ThoughtMeat

on hiatus

2006-09-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

Hi, everyone who might wander to this page. This blog is on hiatus right now because I'm not teaching this semester. If you're a former student of mine, then send me a note and let me know how you're doing! If you're interested in my random musings on technology, then stop by my nettework blog.

More schedule details!

2006-04-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Tues, April 11, we'll meet in the Writing Center's computer lab (6th floor of HC White--follow the signs to the Writing Center). Email your powerpoint to yourself so you can work on it there.

Thurs, April 13, we'll play some pedagogically sound writing games (TBA) in our regular classroom.

Thurs, April 20 your projects are due to me, either in my mailbox (6th floor of HC White) or in the dropbox of learn@uw.

Tues, April 18, Presentations begin!

Schedule details for the next couple weeks

2006-03-27T18:02:00.000-08:00

Tues (tomorrow): peer review of ideas for the final project. Come to class tomorrow with your rough ideas and bounce them off your peers in order to make them interesting, feasible and smart. I'll come around to groups to help out. If you have time left over, you can draft your proposal (due Thurs) and run that by your peers, too.

Thurs: resume/cover letter/personal statement workshop. Bring a rough draft resume or cover letter or personal statement (my personal order of preference) in order to get the most out of the workshop. I'll talk for a bit about basic expectations in these genres and I'll give you handouts of examples and things to think about when you're writing these things. With time left over, you can get together in your groups and apply your newfound knowledge of these genres on each other's work. (also, your proposal is due to me via email by classtime this day)

Tues, April 4: LIBRARY DAY. Do the CLUE library tutorial online in preparation for the meeting: http://clue.library.wisc.edu/ . PRINT OUT YOUR QUIZZES!! Bring them to me at the library. We'll meet in Memorial Library, room 436. The librarian will give a short presentation and introduce you to some resources the library can offer to help you work on your final project. You'll have some time to research on your own while he and I go around to your computer to help you out. The library day is part of the requirement of English 201, but it's also a really useful way to acquaint yourself with the library's vast resources and how to access them.

Thurs, April 6: peer review of projects. At this point, you should have at least a rough version of your project--an outline, research, a few pages of writing, something like that.

What's the meaning of 9/11?

2006-03-08T14:14:00.000-08:00

Please add the customary cover letter to the front of your essay and turn it in to the dropbox by Friday at 5pm at the latest. If you're citing references in your paper, then please include both parenthetical (or footnote) citations and a References/Works Cited section. You may use any formatting style you're most comfortable with, as long as it's a documented style (APA, MLA or Chicago). If you need tips on citations, visit the Writing Center's Writer's Handbook.

Blog post over spring break

2006-03-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

According to our rotation, you're scheduled for a free post and response this weekend. I'm treating spring break as a giant weekend, so you can post either by this Friday (3/10) or next (3/17) and you can respond either this Sun (3/12) or next (3/19). If you'd like to get it out of the way before you leave on spring break, then do it for this weekend. A few people have already posted, so you should have something to respond to by this weekend. Just make sure that by the time you're back from spring break you've posted one free post and responded to one peer's free post.

Discussion for Thurs, Feb 16

2006-02-15T09:40:00.000-08:00

Be sure to get the first 34 pages read of JSF's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Seriously, I've been warning you about getting the book since the beginning of class, so do what you can to get it. We'll talk about this short section in class on Thursday.

Also, since MBD's visit on Tuesday superceded our plans to talk about representation of tragic/big events (see post below), then we'll talk about it on Thurs. Be sure to come prepared to talk about your event.

Responsibility, representation and witness

2006-02-09T11:51:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday (2/14), we'll have a discussion about what responsibilities a writer has in the representation of a particularly difficult or tragic event. How must she represent the primary witness's account? How can she add her own ideas without disrespecting the event or the people affected by the event? Should she even worry about these concerns, or are tragic events like 9/11 unrestricted fodder for public discussion?

In preparation for this discussion, I would like you to come prepared to talk about one particular representation of a tragic event. It could be a song, a movie, a book, an article, whatever, as long as it represents something that's difficult to represent. It doesn't have to be a global event like 9/11; it could be a private event like alcoholism, child abuse, or something else that demands to be handled delicately. You can bring notes about this representation of the event in order to talk about it. I'll come prepared to talk about the novel we'll be starting next week, which deals with these difficult issues of representation, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Buy it now if you haven't already!

Interview due Thurs, Feb 9

2006-02-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in class, there are a few things that I'd like to accompany your interview write-up when you turn it in to the dropbox on the learn@uw site.

Please be sure to add a cover letter to the front of your paper. What worked well in this paper? What did you find challenging? Would you have preferred a different format for your interview? Did it make you reflect on anything about 9/11, politics, memory, etc.? You don't have to answer all of these questions; I simply want you to use the space of the cover letter to reflect on the writing experience in this context.

Also, please turn in your notes for the interview. If they're typed, then just add them to the same document at the end. If they're handwritten, then make sure your name is on them and bring them to me in class on Thurs.

Please let me know if you have any questions in the meantime. Good luck!

Readings for Tues, Jan 31

2006-01-26T14:51:00.000-08:00

For Tuesday, I'd like you to read several articles that go against the "party line" (though we can discuss this concept of the "party line", if you'd like!):
Tarek Atia's "Instantaneous Translation": http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/603/sc42.htm
A.R. Torres' "Confessions of a 9/11 Widow" (also called "The reluctant Icon")
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2002/01/25/widow_speaks/print.html
Asra Q. Nomani's "At Home with the Taliban"
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2001/10/10/taliban/index.html

and, if you're interested in the article I read a passage from in class (this one's optional):
Lauren Sandler's "Missing Women" (also called "Hearts Broken, Hands Full":
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2001/12/06/widowers/index.html

The Sandler, Torres and Nomani articles can also be found in print-friendly doc formats in the content section of the learn@uw site, if you have any trouble with the salon.com links here.

Blog set-up!

2006-01-23T21:46:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the world of blogging, my pretties! I'm so excited that you'll soon be joining me in this blog forum. Really, it's less painful than you think. Here are the steps you need to go through by this Thursday:

Go to the learn@uw site and download the blog set-up instructions in the Content folder.
Read them and follow them. (Here, you'll set up your blog and make your first post.)
Email me with the url of your blog so I can link it to this site. (Be sure to test your link first; if it doesn't get you to your blog when you've pasted it in your browser, you either haven't made a test/hello post yet or you've not copied the url correctly.)

By Friday, please make a "free post" to your blog, and by Sunday, please respond to someone else's free post. We'll talk about this in class on Thursday.

Memoir for Tuesday

2006-01-19T09:24:00.000-08:00

In your >2pg memoir for Tuesday, I'd like you to think hard about the story you want to tell to your readers (me, the rest of the class, possibly your roommates, friends or family). Don't just give a blow-by-blow account of what happened. Think also:

what did it mean?
what were you feeling?
how was this different/similar to anything you'd ever experienced before?
how could your presentation of the story affect the way your readers experience it?

Please write a cover letter addressed to me and attach it to the beginning of your paper (it does not count towards your 2 pages). In the cover letter, please address some of the following questions:

did you try anything new in this paper?
how do you feel about the way it turned out?
what could have made it better?
what do you particularly like about the paper?
what would you do if you revised it again?

Turn your paper and cover letter (in one document) in to the "dropbox" at our learn@uw site by 2:30pm on Tuesday. If you have trouble with the site, bring a hard copy to class or send it to me via email. If you have any questions, please send me an email.

Links for 9/11 sites

2006-01-17T12:00:00.000-08:00

I've been spending a lot of time looking at 9/11 sites online, and I've found some interesting ones. This is by no means an exhaustive list of links on 9/11, but it's a place for you to start. Feel free to follow your interests as you browse though these and other 9/11 sites. Take notes on what you see and learn and find interesting and we'll talk about it in class on Thurs. I'd like you to spend at least an hour browsing these and other 9/11 sites.

(these are in no particular order)
Library of Congress oral history project
Library of Congress Witness and Response
CBS interactive (you can to follow the link to the Sept 11 commission here, or find other interactive features)
Dept of State International Heroes
Response to 9/11 from

an English language Egyptian newspaper

NPR's 9/11 archive
PBS's Documentary, The American Experience, The Center of the World--New York
Smithsonian's 9/11 site
9/11 victims memorial site
Peaceful Tomorrows: 9/11 victims' families united for peace

I'm always on the lookout for new links, so send me one if you find a good one.

Welcome to Annette's English 201!

2006-01-15T22:21:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to be teaching 201 again this semester, and I hope that you're excited about taking the course. If you're not now, I'm sure you will be once we get to know each other better. :)

You may not be used to getting to know your peers and your instructor in a college class, but if you've ever taken a composition class before, then you know it's very different from other courses. There are 19 of you in the the class, and you're my only students this semester. This means we get a lot of quality time together. In a composition course, it's important that we all get to know each other well because it's important we feel comfortable sharing our writing and talking about it.

Because I always find the first couple of weeks of getting-to-know-each-other a little awkward, I've decided to try something new this semester. For the first day of class, I'd like you to bring a self-portrait and be prepared to share it with the rest of us. Now, don't be alarmed! I'm not looking for a work of art. I'm defining "self-portrait" very loosely. I mean, please bring something to class that is reflective of you (hopes, dreams, interests, friends, talents, fears, whatever) and be prepared to talk about it. It could be a photograph, an object, a written text, a song, a drawing, a collage, etc. I'll bring something to share with you, too. By asking you to do this, I'm hoping to avoid the traditional, "what's your major, why are you taking the course" introductions. I often find those boring and unhelpful in getting to know students because knowing you're a pharmacy student tells me next-to-nothing about you.

Feel free to browse this site and the links of my previous students' blogs to your right. We'll talk more about the course when we meet, but in the meantime, reading some of these may give you a good window into student experiences in my class.

See you Tuesday!

Project Proposal, due 11/9

2005-11-02T11:10:00.000-08:00

What am I looking for in your project proposal? Well, I'm glad you asked! The tone for this can be casual if you would like it to be (for instance, "I'm thinking about doing a play about the tsunami that happened in Indonesia...") or formal if you would prefer ("This project will address the December, 2004 tsunami with a fictional account of..."). I'm mostly interested in the information you include in this proposal. I need to know:

What event you have chosen to focus on for your project (i.e., Indonesian tsunami)
What angle you're taken to analyze the event (i.e., the effect it had on fishermen and the families of the region)
How you're planning to present the information in your project (i.e., a short story about one fisherman in the region)

I'll read through your proposal and we can then talk about your project in greater detail when we conference on Thurs or Fri of next week. Let me know if you have any questions!

Drafting your 9/11 paper

2005-10-13T20:40:00.000-07:00

For Monday, I'd like you to bring to class 2 copies of your paper, with a cover letter attached, for your peers. Your cover letter should help your peers help you with your paper, so use this space to point them to stuff to look for. For instance, you can say: "I am concerned about my organization. Can you please see that I'm developing my point?" or "Do you find my paper interesting? What parts seem dull or repetitive?" You get the idea. I'm not grading you on your peer review, but your work with your peers is an essential part of the class. I'm depending on you to help each other out, and you should depend on each other to help write the best papers you possibly can. Remember, what goes around, comes around! Be supportive, but don't be afraid to say things that will help your peer improve his/her paper.

Rhetorical analysis blog assignment

2005-09-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in class today, I'd like you to just look at one news article for your rhetorical analysis blog post. Focusing on one article will allow you to do a closer reading of the text. Read closely and look at the rhetorical moves the author is making to frame the event s/he is referring to. There is no set formula for this analysis, but from our experience with the Bush speech, you can look at such things as:

ethos (both the author's and how s/he passes ethos on to the people s/he describes)
pathos
logos
how the author involves the reader(s)
how the author sets up sides in his/her framing of the event
what words are particularly loaded or powerful (remember "murdered" from Clarke)
what poetic devices the authors uses (like the pauses in the Bush speech)

Remember, I'm not grading this one, so go out on a limb! Do something interesting! Take a risk! But don't forget to include a link to the article you're referring to. For those doing responses, don't forget to read the original article first. Good luck!

Set-up of blog for Weds

2005-09-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

For Weds., I'd like you to set up a blog on blogger.com or another free blog hosting site. Make one test post to the blog, test the link, and then send me the url via email (avee@wisc.edu) when you've determined that it works (blogger links won't work until you make one post). Go ahead and set up a personal profile, too, but remember not to put your full name or too many personal details in there. Let me know if you have questions!

Memoir for Monday

2005-09-10T15:06:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder about your memoir for Monday... It should describe your experience of 9/11/01 in an interesting way and it should be greater than or equal to 2 pages long. Please don't mess with margins or fonts (double-spaced, times new roman or similar, 1" margins)--it's pretty obvious when that happens, and you should have a lot to say anyway. Try to have fun with this assignment and push your boundaries a bit. It's pretty simple to write a chronological memoir that begins, "I was in 2nd hour when my teacher told us that..." I will read 19 papers and the more innovative you can make yours, the happier I'll be. Don't forget to add a title to your memoir, too; this is another opportunity for you to flex your writing muscles. I'd like a few of you to share your memoirs in class and I'll look to volunteers first.
As always, please let me know if you have questions about the assignment or the course.

Welcome to Annette's class!

2005-09-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

Here is our class website. I'll keep it updated with your assignments for the class, happenings, etc. When we begin blogging, your blogs will all be connected to this site (see the sidebar for previous blogs from a different class I taught last year). If you have any suggestions for the site, or things you'd like to see here for reference, please let me know. I'm looking forward to a great semester!

Presentations

2005-04-20T19:53:00.000-07:00

Presentations should be about 10-15 min long. You’re welcome to do anything you like with the presentation—it’s your time to run the class. Some ideas include:

-explaining the background to the argument you’re making

-looking at one part of your paper in class to help you revise, or to talk about writing

-some kind of creative project/art/performance

-anything else you can think of!

Let me know if you need a projector or anything and I can arrange to have one. You’re welcome to get the rest of the class involved in your presentation, too. The key thing is to make the presentations interesting. No one wants to sit through something that’s boring!

Please please please let me know if you want to talk through what you're doing for the presentaion or how your research paper is going.

Claiming your research paper

2005-04-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the smart discussion on the research paper today! I was planning to just discuss Gould on Friday, but I think we should hash out the final details of the paper first, and then move on the Gould when we're done. So, for Weds, I'd like you to think about:
-When's the best time to conference with me on this paper? With your peers?
-When would you like me to take home your draft and comment on it?
-Would you like to do one or two (or more) days of peer review? At what point in the drafting process would you like to meet?

Also, since you've decided to have an open topic for this paper, I'd really like for you to have a chance to share what you're doing with the class. I'd like to mark the last few weeks of class for presentation-type things. Up for debate with this are the following issues:
-How open should the presentation format be? Should we have, for instance, non-speech creative options for a presentation?
-What's the most useful way for you to use your time in the limelight?
-Should I grade it, just give you comments, or should you get comments/grades from you peers instead, or should we just make it credit/no-credit participation thing?

Lots to think about! But the good news is that I'm feeling a little badly about slamming you with so much work. If we've got lots to discuss concerning the research paper Friday, then we won't get through all of Gould's article, which means we'll continue to talk about that on Monday, which means you'll have a weekend with less homework from me. :)

Peer review

2005-03-30T16:14:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I read through your cover letters today and I had a couple of thoughts:
- Sorry I didn't let you know who would be in your group before today. The anonymity of the way you had to address your letters was a little sad. That's my fault though, and I'll let you know in advance for next time.
- Asking peers to check your quotes for all the stuff we've been talking about in class is great. Asking them to check it for technical stuff is a waste of their time because you can figure that out yourself by checking the MLA citation site on the UW Writing Center page, which I have also listed under "links" on our site. Nobody in the class in an expert in this stuff; even I have to look up how to site certain sources sometimes, but that's why there's a manual for it--use it.
- I think it would be groovy if you did the letter-on-the-back-of-the-paper thing like last time because I find it nice and personal, but you should do what you think will be most useful to your peers when you're reviewing their papers. A general letter is best for dealing with more global and structural issues, but marginal comments are best for awkward sentences, uses of quotes, need for transitions, etc. Perhaps a combination of both would serve your peers best. Keep in mind that the more time and consideration you spend for your peers, the more helpful you'll be to them. Also, I pay attention to these things. :)

Let me know if you have questions or visit me in office hours tomorrow if you'd like.

Paper 2, Draft 2

2005-03-29T09:40:00.000-08:00

I've gotten a few questions about people having difficulty finding outside sources for their drafts, so I want to address that question generally here...
It's really important for you to find an outside source for this draft of this paper. I know it's a challenge, but if you can get through some of the difficulties of research now, you'll have an easier time on your next paper, and hopefully in other classes in which you'll be required to do research. I also think it's important to get your outside source into this draft because the later you add a source to a draft, the more tacked-on and out-of-place it tends to be in a paper.

If you're having trouble, here's my advice:

Think about where you can use a little extra support in your paper. Having a specific idea of what you want your outside source to address might make it easier to narrow down your search. You'll have no luck just searching "purpose of education," I promise.
Check with the librarians at College Library. The Reference Desk (in front of you when you walk into the building) is staffed Monday to Friday, 8am to midnight, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to midnight. They're there specifically to help you. Bring in the assignment sheet and the draft of your paper, and be prepared to talk about what kind of source you're looking for.
Email Pamela O'Donnell (our designated librarian who met with us that day at College Library) at podonnell@library.wisc.edu or the College Librarians in general at helenc@library.wisc.edu .
Use LiveHelp from home; the information on downloading the software is
available from this page.

Responding to your peers' blogs

2005-03-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

For Fri, March 18 (by noon), I would like you to respond to at least one of your peers' blogs by adding a comment directly on their site. What am I looking for in your response? My main qualification is that the response should be substantial. By that, I mean you can't say just say, "Hey, that's a great argument! I'm also a big fan of Britney Spears." That's totally lame. Instead, I'd like you to do at least one of several things:

-Give an additional point to support the person's argument.
-Give a counterargument that the person didn't address in the original post.
-Provide a parallel argument about something else. For instance, if someone is arguing that Britney Spears rocks because she knows how to be sensational in the media, you can claim in parallel that handling the media might be the most important qualification of pop stardom and describe why this might be.
-Provide an analysis of why the argument the person makes is well done, or how it could be done better. For instance, "you established your ethos well when you revealed that you were once a backup dancer for Britney," or "perhaps mentioning your experience as a backup dancer should be foregrounded in your argument because it's a stronger point than your gneral appreciation of bellybutton piercing."

Here are some examples of good responses from last semester: on day care, on prison reform, on relationships and waiting by the phone (also check out the response to the relationship argument here)--you get the idea.

Each response should be at least a paragraph long, and by that I mean at least 5 sentences or so, but it could certainly be more. Notice that the ones I chose above were all pretty substantial in length and breadth.

Remember that you only get extra points from pairs of responses...So if someone responds to your blog, then you should reply to them on your blog in order to get that extra point. Check back on your blog on Friday, after everyone will have posted. I'll give you until next Monday (Mar 21) to respond to responses on your blogs.

Let me know if you have questions.
-Annette

About blogging...

2005-03-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our class site! Now I won't feel so lonely anymore. :)

Here are some tips for writing on the web:
-Break up your paragraphs by skipping a line. Paragraph indents don't tend to translate well across browsers.
-Proofread and spellcheck every post. Spellcheck is the button that says "ABC" on the toolbar when you type a post.
-Feel free to use different colors and fonts and to insert hyperlinks. Notice that all of these things are on the toolbar just above where you write your post.
-Check back on your posts often. If someone responds, you'll want to keep the debate going to encourage more people to chime in.

Enjoy! And let me know if you have questions.
-Annette

Russell and Rich

2005-03-04T11:46:00.000-08:00

We'll be discussing the Russell and Rich articles on Monday, and integrating them with our growing knowledge of argument analysis. Please be sure to write an answer to one of the Russell questions in 1/2-1pg (typed) and hand it in to me on Monday. Let me know if you have questions.

Oral Debate Project analysis

2005-03-02T10:10:00.000-08:00

Nice job on the oral debate! I really enjoyed watching you take over the class and discuss the issues regarding the SAT prep course in high schools. For Friday, as we discussed in class, I'd like you to turn in a 2-3pg typed analysis of our debate in class. To reiterate our points in class, here are some things to write about in your analysis:
-How did each group support its point? Did they use stats well? How did their mannerisms (including confidence, voice, body language) contribute to or detract from the presentations of their argument?
-Which group or person did you find most persuasive, and why?
-What kinds of things in general did you find most persuasive? ethos? confidence? good stats? pathos?
-What kinds of assumptions did the groups make in their arguments? What things did all groups seem to take for granted?
-What motives did each group have, and how did they express them either implicitly or explicitly?

In this analysis, it's ok to bring in your personal opinion and impression of the debate; in fact it would be hard not to discuss which group was most persuasive without discussing your personal opinion! You can write about how you felt making your presentation, too. Just make sure to keep the emphasis on analysis--I don't want to read 2-3 pages of impressions of the debate without any meaty consideration of it. Come to my office hours on Thurs if you want to talk about the assignment more extensively.

Lewis prize, and a chance to boost your essay grade!

2005-03-02T08:18:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned at the end of class, the University offers 2 Lewis prizes every year. Winning one of these prizes would mean you'd have something impressive to put on your resume or application to a program or grad school, and it would also mean you'd be $125 richer.

Because I felt the revisions on your papers could have been more extensive in most cases, I'd like to give you the opportunity to revisit your essay one more time, work on some of the issues in it, and boost your grade a bit. If you revise your essay for the Lewis prize (due Mar 15), I'll give you up to 5% more on your final essay grade, which in most cases would mean boosting it half of a letter grade. I'd love it if one of you won, but the extra credit is tied only to your revision and submission of the essay, not to whether you win. If you're interested in revising your essay for the prize and extra credit, I'd like to hear from you via email or at my office hours because I'd like to meet with you while you're doing this revision.

You can turn in your essay to me on Monday, Mar 14 (two copies--I want all of your drafts, but they'll want just a clean, final copy) and I'll turn it in for the prize for you, or you can turn it in yourself to the Undergraduate Majors Office, 7195 Helen C. White on Mar 15 and give me your draft packet on Weds, Mar 16.

Oral Debate Project!

2005-02-23T09:59:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone for doing research for your groups and working on your outlines today. As you're continuing to prepare for the big performance day on Monday, you might want to keep a few things about your ethos in mind:
-Stay in character! You'll be more convincing to your peers if you seem invested in the argument you're presenting. If you don't care about what you're saying, chances are that they won't either. And if you've ever spoken in front of a class before, you know it sucks when the class isn't paying attention to what you say. While you prepare your statements, think: What would a real teacher be likely to say? What would someone who thinks like an educational psychiatrist want to emphasize in her presentation? etc...
-Work with your group! If your group seems scattered and doesn't present a united front, then it may detract from your believability in your presentation.
-Be interesting! Feel free to crack a few jokes, as long as they're appropriate for the context of the perspective from whom you're speaking. You can also wear something appropriate for the person you're representing to spice up your personal presentation.

When you're doing your presentation, I'll be paying attention to your professionalism, ability to work together (or at least look like you are!), clarity of articulation of the ideas you're presenting, and your ability to seem interested and dedicated to your cause.

As always, let me know if you have questions.

Reminders for Friday, Feb 18

2005-02-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

Hello, my pretties! Thanks for a good library session today. We'll have some time to play around with stuff and go through your questions about research on Friday on the computers in the Writing Center. Here are your reminders for Friday:

-Meet in the Writing Center on the 6th floor of HC White. You can take the elevators but you'll have to wait in line. To keep in shape, I often take the stairs up to the 6th floor (there's a door just before the elevators in the front of HC White). Whee! When you exit the stairwell turn left, or the elevators turn right, and you'll see a sign for the Writing Center in that first hallway. We're in the computer room just past the front desk. There won't be any writing center staff--it's just us. This day will be an opportunity for you to ask questions about your paper or library research stuff that wasn't covered today.
-Email a copy of your paper to yourself as an attachment. You'll be able to access it from the computers in the writing lab. The writing lab computers have Microsoft Word, so if you use that, just attach it as a Word doc. If you don't use Word, then save your paper as a Rich Text File (.rtf) and email it to yourself that way. I want to show you guys a few cool editing things in Word, and I want you to have some time to ask questions about my comments on your paper in class.
-Read Peter Sacks' article on the SAT, which you will find on e-res. Write a 1-2pg analysis (not a response!) of his argument. Let me know or visit me in office hours on Thurs at 4:30 at Catacombs if you want to talk more about analysis.
-NO JOURNAL DUE FRIDAY or MONDAY. You'll have one due Weds of next week instead.
-Turn in all previous drafts with your final draft of Paper #1 on Monday. I like to look at peer comments and the progress of your writing when I read your final draft. Please invest in a big paper clip or a folder to keep your drafts together!

As always, let me know if you have questions!

-Annette

Conferences on paper 1

2005-02-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. I thought I'd take this space to explain a bit more about my expectations and hopes for conferences:

First, I'd like you to come to your conference with all your drafts of your paper, including the one your peers wrote on.

Second, I'd like you to come with a pen because it's really important to take notes on what we discuss. I've had a lot of feedback from students in the past that they found the conferences really helpful, but wished they had taken notes so they'd remembered more. Now you can learn from their mistakes. :)

Third, I'd like you to come with some real, substantial questions about your paper. Think: what particular issues are you having? One of the objectives of this class is to help you look more constructively and critically at your own writing. The better you can pull apart your own writing and ask questions about it, the better it will be. This goes for writing at all levels, by the way.

So, you might guess from this that I'd rather not be asking the questions or offering the criticism in our conference. I expect you to direct it by bringing up the stuff you see as weaknesses or strengths or questions. I'm here to help of course, but I would much rather help you help yourself, if you see what I mean.

As always, I'm available via email for questions.

Journal #2

2005-02-06T10:20:00.000-08:00

Just to clarify the journal assignment for tomorrow.... each journal should have just one central argument. But I'd like you to label 3 different parts of the argument with the vocabulary in the green book--ethos, rightness claim, etc. If you're typing your journal, then you can just handwrite your labels in the margin, or you can insert acomment in Word.

I'm really enjoying reading your first drafts! Many of you seem to have put some real thought into your ideas there, and I appreciate it.

Paper #1

2005-02-02T13:42:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention in class today--please bring 4 copies of your paper to class so that you can exchange with your peers. I'll let you know which group you're in on Friday.

When you're working on your first draft, keep in mind our discussion about voice and how you want to "speak" or come across in your paper.

For reference both for your journals and your paper, here are a couple of blogsites that I think have some interesting, strong voices. This doesn't mean that you should channel these people to do well on the stuff you turn in to me! These are just some examples of stuff that's not boring to read, at least in my opinion. I'd be interested to get some links for what you're interested in, too.
Elyse Sewell, from "America's top model," I believe...
and a blog about video games from a developer.

Enjoy! And see you Friday.

Summary / Analysis of Marx

2005-01-30T21:12:00.000-08:00

For Monday, Jan 31, I'd like you to read the Paul Marx essay I've put on e-reserve. Using the principles of summary that we discussed on Friday in class and the different elements of an article that you can pull apart in analysis, I'd like you to do both a summary and a separate analysis of the Marx piece. It will probably take you about 1/2-1 page to do the summary and 1/2-1 page to do the analysis, so the final product you turn in to me Monday will be 1-2 pages.

Making a claim

2005-01-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

For class on Weds, I'd like you to write a claim with some support. Describe the rhetorical situation where it would be appropriate and identify what kind of claim it is (ie., a claim of rightness or sincerity?) and what kind of support you have for it (pathos? non-artistic?). I won't collect these, but I'll expect you to share them in class. Go ahead and have fun with this one, or make it a trial run for your journal on Friday if you like.

Welcome to English 100!

2005-01-19T20:04:00.000-08:00

This is our English 100 website. When we get to blogging our journals (around spring break in March), then you'll be included in the links to the right. Before then, you can check here for assignments and announcements. I look forward to spending a fun and productive semester with you!

Assignment for Monday, Jan 24: Read Lorde (e-reserve) and "Claims and Support" (in your textbook). Print out this article and bring it to class. After reading both, think: What kind of claim do you think Lorde is making in this excerpt from her autobiography? Write (at least) a paragraph explaining what you think might be the central claim in her writing, and what support she uses to solidify it.

Looking for your input...

2004-12-07T17:32:00.000-08:00

I'll mention this in class, too, but a colleague of mine is looking for input from a few E100 students about a few things and is interested in interviewing a few of you. Ideally, he'd like maybe 3 or so students from our class. He'd probably buy you a cup of coffee, ask you a few questions and you could be on your way. He's very nice and not intimidating, so it would be a totally painless procedure. Let me know if you'd be interested. Thanks!

Research Proposal in lieu of class on Weds.

2004-11-22T16:44:00.000-08:00

As you decided today in class, you'll be turning in research proposals to me by this Weds. (let's say 5pm) instead of meeting for class that day. In your proposal, please describe the specific question you plan to address and the larger issue you will gesture toward in answering that question. You can also describe why you're thinking about this topic or if you'd like some help from me in guiding you on that topic. The proposal should also include a research plan-of-attack--for instance, which databases you plan to use, what kinds of search terms, call numbers that deal with your subject, websites that describe your subject, etc. You can make this as detailed as you'd like. It will be "graded" on a check-basis, but the more detailed your proposal is, the more relevant and specific my feedback to you can be. Your research proposal should be addressed and emailed to me and I will respond to it sometime this weekend. Let me know if you have questions about the proposal.

Details on other upcoming assignments are forthcoming.

Ways to help Annette stay sane

2004-11-15T21:40:00.000-08:00

OK, I've finally finished going through all of your blogs and responses. I've really enjoyed reading them and seeing you respond to each other! There are some requests I would like to make though that shouldn't be too much trouble for you, but may help me iron out the kinks in the process for me.
1) If you're going to respond to more than one blog (I encourage this!), then please let me know which one I should respond to and "grade." If you're really active in your responses, I'll probably throw an extra point on your response grade, but I'd like to focus my comments on one of your responses. This will also help you concentrate your critical energies on one response so you can feel free to be more chatty in your extra responses.
2) Once you've gotten your response and point total for the week from me, I'd like for the responsibility to report extra points to be yours. Please doublecheck and let me know if I've overlooked responses to your posts. Also, please let me know if more responses happen before the Weds deadline so I can tally them up. Otherwise, once I've sent out my responses to you, it will be hard for me to make sure I've caught all the responses to your posts.
3) Please make your timestamp on your blog posts say the date, too. Many of you have blog templates that only show the time and this makes my sorting out of your posts and responses more confusing. You can change this under Settings-->Formatting-->Date Header Format. Just choose any of the options with a date.

I think that's it for now. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with one another and me! Let me know if you have ideas on how we can streamline this process, too.
-Annette

Peer review homework for the weekend

2004-11-12T06:56:00.000-08:00

Read over your peers’ drafts. Print them out and write a letter on the back, as before.

1. Write ‘editor: your name’ at the tope of your partner’s draft.

2. Read through the draft carefully. In the margins, write (where appropriate) at least one point on which the author could elaborate, one point that wasn’t perfectly clear and one point that made you think. These marginal comments should be honest reactions to the piece you are reading.

3. Then at the end of the paper (on the back, where there is some space, etc.), write a short letter to your partner. This letter should start out with ‘Dear . . .,’ and answer at least three of the following questions:
a) How could the writer make his/her argument stronger?
b) How could the writer make his/her argument clearer, or better articulate the problem or proposal he/she is making about education?
c) What, if any, are the “intelligibility” issues here? Where could the author be clearer about terms s/he uses? Remember, people define “education” and “good” in many different ways. You should, after reading the paper, know how the author defines these terms or others that s/he uses.
d) And at what point did you have even the slightest confusion about what was happening in the paper? Be a generous peer-reviewer and try to figure out what the writer meant and how things could be clarified—perhaps by moving around paragraphs, revising a thesis statement, or clarifying some language. Remember, it’s the writer’s job to communicate, so if you are not getting something in the paper, you should let the writer know!
e) How has the draft improved in this round? What changes did the author make that helped clarify the argument, or do you find the argument less clear in this draft?

4. Sign your name to the letter.

Just some reminders and clarifications...

2004-11-10T19:35:00.000-08:00

Please send your draft #2 to your peers via email, but please bring the draft packet to me on Friday.

When you post a response to your peers' blogs, make sure not to just say "Hey, I agree" but introduce some new ideas--offer a counterargument, another idea s/he hadn't considered, etc. This will be more fun if we don't all compliment each other for each entry. Just responding to an entry is a compliment implicitly! You can, of course, offer responses to more than one blog (I encourage it!), but make sure one at least is very well thought-out. Remember that just because it's online, it's not exempt from standards of language and provacativeness and grammar.

Also, please remind me of your specific angle on the paper question via email. You can send me your thesis, a short sentence, etc. I'd like to use these to construct groups for Friday (thanks to Katie!).

Blogbloom!

2004-11-04T08:01:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to all the new bloggers on our site! I'm looking forward to the posts arriving and discussion starting. Check out the links on the right.

And if you get stuck thinking of something to write about, apparently a bit of duct tape, a 9V battery and some spare electrodes might help!
Check out this article in Nature magazine.

e-editing

2004-11-04T07:54:00.000-08:00

If you're interested in electronically editing your peers' papers and you have Microsoft Word (or you go to any computer lab on campus), here are the directions for using the "track changes" feature:
1. Go to the Tools menu.
2. Choose Track Changes. For Word XP, you can stop here and just start editing. Changes will show up in marginal notes.
3. For Word 2000, choose "Highlight changes while editing." Your changes will show up as strike-throughs and new text in a different color, actually within the text itself.
4. You must turn off the feature to make it stop--follow the same directions as above.
5. Send an electronic copy to your peer so that s/he can benefit from your work, but print out a copy for Friday.

Blogbirth

2004-11-01T13:17:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Tony, who is our first blogger and poster from the class. Katie's already joined up, too! Also congrats to Melissa and Keri! See? It wasn't that hard, right? Check out the links to their blogs on the right.

Also, a tip for your postings: As you see from the handout today, I'm still expecting a reasonable threshhold of grammar from your posts. You may want to compose your posts in a word-editing program and then paste them into the posting window on blogger.

Good luck!

Welcome to Thoughtmeat!

2004-10-31T18:29:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our virtual forum, my pretties! Here's where you can strut your stuff with argument and discussion among your peers. Follow the links here for some examples of blogs in E100, but be original! And most importantly, have fun with this!