Some Reminders

Before we plunge into the last few weeks of the semester, let me remind you of a few important things that these coming weeks will bring with them.

I. Essay Submission Deadlines

First, your Essay 3 deadline is this Thursday. That means all hard copies of your Essay 3 final drafts are due by the start of class, 5:30 PM, on Thursday, 4/24/2014, and all emailed copies (attached in .doc and .docx and emailed to barnoyenglish at gmail dot com only) are due by 11:59 PM the night before, Wednesday, 4/23/2014. Please note: All Essay 3's submitted by this deadline will be graded more quickly than usual essays, with the hopeful goal of getting these essays back to you the following week, so that you can revise them.

For your benefit, I'd like for us to dedicate much of our class period on this coming Tuesday, 4/22/2014, to working in class on Essay 3, any revisions, and any late essays. But I'd also like for all of you to attend, so that I can speak with each of you briefly about your work and about your plans for the end of the semester.

And since we're on the topic of plans for the end of the semester, let me remind you again: The absolutely final deadline for any late or revised essays (with the unique exception of Essay 3's submitted on-time -- these will get until our final exam date) is May 1st, the end of class, 7:45 PM. Any essays whatsoever that are submitted even a minute after this deadline will be rejected outright. Also: From this point on, late papers will receive no comments, not even minimal comments as I've done so far this semester -- only a grade.

II. The Usual: Readings and Other Assignments

Don't forget that we also have a few casual writing assignments to do on your group blogs. These are all free and easy to see on our syllabus, close to the end of the Course Schedule section. Let's not lose track of these assignments, since they're worth a part of your grade.

Lastly, I'd also like for us to continue reading in Atul Gawande's book, Better. As well as you can, between now and April 24th, try to finish as much as you can of the book. The very last chapter, in particular, presents some of Gawande's most curious ideas -- about connecting writing, learning, and doing better in work and in life overall, and I'd like very much for us to discuss Gawande's final thoughts about doing better. I mean, haven't you wondered why a successful surgeon such as Gawande has made writing such an essential part of his work?

Of course, I understand that you've got several things to work on, and not only for my class. So if we don't manage to get ahead in reading the end of Better for this Thursday, April 24th, then let's plan to finish it for next week.

That's it for now. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please email me.