Independent Work Report, 4/10/2014

Remember: Today we're doing the same thing as last class -- working independently on our research papers and your critiques for your classmates' research paper drafts. I'll be in class again, too, during the usual class time, and I'll be ready to help you, if you need help.

A quick heads-up, though: Next week, all week, we'll be working on our Final Exam: Part I. On Tuesday, you will get one type of essay to read and respond to, and on Thursday, you'll get another type of essay. These are both types of essays that you've both read and written yourself. Your assignment, though, will be to write a critique in response to each of them. So be sure to work on effective critiques, with effective structure, and critical advice.

Lastly, just like last time, I'll need a short email report from you by 7:45 PM tonight (roughly 100-200 words):

Independent Work Report

1) What did you plan to work on either in-class or independently today?

2) What did you succeed in accomplishing in your in-class or independent work?

3) How has your task schedule been working for you? What can you do in the near future to improve your work habits in order not only to get your work done in a timely manner, but also to feel good about it?

Independent Work Report, 4/8/2014

Don't forget: Today is dedicated toward independent work on your research paper. If you like, you are welcome to work from home today, or wherever you might be comfortable working. Likewise, you are welcome to come to class and work there. I'll be in class during our usual class times, and I'll be ready to answer whatever questions or concerns you might have.

And, if you're in class, I'll be happy to talk to you one-on-one about your Essay 3. Just be aware: I will look only at one paragraph at a time; I will not read your whole essay and tell you what's good or bad. The reason: What you need to do this week (and all this semester, for that matter) is not only to develop a stronger essay, but also to develop effective research and writing practices for yourself. What I'll do is I'll try to give you an idea about one spot in your paper, then I'll let you figure out the deep solutions on your own.

Whatever you choose to do this week, I expect you to do some work on your Essay 3, during class time. And whether or not you come to class, I'll be expecting you to fill out and either hand or email me a short report (roughly 100-200 words total), by 7:45 PM tonight, that answers all the following questions:

Independent Work Report

1) What did you plan to work on either in-class or independently today?

2) What did you succeed in accomplishing in your in-class or independent work?

3) Based on your results today, what do you hope to accomplish on Thursday?

Classwork: Starting to Develop Your Own Research Paper, Your Own Plan

Here's a link to a handout that starts to break down your research plan:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STTkVmRkZ1YjQySUE/edit.

Please download this handout or print it out. Then fill out this handout. Try to be as thorough and detailed as you can. Yes, you've done stuff like this before -- if you've been keeping up with our coursework, that is. When you've got a satisfactory set of parameters here, please hand your filled-in handout to me, then start to develop a more detailed plan on your own.

In-Class Writing, 3/25/2014

Here's a link to today's in-class writing:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pQ6TywlIzyFy3glViPlJVyUv9Qk3gQk9pLDKSXC-4NQ/edit.

Classwork: Using a Secondary Source

Here's a link to our classwork for today:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STZmJnN3hMdVBhd2s/edit.

Online Activity: "My Research Advice" (Thursday, 3/6/2014)

Here's your online assignment to come in place of this Thursday's class:

My Research Advice

Directions: In a casual blog post of at least 500 words, describe what you do to make research and research assignments manageable, maybe even easy to do. Again, remember that this is an informal writing assignment, so requirements are not so strict. But try to put your ideas in some kind of clear, easy-to-follow structure. Also, be sure to present examples from your own research, either from this class or from other classes.

Remember, too, that the research process involves several different stages: The stage of deciding on a topic, the stage of conducting a search, the stage of choosing good articles to use, even the stage of sitting down to read an article to determine what it's trying to say -- and, of course, the stage of writing about what you find. As a matter of fact, there is no rule that says research goes in one specific order. Many writers start by writing, then searching, then reading. Many others reread articles they already know, then they choose a topic, then they write. Jumping back and forth in stages is very common. Repeating stages is common, too. It might even be that you have a stage in your process that I haven't included here. In that case, go ahead and mention this additional stage. What I want you to do is to discuss the approaches that you bring with you when you do research.

Me, I'm especially curious about how you approach the task of reading a new article. Reading has always been difficult for me, and I've noticed that the large majority of my students struggle with it, too, regardless of their background. So even if your advice is not about reading, I'd appreciate it if you took a moment to discuss how your advice can help someone who struggles with reading and picking out a writer's message and support details. I won't take points off if you don't talk about reading strategies. I'm just always on the lookout for effective reading advice.

Finally, be attentive: If you notice that another classmate has already described a method of approaching research that is similar to yours, try to respond to this classmate's ideas in your own blog post.

The deadline for this assignment is: Saturday night, 3/8/2014, 11:59 PM.

Classwork: Respond in the Voice of a Disagreeing Audience

Here's a link to today's classwork:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nbhQrOEJX2HYfOvPqQZnQymtEKk4yp9ryKNs66OXdSM/edit.

Reading Quiz: "What Doctors Owe"

On your own, please take out a sheet of paper, put your name and "Reading Quiz" on top, then open the link below and follow the directions inside (Notice: It might be smart to have a copy of Atul Gawande's book, Better, next to you as you work on this quiz):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iOM8Qr4VTj2s7yStiCq4qkJBuZxhA7uaw1Q9lgYTRVM/edit.

Classwork: Analysis of an Argumentative Essay

Together with on or two other classmates, make your own analysis of the following article from The Seattle Times:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STeHJ5c0NLYVItYjQ/edit.

Here's a link to the worksheet that I would like you to use in analyzing the above article:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STM2FLeTQ2QVg1Ylk/edit.

Argument Basics: Writing for an Audience & the Three Rhetorical Appeals

What's the difference between writing for yourself and writing for an audience? Why is writing for yourself often called "informal" and writing for others often called "formal"? What's are some basic differences between formal and informal writing? These are the basic differences between our article write-ups (which are supposed to be informal) and a summary-and-response essay (which is supposed to be formal).

The question of appealing to an audience, arguing in ways that interest people, move people, convince people, has troubled speakers and writers since the beginning of civilization. Eventually, philosophers started to develop theories regarding how to answer this question effectively. One such philosopher, Aristotle, broke down appealing to an audience into three categories, The Three Rhetorical Appeals:

-- Logos -- appealing to an audience based on the audience's logic and basic reasoning

-- Pathos -- appealing to an audience based on the audience's emotions

-- Ethos --  appealing to an audience based on their values and beliefs, their ethics

Notice: The key in appealing to an audience is looking at an argument form their perspective, not yours. Consider this comparison: Every audience wants you, the writers and speakers, to think like them, or at least to try to relate to them; but not every audience wants you to "be yourself." So remember, when writing for an audience, focus on the audience's perspective. Trust me; this is a simple but challenging idea.

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Here's an exercise to try to think through the basic ideas of appealing to an audience:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zlkm9inXBdtxNvL-exVOwuZRRNCFFiIJeIUZzXH4z8Y/edit.
(And here's the same document in a Word file, just in case the link above doesn't work for you:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STWlhzQ2ZvdnB1dlk/edit.)

Practice Article Write-Up

Here's a link to an article from The New York Times about a health- and healthcare-related related topic:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STaTFmNjU5VmpaRVE/edit.
Take the time to read this article on your own and to make notes to help you follow the writer's discussion and her supporting details.

Now here's a link to a handout that breaks down how to plan and put together a basic research write-up for any article:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STS25zRGo2cV9HRFU/edit.
(Please note: You may want to refer back to this handout when you work on your own individual research write-ups. Notice the label on the right, "article write-ups." This label will get you back to this blog post and to other blog posts that contain useful information about research write-ups.)

Okay, now get together with one other classmate or two and start to put together a joint research write-up, in basic summary-and-response format. Once you're done, or once the period is over, please turn in what you have.

Classwork: Better, p. 73-83, 2/13/2014

Here are the classwork questions about the chapter, "Naked," in Atul Gawande's book, Better, that I intended for us to work on today:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SJtjsFbjJ8UnJDtwQ9UiTmVAVXt-t5bUZjJhXvcPyvY/edit.

Please note: You are not required to post your answers to these questions on the group blog. Simply look over them and consider to yourself how you might answer them. For some actual work-from-home class work, please look at the blog post right below this one.

Classwork: Better, p. 51-69

Here's the link to your Better groupwork for this week:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19HWDgo0v9bZ2RwJcJTFK8sPnIt_Q7ndP8PJ_LPM-ccI/edit.

More Detail about Critiques, and a Group Activity

Still thinking about how to organize your critiques for your assigned classmates? First of all, don't get stressed. Remember that critiques are supposed to be open, honest, and casual. Well, they're less casual than blog posts, because you're trying to help your classmates put together a more effective essay. So, for instance, good basic structure helps a lot. But you're not required to have such a thorough plan, or such a deep thesis, or such careful arguments for your critiques.

Here is a handout, and a group activity, that gives a more detailed picture of how you might structure a critique: 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STT1lLSmZQNGwtRGc/edit.

Here's a personal narrative, written by a former student, that does a lot of things right but also has a number of issues that need attention:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STS3RVQnJFdlVlTjQ/edit.

And here are your basic directions for today:

To start, get together with your group, look over the handout above, and assign who will do what (your call). Then, on your own, read the attached essay carefully and make your own notes. Then get back together with your group and start to put together a direct, personal, and honest critique of this student's essay. Address your critique to this student. If necessary, convince him or her what's really going on in the essay, what parts of the essay might need attention, what kind of attention each part needs, and why the issues that you see need to be addressed in the way you suggest.

(Note: Be aware that I've given all of my blog posts that help you to write your own critiques the label, "critiques." Please make use of this label as the semester progresses to get back to this old -- but important -- critique-writing advice.)

Exercise: Getting Deeper with Conversations and Details

Below are some more exercises about dialogue and detail. Let's work on them one-by-one. Start by working on these on your own, then we'll get together and discuss the answers:

"Showing versus Telling" --
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STaTZsc092Y2syaGs/edit

"Analyzing Conversation" --
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STYXc5ODBvcEJjSU0/edit

Exercises: Dialogue and Sensory Detail

Not sure if you've got the handle of dialogue and sensory detail in writing? Let's try some simple exercises. Please open the following handouts and try to answer them on your own, and we'll get together as a class and discuss the answers:

"Reading a Dialogue" --
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STb2FqWkVONXBZX2M/edit

"Sensory Detail" --
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STVW5URHMtNkcyUTQ/edit

Classwork: Better, p. 29-50

Here's the link to today's classwork:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STYk5DeVNaQ2JGWmc/edit.

Classwork: Analysis of a Narrative Essay

Here's the link for today's classwork, "Analysis of a Narrative Essay":
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STQU1uT2oyM1NpcjQ/edit.

Classwork: Better, Pages 1-28

Here's the link for the classwork I intended for us to work on today:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STV1hNSGZhQko0RDA/edit.
It's a handout that contains a little bit of directions and a short list of questions to answer in groups. For your information: This is what classwork about sections from Better will generally look like.

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And here's the plan for today:

-- You are not required to do this assignment. I will not take points off if you don't do it. (Be aware: On future school cancellations, I might make classwork required and graded.)

-- If you want to try this class work, you should work on your own. (You are not required to work in groups this time.)

-- If you want to do this assignment, choose just one question from the classwork to work on. (It might be wise to see if other classmates already answered certain questions, then choose a different question than they did. But this is not required, either.)

-- Post your response as a new blog post on your group blog.

-- Write a short comment, if you want, in response to one of your classmates' answers. (You're welcome to look on other group blogs to do so.)

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Meanwhile, don't forget that there is homework (graded homework) due this coming Thursday night. There is even homework due today, before 5:30 PM (remember those two blog posts?). For more information, scroll down and look through the previous blog posts below.