Your Sample Search & Other Reminders

I hope you're having a good spring break. For a quick update on your Essay 2 Draft 1 scores, scroll down and check out the post right before this one. But don't forget that you have homework due this week, too. Let me give you some quick notes about that.

-- First, for those of you still thinking deeply about your sample search, maybe you're worried about doing your search and submitting it properly. Here is a short breakdown of the assignment: 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CCfZ54v1EDQRUpcIfwXUAkn1G2RZh2dTNlCxmaWXpyk/edit.

(Be aware: Those of you who have already submitted your search, you're fine. You do not need to submit another search.)

-- Second, for those of you thinking deeply about your critiques (And remember: You have two [2] critiques due this Thursday night, for two [2] different classmates!), you might be worried about how to fill a 500 word critique. That's understandable. But I'll answer this concern very simply: Your critiques are your responsibility, not anybody else's. If you write an insufficient critique, only you lose points. Now, let's just look at the matter a little bit more closely: If there isn't enough to write about in your partners' critiques, then you could easily write about what's not there! Make suggestions; ask questions; invite your critique partners to say more or to organize their drafts better. Use critical thinking and write effectively -- that's what I'm always asking for.

I'm looking forward to seeing your good work. Your research advice was inspiring, and now I only want to read more of your ideas.

Essay 2 Draft 1 Score Report

Here's your score report for your Essay 2 Draft 1:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ap9oU02C12STdEpwWUNVYzlMUWd5OW5jUmRWdTdHcFE&usp=drive_web#gid=0.

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As you look at your score, please note that in looking over your drafts, I gave points to the following:

     1) Summary structure (one solid paragraph that starts with the thesis and basic details, then moves on to major points,

     2) Summary completeness (a summary made of strong, effective paraphrase that credits the authors for each major point),

     3) Response completeness (a direct thesis, followed by a point-by-point breakdown of your support for this thesis),

     4) Response structure (using each paragraph of your response to clearly do something different from the other paragraphs), and

     5) Citations (here I looked for substance, not format; I was essentially looking for all the important basic details that identify an article to be there, or at least most of them).

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Special note: If you think your essay is lacking on any of the above, don't just jump to your draft. Instead, start by taking down some notes. Then be sure to save a new draft of your essay, and start making your changes there -- never in your first draft! Also: You might consider using the above parameters as ideas to consider in writing your critiques.

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.

Reminders for This Week and Next

Please remember...

-- Since we won't be meeting this Thursday, I'll be posting an online assignment for you to do. This assignment should be up tomorrow, Wednesday, 3/5/2014. This assignment will be due by Saturday night, 11:59 PM.

-- The first draft of your Essay 2 is due on your group blog this Thursday night, 3/6/2014, by 11:59 PM. Please post your draft as a link to a Google Drive document. Just don't forget to "Share" your document with "Anyone with the link." Also: Once you post your link, highlight it and click "LINK" to make that link clickable.

-- Your two critiques (each a complete, casual essay of 500 words) in response to your two (2) critique partners' essays are due in the comments section of each of their drafts next Thursday night, 3/13/2014, by 11:59 PM. You may, if you like, either copy-and-paste your critique into the comments section or provide a link to a Google Drive document (your choice). But please, post your critiques only in the comments section below each of their drafts.

-- Also, by 11:59 PM next Thursday, 3/13/2014, please submit what I'm calling "a search" -- basically, a document (emailed to me) which contains your developing Works Cited page (or, in other words, a list of the citations for all the articles you've used in your research so far). On this Works Cited page, please follow up each citation with a few comments about the content and effectiveness of the article that this citation refers to. These should just be casual comments to help me see what you think you'll use each of your sources for.

-- Lastly, please make sure to keep up with any announcements I might need to make in the meantime.

Have a great Spring Break!

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P. S. -- Those of you who submitted your Essay 1 to me via email: I should have your essay back to you within the next few days. And if you submitted your essay by hard copy and you didn't receive it, or you weren't able to make it to class today, please email me. I can scan the essay with my comments and email you a copy.

Essay Revisions Sheet

By now, you should be expecting your graded Essay 1 to come back to you. You might not like your grade. That's fine. What you've got to do now, simply enough, is to revise your essay.

Here's a link to the worksheet I'd like you to use when revising your essay:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STcmtKRDBBeEk1cUE/edit.

(Note: This worksheet is all about spotting and correcting minor errors, editing errors. Your larger, more dramatic revisions should be obvious from your essay's next draft.)

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.

In Case of Snow...

In case you haven't heard, there's snow in the forecast, and with snow comes the danger of class cancellation. But remember that whenever class is cancelled, you should look here for the alternate plan. Let me give you the preliminary plan, the "just in case" plan.

First of all, don't forget that we're not meeting this Thursday, 3/6/2014. I've already got an online activity for you to do. I plan to post this activity sometime on Wednesday.

Now, second of all, if class ends up getting cancelled on Tuesday, 3/4/2014, because of snow (and please always double-check on www.nvcc.edu for up-to-date cancellation messages), I'll prepare another activity for you to do. I will also assign each of you a new critique partner (in other words, someone whose first draft of Essay 2 you'll have to read and respond to with a 500-word critique). So please be sure to go on here for the work you need to do.

Third of all -- and very importantly -- if class is cancelled on Tuesday, I will get your graded Essay 1 to you over email. Yes, even if you submitted by hard copy, I'll get that essay to you; I'll scan it and email you a PDF of the picture.

Whatever happens, let's do our best to make sure that we don't get frozen in our tracks (sorry for the pun).

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Finally, here are the things that won't change this week, regardless of whether class is cancelled or not:

-- Your Essay 2 first draft will still be due this week. To remind you, I will accept only drafts that are posted on your group blog. I will not accept drafts that are emailed to me. And please do your best to make sure your draft is formatted clearly for reading.

-- Spring Break is not going to be cancelled. All of next week is Spring Break.

-- During Spring Break, even though there's no class, you will still have to post a critique in the comments section of your critique partner's Essay 2 first draft. (And remember: If your critique partner doesn't post a draft, write a critique for someone else, whomever you want. In such an event, it's your critique partner who loses points for not submitting a draft; so don't let yourself lose points, too.)

-- Also, during Spring Break, I will still expect to get a search submitted from each one of you, in the form of a document from you (posted on your group blog) containing your developing Works Cited page (or, in other words, a list of the citations for all the articles you've used in your research so far). On this Works Cited page, please follow up each citation with a few comments about the content and effectiveness of the article that this citation refers to.

-- Lastly, please continue to keep up with any announcements that I make here during Spring Break.