Thursday, April 27: 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 5/2)
• Writing Review (due 5/9)
• 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 Mon. (5/1) 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 (5/2)
• Next week's class: I still have to take attendance, so show up, sign in, and ask any questions you have about the course. Also, we'll be completing course evaluations during next week's class time, so be thinking about any commentary you'd like to write up.
• Writing Review (5/9)

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

Thursday, April 20: Sentence-Level Revision

Hi all!

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 
• Open Tutoring Sessions: Monday 5/1

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 should be all for now. Have a good week!

Thursday, April 13: Revising Introduction and Conclusion

Hello all!

Here's today's lesson: Lesson 12. We're zooming through the rest of the semester; next week we will tackle sentence-level revisions, and then we will move on to our draft 1.2 and writing review. The end is near!

As we discussed in class, we're working on revising our introductions and/or conclusions to draft 1.1 this week. Keep in mind, a good introduction:
(1) attracts the reader's attention and
(2) presents the topic and makes a comment on it.
A good conclusion:
(1) leaves readers satisfied that a full discussion has taken place and
(2) helps readers to know what they have learned.

In class today, we evaluated some sample introductions and conclusions as well: Worksheet.

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:

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.

That should be all for now! Have a great week, and let me know if you have any questions.

Thursday, April 6: Planning Revision

Hello, everyone!

First off, here's today's lesson: 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. 
• 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!