      Clarity: Perform a sentence-by-sentence evaluation of   content. Does the wording of a sentence undermine its meaning (i.e. could it be clearer? If so, how: provide a suggestion)

b.      Assessing it: On the back of the document write a two paragraph assessment of the paper. Consider the following issues

i.      Does the author do a good job of teaching you about his or her subject?

ii.      Does the author make a good argument? Is it persuasive? If so, why?

We are going to shift gears now and be thinking about the portfolio we will have to submit at the end of the semester. What is it? What has to go into it?

The Portfolio

Portfolio Content

1)      Cover Letter

2)      All Graded Drafts of the Précis                      (PLUS CLEAN COPY)

3)      All Graded Drafts of Guided Argument       (PLUS CLEAN COPY)

4)      All Graded Drafts of Argument                     (PLUS CLEAN COPY)

5)      6 of your best BLOG posts or in-class journal assignments.

6)      6 Other homework assignments. (these can be blog posts too)

Basic Structure:

1)      Begin with a paragraph that introduces the reader to who you are, where you are coming from, and what it is you have focusing on in class this semester

2)      Introduce the three major papers that you will be presenting in your portfolio: the précis, the guided argument, and the argument. You will be briefly mentioning again how you have improved as a writer as you have gone through the drafting process of these papers

3)      Next, you move into your body paragraphs: a couple on the précis, a couple on the guided  argument, and a couple of the argument. In each of these paragraphs, you will be providing specific examples – quoted – from the drafts that shows your improvement over time.

Homework for this week:

Revise and Resubmit your papers for THURSDAY.

For Monday, you are to draft your letter: I want to meet with you about this on either FRIDAY or MONDAY during my office hours.

When you come to class on Tuesday, you are to arrive with your portfolio organized, except for the clean copies of your PRECIS, GUIDED ARGUMENT, and ARGUMENT. We will be wrapping these up next week, though you can begin that work whenever you want.

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