Tuesday, November 29: Draft 1.2 and Writing Review

Hi there class,

First off, here's the link to the final lesson: Lesson 14. You're almost through this semester--only two assignments left! 

• Draft 1.2 (due 12/3)
• Writing Review (due 12/10)
• Either of these can be completed at ANY time, so you could be done with course work for this class whenever you choose to submit

Reminder: Open Tutoring is offered again this week Tues. (11/29) & Thurs. (12/1) from 5-7pm. I highly suggest attending (or scheduling an appointment with the University Writing Center sometime this week--call soon, because appointment times fill up quickly). 

MAKE SURE that your draft has incorporated the revisions you've been working on and any changes suggested by previous graders. As stated in the syllabus, if your draft 1.1 and 1.2 are over 90% similar, the highest grade I can give you is a zero. To double check your percentage before submitting, you can use a website like this one: Paper Comparison Checker. 

This DOES NOT mean that you should ONLY change 10% of your paper. Your grade will suffer if your graders notice that you did not apply previous grader commentary to your new draft. Don't be afraid to make significant revisions.

Writing Review: 

Description: 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. Look back at your assignments and commentary, class notes, and in-class activities. Also, if you attended study sessions, worked with your instructor during office hours, or used the onsite or online University Writing Center, discuss the role of those in your review.

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.

What the assignment does NOT ask for:

• Complaints about grades
• What you disliked about the class
• Complaints about RaiderWriter
• These are things that should have been addressed in your course evaluation during class today, not within the assignment.
• Keep in mind--this is for a grade

Homework:

• Reading:
• St. Martin's Handbook: 4m "Reflecting on Your Writing," pgs. 92-3.
• Draft 1.2 (12/3)
• Next week's class: I still have to take attendance, so show up, sign in, and ask any questions you have about the course.
• Writing Review (12/10)

That's it! See you all next week, and let me know if you have any questions.

Tuesday, November 22: Sentence-Level Revision

Hello class!

Link to today's lesson: Lesson 13.

Today we discussed the editing/proofreading phase of writing--something that most of you are fairly comfortable with. We reviewed Andrea Lunsford's "Twenty Most Common Errors Made by Undergraduates," which should help you to catch some of those more pesky mistakes that everyone makes while writing. We also looked at ways to make your writing more concise, cutting out excess "fluff" material that does nothing to help you get to your point.

Homework:

• Reading: 
• St. Martin's Handbook: Chapters 44-49, "Confusing Shifts," "Parallelism," Comma Splices and Fused Sentences," Sentence Fragments," "Modifier Placement," Consistent and Complete Structures"; Chapters 51-52, "Coordination and Subordination," "Sentence Variety" pp.626-658, 665-677
• BA9 (due MONDAY night by 11:59pm--11/28)
• Open Tutoring Sessions: Tuesday 11/29 and Thursday 12/1

Brief Assignment #9:

• For this assignment, use the guidelines from Chapters 4, 5, 50, and 53 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. 
• These revisions can include grammatical edits/changes to sentence structure, but they also should include major revisions you've been making to your analysis.
• 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 strategies you used in revision and explain these revisions achieve your purpose for the paper. 
• 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.

That's it for now! Have a great Thanksgiving; safe travels!

Tuesday, November 15: Revision of Introduction

Hello again, all!

Here is this week's presentation: Lesson 12.

As we discussed in class, we're working on revising our introductions to draft 1.1 this week. A good introduction: (1) attracts the reader's attention and (2) presents the topic and makes a comment on it.

When you look at your introduction, keep these elements in mind:

• Strong lead/hook: General statement about the topic, attention grabber, used to ease the reader into your paper. Don't get side-tracked here.
• Context/background information: HERE is the ONE place where you want to summarize the author's argument. What are they writing about? Where was it published? Who are they trying to reach? What is their purpose in doing so? If you present background information effectively, it should lead right into your audience identification.
• Thesis statement: Your definitive argument about the author's use of rhetoric. Are you arguing that the author does a good job? Are you accurately setting up what will follow in your paper?

Homework:

• Reading:
• St. Martin's Handbook: Chapters 4i, 4k-l, 5a-b, 5d-e, "Revising Paragraphs Sentences, Words, and Tone," "Editing," "Proofreading the Final Draft"; Chapters 50 and 53, "Concise Writing," "Memorable Prose" pp. 82, 87-92, 661-664, 678-685
• BA8
• Bring a HARD COPY of your most recent draft to class (or if you don't bring a hard copy, you MUST know how to use "Track Changes" on your laptop)

Brief Assignment #8:

Objective: To develop new strategies for writing effective introductions for academic papers and to expand your understanding of what makes an effective introduction.

Purpose: The introductory paragraph of a document plays a key role in how readers respond to the entire text. In this assignment, you will attempt a revision of your introduction to Draft 1.1. Keep in mind that your original introduction may remain the better of your two efforts.

Description: Your completed assignment should contain the following:

• A copy of your original introduction
• Your revised introduction
• A short summary and evaluation of your revisions, in which you identify and explain what you changed and why

The total length of the analysis should be 300-400 words, NOT including the original and revised introductions.

Before you start to revise, take a few minutes to review key elements of your Draft 1.1, such as your audience, purpose, and thesis statement. Your new introduction should reflect your consideration for each of these as well as indicate your understanding of what a rhetorical analysis accomplishes.

Next, study your original introduction and any comments that your instructors or peer critiquers made about that introduction. Using this feedback along with your broader understanding of a rhetorical analysis, revise your original introduction so that it more effectively reaches your readers.

Please note that if you need to revise for coherence, emphasis, or conciseness, refer to Chs. 50 and 53 of your e-handbook. If you need to work on sentence structure, see Chs. 44-49. If you need to work on other grammatical and/or mechanical elements, consult the appropriate chapters.

Tuesday, November 8: Planning Revision

Hello all!

First off, here's this week's presentation: Lesson 11. If you missed class, you should look through the presentation for jumping off points for potential revisions, as well as how to incorporate feedback into your revision plan.

This week, we're moving toward taking our peer/grader feedback and creating a plan for future revisions. Remember, you will be rewriting for your draft 1.2--you want to begin to "re-envision" your paper and the different choices you are free to make in your writing.

Approach your feedback in stages. Let yourself read directly through all your commentary, and then let it simmer for a while. Then, come back to your paper ready to work--ready to make a plan of action for changes you intend to make to your draft.

As stated in class, you will most likely apply peer feedback differently than grader feedback. At times, you get to decide which suggestions you will apply.

Remember, SAVE YOUR ORIGINAL DRAFT. Future assignments will want both original and revised copies of your work.

BA7:

Purpose: In BA6, you identified the elements that needed revision in someone else’s paper. In this assignment, you will do the same thing for your paper.
Description: First, write a short summary of the strengths and weaknesses of your current draft. Using instructor feedback, peer critiques, and your own analysis, identify the specific elements that work well for your intended reader and those that do not.
Next, write a plan of action. For your plan of action, begin by identifying three specific areas or elements from your draft that you intend to revise and explain why you chose each one. Then, using the recommendations from chapters 6 (see pp. 117-127) and 10 from First-Year Writing and chapter 4 of the St. Martin’s Handbook, explain the steps you will take to revise each one. For example, if a particular paragraph is too vague for your reader, what are you going to have to do to make it more specific? If your topic sentences do not represent the main idea of each body paragraph, what will you do in order to better understand the main idea of each paragraph prior to revising each topic sentence?
This should be submitted in an essay of 500-650 words.

Homework

• Readings: 
• First-Year Writing: Ch 17 pp 329-342
• St. Martin's Handbook: Chapters 4f, 4h, 5g, "Revising Thesis and Support, "Revising the Title, Introduction, and Conclusion," "Writing Special Purpose Paragraphs" pp. 80-82, 112-17
• BA7

That should be all for now. Have a good week!

Tuesday, November 1: Peer Critiques

Hello class! 

You're 2/3rds of the way done for the semester! The draft is submitted, and we're moving on to revision.

First off, here's today's lesson: Lesson 10.

This week, we focused on peer critiques (which will be due on Saturday). You will anonymously critique two drafts submitted by your classmates through RaiderWriter.

Peer Critiques (as listed on RaiderWriter):

• For each critique, you will introduce the draft, summarize its main points, assess and respond to the author's presentation, and offer conclusions about the effectiveness of the analysis. Remember to speak as specifically as possible about the draft, quoting from it when necessary. Each critique will be 400 - 500 words in length.
• Text for Analysis/Thesis: Identify the writer's thesis and then evaluate it for effectiveness. 
• Determine whether the writer has selected a particular text to analyze and whether or not the thesis indicates that the writer will complete a rhetorical analysis of the text. 
• Discuss whether the thesis is specific enough and of appropriate scope for this analysis. For example, a thesis that states that an author uses ethos, pathos, and logos in their text is NOT specific enough for a rhetorical analysis. 
• Explain why or why not, and provide suggestions for the writer to help improve the thesis, if necessary.
• Quality and Specificity of Analysis: Evaluate the writer’s analysis. 
• Does the writer select specific quotations from the text to discuss? What are these quotations, and what does the writer have to say about them? 
• Does the writer seem to effectively analyze, or does the draft read more as a summary or paraphrasing of parts of the text being analyzed, or does the writer end up arguing about the content, rather than the structure and presentation of the text?
• Overall Essay Structure: Comment on the overall structure of the essay. For example, explain in detail whether or not the paragraphs are presented in a logical and persuasive way. 
• Does the writer provide a clear introduction, body and conclusion? 
• Does each paragraph begin with a clear topic sentence and transition into the next paragraph? Provide examples that are particularly effective or areas that need more improvement.

Technical Difficulties:

• Keep in mind that you do have two critiques due.
• Each critique is 400-500 words
• Within RaiderWriter, you'll open up "1.1a," and you must hit "Submit Now" or else it won't appear.
• There is no "save" this time. If it's closed out, you'll get a new paper next time. Try to finish your critique in one go.
• Know that, if you're giving a good peer review, you may not even get through their whole paper before hitting the word limit.

Homework:

• Reading:
• First-Year Writing: Ch 6 pp. 118-124
• St. Martin's Handbook: Chapter 4 pp. 64-93
• Peer Critiques

That should be all for now!

Tuesday, October 25: Rhetorical Analysis

Hi all,

I hope that the workshopping we did in class today gave you some good ideas/directions for any major changes you'll make to your draft before it's due on Saturday. Here is the lesson plan from today: Lesson 9.

Keep in mind, this paper should be fully formed when you turn it in--you are not just submitting a fleshed-out outline or a really "rough" draft. You should have a thorough introduction, body paragraphs with sufficient analysis, a conclusion, and a works cited page at the end of your document.

OPEN TUTORING THIS WEEK:
Tuesday 10/25 and 10/27 in ENG 353 from 5-7pm.  (I will be at the Thursday session).

DRAFT 1.1--From RAIDERWRITER:
After selecting your text and critically reading it, you will determine the writer’s purpose and intended audience for the text.
Once you have determined these elements, you will begin to analyze the text so as to determine the specific strategies (rhetorical choices) the writer uses to achieve his or her purpose and to meet the needs of the audience. For example, you might choose to look at such elements as the types of evidence a writer puts forward and how he or she does so. Ask yourself if the writer uses evidence from sources, or if he or she tells stories from personal experience. Examine the sentence structures and word choice. How do these contribute to the author’s purpose? Evaluate the overall tone of the text, and determine how it does or does not contribute to the way in which it communicates to its audience. After you determine what these strategies or rhetorical choices are, consider how well these strategies (rhetorical choices) actually work. As a result of this assignment, you should be able to take these skills and transfer them to any reading you are asked to do in college, and you should see an improvement in your ability to read and comprehend any text.

Although this is an initial draft, it should be carefully edited and written in a professional tone. Please use MLA format for both your in-text citations and your works cited in this draft.
Your draft should be 1200 words in length.  

Note: You must *ALSO* attach a WORD document to the assignment this week in Raider Writer.  So you will submit BOTH in Raider Writer as always through the text box AND attach a Word document of the paper itself in Raider Writer.

Homework

• Reading: 
• St. Martin's Handbook: Chapter 4a, 4c-e, "Rereading Your Draft," "Getting the Most from Peer Reviewers' Comments," "Learning from Instructor Comments," "Revising with Peer and Instructor Comments"; Chapters 27, 28, 30, "Writing to the World," "Language that Builds Common Ground," "Word Choice" (pp. 27-28, 30, 64-66, 76-79, 354-359, 360-366, 374-385) 
• First-Year Writing: Chapter 6 (pp. 121-125)
• Draft 1.1 due Saturday
• Consider going to Open Tutoring sessions tonight or Thursday (again, 10/25 & 10/27, 5-7pm, ENGL Room 353) or visiting the Writing Center

That's all for now!

Tuesday, October 18: Revision

First off, here's this week's presentation: Lesson 8.

For today's class, we discussed where you are in the writing process for your draft 1.1, and we also discussed how revision is *not* the same thing as editing/proofreading. 

Remember, in revision, you're starting out by giving yourself some distance from your first draft, and then you focus on rereading for conveyed meaning, recalling your own purpose in writing your draft, reconsidering your rhetorical stance, considering your audience, and evaluating your organization. These are big picture issues that you want to get squared away before you work on smaller details through editing (you don't want to do all that work editing only to find you need to change directions on a big idea of your paper, right?). Again, these steps in the writing process basically ensure that you are conveying exactly what you mean to convey about a topic--that you are expressing your argument effectively.

I encourage you to keep looking at the differences in the sample drafts from draft 1.1 to 1.2 in the back of your book (pgs. 471, 478). Look for the author's identification of audience/purpose and rhetorical choices, organization of ideas, adherence to the assignment, etc. (other big picture ideas).

Homework:

• Reading: St. Martin's, Ch. 2 (pgs. 23-39)
• Bring a HARD COPY of your working rhetorical analysis to class next week (Draft 1.1 assignment is on RaiderWriter under the syllabus--take a look at it and make sure that you adhere to the assignment). The due date for your rhetorical analysis is coming up (October 29th), so you need to begin drafting so you have time to revise! 
• You have already done a good chunk of the work here--you have gathered information, identified audience/purpose, structured a thesis statement, and you have even started a bit of analysis here and there. I am asking you to take your first swing at putting this into paper format. 
• BA6

Brief Assignment #6:

Description: To complete this assignment, you will read the initial draft provided on RaiderWriter and then write an initial paragraph in which you discuss the problems that you see in the current draft. 

Next, read the revised draft and write another paragraph in which you discuss:

1) Whether the problems that you saw in the first draft were addressed.

2) Whether the revisions fixed other issues that you hadn’t noticed in the draft.

3) Why the revisions are or are not an improvement over the first draft.

If you believe other revisions should be made to the draft, conclude your assignment with an explanation of what those are and how the revisions should be made.

Your discussion should be 500 - 650 words in length.

That's all for now!

Tuesday, October 11: Integrating and Evaluating Quotations

First off, here's this week's lesson: Lesson 7.

This week is really about finding some support for your paper and thinking about how to integrate that support into your writing. Although you have picked out rhetorical choices (BA#3), here you are looking to connect them to your thesis and to find places in the text that help support your argument (i.e. does the author effectively reach his/her audience through his/her use of these rhetorical choices?). 

Remember, your thesis is saying that the writer is making rhetorical choices in order to make an argument. Therefore, your included quotations should be based on showing *HOW* these rhetorical choices are working on a specific audience, so avoid just picking a quote because it "sounds good."  Instead, look to find quotes that show how these rhetorical choices are working to leverage the audience toward the author's purpose.  

In other words: Everything should point to your thesis.

You can always look at the student samples in the back of the FYW textbook if you need some guidance.

BA5 Instructions via Raider Writer:
1. Begin by writing your working thesis at the top of your assignment. 
2. Select a minimum of five quotations from the article that you will use as examples of particular rhetorical choices.
3. Write a brief assessment of why each quotation would be useful to you in composing your draft. Your assessment of each quotation should include your answers to the following questions:

• Where will this quotation fit in your organization?
• How does it demonstrate the points you are trying to make about the author's writing?

Your analysis, not counting the quotations, should be 500-650 words.

NOTE: You may find that in identifying and evaluating your quotations, you will modify and improve your original thesis statement.  In other words, you may find quotes for rhetorical devices that are stronger than the devices you previously chose to use. 

That's all for now. Have a good week!

Tuesday, October 4: Thesis Statements

Hi all,

Here's this week's presentation: Lesson 6.

Remember, as we discussed in class, thesis statements need...

• An arguable statement
• "Because" statements--reasons for your claim
• Possibly qualifiers (like "may," "might," etc.). Something that amends those assumptions that your working thesis may/may not have been built upon.

For the purposes of a rhetorical analysis, your thesis should include:

• Author's name
• Article title (in quotes)
• Who the intended audience is
• What the author's purpose is
• BRIEF listing of rhetorical choices you are going to discuss

It seems overwhelming, but you can toy with ways to include these elements as you work on BA4.

Homework:

• Reading:
• St. Martin's: Ch. 3f-g (pgs. 54-63)
• FYW: Chs. 18 and 22
• BA4

Brief Assignment #4:

In this assignment, you will continue your preparation for writing your rhetorical analysis by writing thesis statements suitable for it. Using three texts specified by your classroom instructor, or the three texts listed below, you will:

1) identify the audience and purpose of each text and explain what those are in about 75- 100 words

2) create a thesis statement for a rhetorical analysis of each text.

Remember that to successfully create your thesis statements, you will need to read these texts carefully (and, usually, several times) so that you thoroughly understand the audience, purpose, and content of the texts.

Texts for your thesis statements:

• Sam Dillon, "What Corporate America Can’t Build:  A Sentence"
• Karen Cangialosi, "Healing Through the Written Word"
• Mary Pipher, "Writing to Connect"

That's all for now! Have a good week.

Tuesday, September 27: Critical Reading cont.

Hi class,

Link to today's presentation: Lesson 5.

To review today's class, we discussed how WHAT someone is arguing may not be nearly as important as HOW they're arguing it. We took last week's concepts/questions about how to come at a text with a certain amount of skepticism, to look more deeply at how an author presents his/her argument, and applied them to Gawande's "A Lifesaving Checklist."

SO, with that practice in mind, you're moving forward to actually writing your rhetorical analysis of either Dillon's, Cangialosi's, or Pipher's article. Also, in both classes, almost no one chose to opt for Pipher's article--hint: some of you might find it helpful to analyze hers instead. Just because rhetorical choices might be a bit more difficult to label does not mean that it will be hard to analyze. Also, in regard to Dillon's article, just because something is straightforward/short doesn't mean it will be easy to write about. Keep that in mind as you move forward.

Homework:

• Reading
• St. Martin's:  Chs. 8 and 13
• FYW:  Ch. 6 (pgs. 119-152)
• For this week, you do not have a BA, BUT you do have a Writing Reflection assignment that is due TO ME (not through RaiderWriter) in class next week.

Writing Reflection Assignment:

Purpose: Communicating to me any areas of confusion about the concepts we work with in this class. Do you struggle with summary/paraphrase? Audience/purpose? Rhetorical choices? Let me know.

Write a brief reflection--Two paragraphs, 300-400 words. Discuss:

(1) Which concepts do you have a firm grasp of?

(2) Which concepts are you struggling with?

Bring this as a HARD COPY next week to turn in to me (typed is preferred).

That should be it! Have a good week.

• 
  

Tuesday, September 20: Critical Reading and Rhetorical Devices

Hi class,

Here's the link to this morning's presentation: Lesson 4.

Also, here's a link to the list of rhetorical devices that we discussed in class: Common Rhetorical Choices.

As you move forward, concentrate on reading critically, questioning the author/content/overall message of the text that you are analyzing. Your goal is to look deeper at a text. Come at the text with a certain amount of skepticism, and don't take it at face value.

We also discussed ethos/pathos/logos more in depth. Should you have missed class, catch up by looking through this morning's presentation. Remember, ethos/pathos/logos are not rhetorical choices; instead, they are pathways rhetorical choices take.


Homework

• Reading:
• St. Martin's:
• Chapter 3a-3c, "Exploring a Topic," "Narrowing a Topic," "Drafting a Working Thesis"
• Chapter 10h, "Moving from Hypothesis to Working Thesis"
• Chapter 15a, "Refining Your Plans" (pgs. 40-49, 198, 250-252)
• First-Year Writing: Ch 2 (pgs. 30-36)
• BA3

Basic Assignment #3:

Purpose: To demonstrate your ability to identify specific rhetorical choices made by a writer

Description: For this brief assignment, using the text you will analyze for your Draft 1.1 (either Dillon's, Cangialosi's, or Pipher's articles), please do the following:

·        Identify the audience and purpose of the piece. Be as specific as possible and support your identification with a brief explanation (100-200 words).

·        Identify and list at least five rhetorical choices the writer employs to reach this audience and achieve his or her purpose. Give at least one example of each, and be sure to cite where you find each example (Author's-last-name page-number).

Remember, your assignments are due Saturday before 11:59pm. That should be it for now!

Tuesday, September 13: Summary and Paraphrase

First off, here's today's presentation: Lesson 3.

Announcement: You NEED to have your textbooks by now. If you have ordered them and are waiting to pick them up, you need to physically go to the bookstore and get them (the website will continue to say "out of stock" even though we know that they are in stock. In fact, Varsity has over 900 copies available, so should you come to class without your textbooks next week, your participation points will be deducted).

We covered the basics of summary and paraphrase in class today, meaning we discussed (1) the differences between the two and (2) how each are used in academic writing. We looked at what makes a good summary/paraphrase and what makes a bad summary/paraphrase. If you missed class, make sure to review the presentation posted above, as well as your readings that were due today (these include guidelines/checklists that you should look over before and after composing a summary or paraphrase).

Remember:

• A summary is when you condense a text. Summaries can be different lengths depending on what you're using them for, but they generally should encompass the entirety of the original author's message. Make sure that you understand the text so that you can present it accurately.
• A paraphrase is when you restate an author's words to put them in your own words. As opposed to a summary, which talks about the text, a paraphrase requires you to step into the author's shoes and rewrite their ideas in your own words. 

Homework:

• Readings:
• FYW: Ch. 4 (pgs. 69-100)
• St. Martin's Handbook (pgs. 124-139)
• BA2

Brief Assignment #2:

Objective: To demonstrate your ability to summarize and paraphrase portions of a text.

Purpose: Summarizing and paraphrasing are important skills for academic writers. You will need to be able to condense other writers' ideas into your own words so that you can write research papers, analytical papers, argumentative papers, and other types of academic writing. the length of your summary will always be determined by your purpose for writing, as well as by your intended audience.

In addition, for purposes of this course, summarizing and paraphrasing will help you prepare for the rhetorical analysis, where you will need to be able to succinctly state an author's purpose and discuss specific passages of an article. For this assignment, you will write two summaries of a text and a paraphrase of a small portion of a text. Use the discussion about summaries and paraphrases in Part 3, Section 13c-d  of The St. Martin’s Handbook to assist you in doing so.

Description, Part One, Article Summaries

Your instructor will tell you which article from your First-Year Writing textbook you will use for your summaries. 

(Pick one of the three articles: Dillon's "What Corporate America Can't Build," Cangialosi's "Healing through the Written Word," or Pipher's "Writing to Connect." Start thinking of which article you would like to write your rhetorical analysis over and work with that article). 

You will write two summaries of the assigned article. The first summary will be a single sentence in length. The next summary will be five sentences in length. Strategies for completing both will be discussed in class. Before turning in your summaries, please make sure you label them as either "One Sentence Summary" or "Five Sentence Summary."

Description, Part Two, Paraphrase

After you’ve completed your summaries, you will paraphrase a brief passage selected by your instructor. 

(Paraphrase paragraph six of Atul Gawande's "A Lifesaving Checklist"--pgs. 99-100 in FYW.)

Your goal in this portion of the assignment is to restate the ideas of the passage in your own words and do so in a way that is readable and understandable. Label this final portion of the assignment as "Paraphrase." If your instructor gives you more than one passage to choose from, make sure you add the author's name and page number of the passage to your label.

That should be it for now! Should you have any questions, email me or come by office hours. 

Tuesday, September 6: Reading Rhetorically

Hi class,

Here's the link to today's presentation: Lesson 2. Should you feel so inclined, feel free to watch the rhetorical analysis video of Taylor Swift's "Blank Space" music video--there are others like it available on YouTube as well.

If you have not gotten logged into RaiderWriter yet, PLEASE email me about getting logged in. Your BA1 was due on Saturday night, and I expect each and every one of you to get into the system and get your assignment submitted. Know that every day your assignment is late, a penalty is applied by the RaiderWriter system.

You DO NOT have a BA due this Saturday night... Yay! However, you do have readings to complete for next week (as listed on the presentation):

• FYW: 
• Ch. 1 (pgs. 1-16) 
• Ch. 6 (pgs. 129-133)
• Ch. 2 (pgs. 17-37)
• Ch. 3 (pgs. 39-49 and 54-68)
• Ch. 23 "Three Mile Island and the Billion Dollar Memo"
• St. Martin's Handbook:
• Ch. 1 "Expectations for College Writing"
• Ch. 20a "Reading Texts in the Humanities" (pgs. 14-22)
• Pgs. 300-301
• Ch. 13c-d "Paraphrases" and "Summaries"
• Pgs. 236-237

That should be it for now! Email me if you have any questions.

Update on Textbooks

On Tuesday, I told you that if you could not find the FYW textbook by today to email me. I have since discussed the situation with the powers above me at TTU, and I am told that B&N, Varsity, Double T, etc. DO in fact have copies of the textbook onsite; however, you must physically GO to these stores. If you check online, the textbook will still be listed as out of stock/on backorder, but they do have copies in the stores. Let me know if you have any more trouble.

Tuesday, August 30--Welcome!

Hi all. First off, here is the link to this morning's presentation: Lesson 1

This is an informational blog (an easy place for you to go to get instructions). However, this blog is not designed as a method of communication back to me. If you have questions, send an email or request an appointment (via the "Contact Info" tab at the top of this page). All assignments are completed through Raider Writer.

You can access my Classroom Policies and the Syllabus at the above tab.

Books: 
First Year Writing can be purchased at Varsity, B&N, Double T, etc. I have been told that, while B&N is currently ordering in more stock, Varsity and Double T should have FYW available. If you do not have access to the book by Thursday, please email me at Emma.Sutton@ttu.edu.

St. Martin's Handbook is an e-book that is good for 4 years and will help you with writing in your TTU career. B&N and other bookstores will have a *code* to purchase online but you can also go directly to REDSHELF to purchase. Make sure you purchase the TTU Custom Edition.  Just search "St. Martin's Handbook Texas Tech" and it will come right up.

Assignments:
Below are your assignments for the week--I will not post your BAs every week (just until you all can get logged into RaiderWriter). Please get in the habit of logging into RaiderWriter to access your readings and Brief Assignment descriptions. Remember, readings are due before class and your online assignments are due on Saturdays, before 11:59pm.

Readings

• FYW: 
• Course Policies
• Articles from Ch. 23
• "What Corporate America Can't Build--A Sentence" by Sam Dillon
• "Healing through the Written Word" by Karen Cangialosi
• "Writing to Connect" by Mary Pipher
• St. Martin's e-handbook:
• pgs. v-iii, xxvi-xxix, 1-11

 BA1 Instructions (to be turned in *on Raider Writer*)

Objective: To enable you to discuss your prior academic writing experiences and gain practice in some of the reading and writing skills covered in the course.

Purpose: BA1 has two parts. Part one is designed to give you an opportunity to tell your instructor about your prior writing experiences and discuss what you see as your strengths and weaknesses as a writer. Part two gives you an opportunity to “get your feet wet” as you practice the type of critical reading and writing expected in college.

Description: To complete Part one, answer each of the following questions in paragraph form, being as specific as possible as you discuss each topic: 
What is your experience with academic writing? What types of writing have you done in the last few years—you might discuss high school, college-level, or workplace writing, for example. 
What do you think your strengths are as a writer? Your weaknesses? (Note that your e-handbook provides descriptions of many writing strengths and problems—refer to it if you need to in discussing your particular abilities). What are your goals for this class? 

Part two consists of three different letters written by a college student. Depending on the first letter of your last name, read one of the three .pdf files linked to this assignment. 
If your last name begins with A – I, read “Letter One” 
If your last name begins with J – O, read “Letter Two” 
If your last name begins with P – Z, read “Letter Three” 

After reading the letter, write a paragraph in which you explain the purpose and audience for the letter. Be sure to identify some of the choices the writer made and explain how her choices allowed her to effectively communicate her message to her intended audience. 

Your response to this assignment should be 400-600 words in length for both parts.

That should do it for now! I enjoyed you all in class today, and I'm looking forward to a great semester. Email me if you have any questions.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to English 1301! This blog will be used to host agendas and lecture notes for sections 021 and 025 of ENGL 1301 at Texas Tech University. Please refer to this blog first for any questions you might have.