ENGLISH 1301 – WEEK 8 OCTOBER 16, 2017

How did Brief Assignment 5 go? Any questions or concerns?

Sorry, guys. Blackboard Issues: This is the first semester we are using Blackboard. As a result, we are running into an incredible amount of issues.

Issues with Blackboard

“If I don’t get my feedback on time, what do I do?” 1.) Come to my office hours. I’m happy to check your work before you turn it in. 2.) Can’t make it to my office? Shoot me an e-mail. Let’s make an appointment. 3.) Can’t make an appointment? I can answer any of your questions about grades/assignments over e-mail. 4.) GO TO THE WRITING CENTER. Take my assignment instructions with you. Tutors can help you get started on the assignment or check if you are on the right track.

Let’s Talk About BA 4 … On any of your assignments, there is no guarantee you will get your feedback on time. If you want feedback before you submit the assignment that is due in the following week, you need to visit me in my office or go to the writing center. Due to these Blackboard issues, let me tell you how grading for BA 5 will work.

Issues with Blackboard These issues may or may not continue throughout the semester, but the First-Year Writing Program is working on it. UNTIL these issues are resolved, you have plenty of resources to help you out. I always provide: Instruction sheets PowerPoints Office Hours, Appointments, Help via e-mails Go to the Writing Center …

WRITING CENTER You can find the link to the TTU Writing Center on my WordPress site. From their website: “The hours of our main UWC are Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM.” “We are located in RM.175 of the English/Philosophy Building.” “To set up an appointment, drop by in person or call (806) 742-2476, ext.2.” Also, don’t be afraid to go as a walk-in.

ATTENDANCE POLICY You are only allowed two free absences for the semester. 5% of your grade will be deducted for each additional unexcused absence

Final Drop Date at the End of October Fall 2017: Last day to drop with academic penalty (counts against drop limit): OCTOBER 30

Common Issues with BA 4 All articles are meant to persuade. A lot of thesis statements said the author was “informing” or “giving information” … it’s better to use strong verbs like “persuades” or “convinces” Authors are not “stating” their credentials in their articles.

What do you like about them? What do you not like about them? Writing activity Why is it important to revise your papers? Do you revise your papers? Think back to our “grading” group activities. How have these activities helped you understand your assignments? Think about the highlighted comments you get on your graded papers. What do you like about them? What do you not like about them? Do not mention grades.

What is a topic sentence? Why are topic sentences important? What happens if you do not have topic sentences in your paper?

From your Ch 5b, St. Martin’s Handbook: “An effective paragraph generally focuses on ONE MAIN IDEA.” “A good way to achieve paragraph unity is to state the main idea clearly in one sentence—a topic sentence—and relate all other sentences in the paragraph to that idea.”

Is this Good or Bad? Where is the topic sentence? Does it work or not? “Our friendship was the source of much happiness and many memories. We grooved to every new recording from Beyoncé. We sweated together in the sweltering summer sun, trying to win the championship for our softball team. I recall the taste of pepperoni pizza as we discussed the highlights of our team’s victory. Once we even became attracted to the same person, but luckily we were able to share his friendship.”

“Our friendship was the source of much happiness and many memories “Our friendship was the source of much happiness and many memories. We grooved to every new recording from Beyoncé. We sweated together in the sweltering summer sun, trying to win the championship for our softball team. I recall the taste of pepperoni pizza as we discussed the highlights of our team’s victory. Once we even became attracted to the same person, but luckily we were able to share his friendship.”

TRANSITIONS What is a transition? Why are transitions important? What happens if you do not have transitions in your paper?

Chapter 4a, "Rereading Your Draft,” “ … transitions move the writing smoothly from one paragraph or section or idea to the next …”

EFFECTIVELY INTEGRATING QUOTES

Good or Bad? Jackie Smith writes about her experiences with working as a dog trainer. “Working at PetSmart was interesting in that the owners thought they knew more about dog obedience than me …” I think Smith is right about this. Another point Smith makes is …

Good Quote Integration At the beginning of his essay, Diamond talks about a personal experience with his car mechanic. He uses this personal narrative to demonstrate that it is often difficult to speak to experts on their own level of expertise: “My car mechanic must have seen my eyes glaze over, just as I had seem my physiology students’ eyes glaze over when I tried to explain osmotic diuresis to them in my lecture that same morning last month. It’s humiliation to feel like an ignoramus, as I do about cars” (196). Within this personal account is an analogy in which Diamond compares his experiences with talking to a car mechanic to his own students trying to understand complex biological terms. Rhetorically, Diamond’s deliberate use of this analogy allows him to show that talking to experts and understanding them is not easy especially when one does not have a sophisticated knowledge or vocabulary to talk about the expert’s subject.

DO NOT DO THIS WITH QUOTES: DO not use them to “pad” your paper. Do not use quote as sentences by themselves. Don’t just stick them in - (hit & run) quote: Jackie Smith writes about her experiences with working as a dog trainer. “Working at PetSmart was interesting in that the owners thought they knew more about dog obedience than me …” I think Smith is right about this. Another point Smith makes is …

Effective Quoting Think of it as a sandwich: 1.) Provide a statement introducing the quote (this is your bread) 2.) Place the quotation in (this is the meat and your cheese) 3.) Explain the quote (this is your bottom slice of bread) You can always lead the quote with a colon, too: Hamlet denies Rosencrantz’s claim that thwarted ambition caused by his depression: “I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space” (Shakespeare 2).

The author states, “…………” Other Ways … Introduce or conclude quote by attributing it to the speaker: The author states, “…………” “………………” he states. “……..” he states “…..”

Brief Assignment 6 To complete this assignment, Read the initial draft provided and then write a paragraph or more in which you discuss the problems that you see in the current draft. Next, read the later draft and write another paragraph in which you discuss: 1) whether the problems that you saw in the first draft were addressed, 2) whether the revisions fixed other issues that you hadn’t noticed in the draft, and 3) why the revisions are or are not an improvement over the first draft. If you believe other revisions should be made to the draft, conclude your assignment with an explanation of what those are and how the revisions should be made.

What to look for in an Introduction Focus on the following items: Introduction: Audience (Is it specific?) Purpose (Is the overall purpose identified?) PERSUADE audience to do /believe something … Thesis Statement (Is it strong?) Remember: author, audience, purpose, opinion (effective/ineffective), 2-4 rhetorical choices …

What to look for in a Body Paragraph Body Paragraphs: Topic sentence (Do the paragraphs include a topic sentences and transitions?) Quote usage/paraphrase (Do they integrate quotes well?) Explanation/analysis (Do they explain the rhetorical choices well?)

What to look for in a Conclusion Thesis Statement Restated (not verbatim) Take away message (According to Oxford dictionary, a take away message is “a key fact, point, or idea to be remembered, typically one emerging from a discussion or meeting.”)

GROUP WORK

Brief Assignment 6 Your discussion (of both the initial and later draft) should be 500 - 650 words in length. Quotations are not included in the word count.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ON BA 6 1.) LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE when revising. Do not focus solely on minor issues like grammar / style. You can SPARINGLY discuss grammar/style, but it should not be everything you talk about. 2.) You are allowed to quote from the draft when discussing revisions, but please do so SPARINGLY. Quotations are not counted in the word count. 3.) The focus of revision is on major parts like thesis statements and analysis. 4.) If you focus too much on grammar / style, you will not do well on BA 6.

Go to First Year Writing textbook, 1301 student samples, page 477. NEED A STUDENT EXAMPLE? Go to First Year Writing textbook, 1301 student samples, page 477. 

Read, Read, Read: “Where do I start?” St. Martin's Handbook: Chapter 2, "Rhetorical Situations" pp. 23-39; Chapter 4a, "Rereading Your Draft,”

Due Date: Friday, October 20, 2017 by 11:59 PM BRIEF ASSIGNMENT 6 Due Date: Friday, October 20, 2017 by 11:59 PM

For Monday, Oct 23 Please bring a written introduction and a written body paragraph of your rhetorical analysis to class on Monday.