Week 9.3

Great discussion today on the analysis essay. I want you to now read the original source that the analysis essay commented upon and come up with your own opinion. Do you agree or disagree? What are some points that Winne makes that the student essay did not talk about? Please quote from the original article in the Washington Post. Did reading the analysis essay before reading the original article skew your view on it? Did you find yourself, as you were reading, referring back to the analysis essay? Answer the following questions in 1-2 paragraphs. A paragraph is 4-6 coherent sentences.

Here is the link to the original article. Please read it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/16/AR2007111601213.html

Have a safe Halloween. I'll see you next week at your conferences.

Week 9.2

Today we discussed the literary analysis for Monday's reading. Hopefully that helped you see a great essay that is organized well. On page 310, the writer states, "It is when Dee tries to take the quilts promised to Maggie that the world, in the form of the narrator, finally says 'no' to Dee - or rather, 'yes' to Maggie - by dumping the quilts in her lap."

So, do you think that the outcome of the story was caused by Dee getting a No, Maggie getting a Yes, or a little of both. Explain your answer in 1-2 paragraphs. A paragraph is 4-6 coherent sentences. Feel free to use examples from the text as support.

Week 9.1

Now that you have had time to process your informative essay grade, please answer the following questions in 1-2 paragraphs.

1. Did you struggle with this assignment? If so, why? If not, why?

2. What did you struggle with in the informative essay? Was it a silly mistake that you knew, or something you never heard me talk about in class?

3. What can you take away with you, in terms of writing, to apply to your analysis and argumentative essay?

4. What is a drop quote? Did you have drop quote issues in your essay?

5. In all honest self-evaluation, for the work that you put into the essay, did you get the grade you thought you would? Why or why not?

Week 8.3

We talked about "The Collapse of Big Media: The Young and the Restless" in class today. This is a great example of good writing.

For this blog post, I want you to copy down one instance where the author of the essay quotes another source. Type it word for word as you see it in the textbook. Then, once the quote is typed in, I want you to identify what makes it a good quote, in terms of format. For example, does the author introduce the source? If so, how? By stating what? Note any commas and punctuation within the quote. Also, please talk about any follow up discussion the author of the essay adds to the quote. Does the author end the paragraph with the quote? Or does the author talk about the quote? How?

Have a great weekend. Don't forget panel discussions start on Monday.

Week 8.2

We analyzed both an analysis and the original source material for that analysis in class. Watch the following video of the mother giving her speech and answer the following questions.

1. What are some of the major differences between reading her speech versus actually seeing her give the speech?

2. Has seeing her changed how you feel towards the issue she is discussing?

3. Does seeing her add to her ethos (credibility)? Does it add to her pathos (emotional appeal)? Why or why not? If yes, how?

4. Which would you prefer if you were interested in this issue? The speech or the speech written on paper? Why?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_4670000/newsid_4673400/4673495.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&news=1&ms3=6&ms_javascript=true&bbcws=2

Week 8.1

Hopefully you've enjoyed constructing your informative essays. If you missed class today, we went over the next assignment sheet - the Analysis Essay.

Tell me about your experience writing the informative essay. What do you think you did well? What do you think you need to still work on? If you could go back and change one thing about your essay, what would it be? What has the informative essay taught you as a writer? How can you see yourself using this essay in the future?

As I read these essays for the next week or so, I hope they send me into a blissful trance - almost to the point of defying gravity. I know it was a tough assignment, but I'm glad you all made it to the end.

Week 7.2

This week we have peer review. Each day, one person per group will go over their essay. Each blog post for this week will be about your peer review experience. Answer the following questions in 1-2 paragraphs. A paragraph is 4-6 coherent sentences.

1. So, how was peer review? Overall thoughts?
2. Was the group balanced? Did the reader read his/her essay? Did reviewers leave good comments?
3. Give me three strengths of the essay.
4. Give me three weaknesses of the essay.

Week 7.1

This week we have peer review. Each day, one person per group will go over their essay. Each blog post for this week will be about your peer review experience. Answer the following questions in 1-2 paragraphs. A paragraph is 4-6 coherent sentences.

1. So, how was peer review? Overall thoughts?

2. Was the group balanced? Did the reader read his/her essay? Did reviewers leave good comments?

3. Give me three strengths of the essay.

4. Give me three weaknesses of the essay.

Week 6.3

Today was a fun day of going through a bad essay in class. Hopefully the activity prepared you for next week's peer review work. Answer the following questions in one paragraph. A paragraph is 4-6 coherent sentences.

1. What do you hope to get out of peer review? Go beyond just, "I want to have my essay looked over."

2. Why do you think peer review will, or will not, help your essay?

3. What are your concerns for peer review week?

Look out for an email from me this weekend. Check your student email for groupings and further instructions of how peer review week will be run. It is important that you bring 3 copies of your informative essay on Monday, especially if you were absent today. I am expecting at least 3 full pages in your draft. Be prepared to discuss the essay for that day by providing good feedback and comments. If you have any questions, please send me an email.

Week 6.2

Great job in class today. I was impressed with your close-reading abilities and insight.

I am interested in what you think about the reflection essay that you got back. Overall, the grades were pretty good. You don't need to share your grade, but tell me if you did better or worse than you had originally thought. What are a few things you need to improve on for the informative essay, in terms of writing? What were some of the mistakes that you made? Answer the questions in 4-6 coherent sentences.

Just a reminder: we are having peer review next week. You will be in 3-person groups and peer reviewing your group members' essays. I am expecting three copies of your draft next week Monday. A draft is a working draft that at least reaches 3 pages of text. No outlines or handwritten papers. Refer to the assignment sheet if you don't understand the requirements for this essay. If you still don't have a topic, please come and see me.

Week 6.1

I hope you learned a lot in class today, in terms of grammar and MLA. It's important to cover the basics. I'm hoping you will start to learn how to spot these mistakes in your own essays, as well as in any others you might read.

In one week, we will be having peer review workshops. You will be working in groups and helping each other out. Thus, you need to be working on your informative essay. If you do not have the assignment sheet, come and see me. If you do not have a topic, think about one and pick soon. I'm expecting people to have topics by Wednesday's class. If you have any questions about your topic, come and see me, or send me an email.

In one paragraph, tell me about your topic and what kind of information do you hope to talk about in your informative essay. Statistics? Pictures? Interviews? Books? Online articles from credible sources? Also, tell me why you chose that particular topic. Furthermore, I want to know what information you will be discussing. For example, if you essay is about roses, I'd want to know about the history/science of the plant, what it has symbolized in cultures around the world, and maybe about rose growing competitions. This is a rough example, but hopefully you can break down your topic into a few major areas and expand in those particular areas of focus.

Week 5.3

Answer one of the following questions in 1-2 paragraphs. A paragraph is 4-6 coherent sentences.

1. Why does Gottlieb begin with the story of her visit to Dr. Neil Clark Warren's office rather than her central question: can cold, hard science be a facilitator of romance?

2. Compare eHarmony.com with Perfectmatch.com, Chemistry.com, Match.com, and others. What does each promise on the first page? What does each claim to distinguish it from other similar online dating sites?

3. Who is Gottlieb's audience? How do you know? Provide support from the essay.

Have a great Homecoming Weekend. We'll be talking about MLA format and grammar on Monday.