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!