Whoops

Posted my extra credit here instead of on my blog, sorry.

Journal Fourteen: SRTE Form

For your final journal entry, please visit your ANGEL account through which you can fill out the SRTE for our class. Once you've completed the form, please send me an email confirmation letting me know you've done so and I'll award you credit. This is an entirely honor-based assignment. These are ANONYMOUS surveys. I don't even gain access to the results until after the semester is over. You will be able to complete the form April 18-April 29. Please do so and send me a confirmation email by our last day of class.

Thanks!

Last Chance for Extra Credit

Here is your last chance for extra credit. Below are three different creative writing exercises. Please pick one and post a 400 word reply onto your blog. You are welcome to do all three, but you will receive credit for only one blog assignment. All submissions must be completed by 9 a.m., Wednesday, April 27 to be considered for extra credit.

Here are your options:

1. Write a description of a place (State College, your hometown, a fictional world -- your pick) using ONLY mathematical similes and metaphors to describe the way the place looks. You might talk about the particular angles of a hill, the grid of the streets, etc etc. Be creative!

2. Pick the name of a font from the font list on your word processor. Imagine that that font is actually the name of a person. Describe what that person is like.

3. Write about an object in your trash can. Use lots of lush, visual language. Also: you can't use the same adjective more than once.

Journal Thirteen: Thesis and Supporting Argument Revision

Please see the notes I left for each of you on your last journal entry, where you submitted a working thesis statement. Also refer to your peer review comments. After that, post the following to your blog:

- A revision of your thesis statement addressing the issues and grammatical concerns I cited on your last blog. This should be close to the final thing.

- Please supply a paragraph from your paper as is and then submit an accompanying revision of it.

Due: By 9 a.m., Wednesday, April 20

Journal Twelve: Thesis Statements

Please post your thesis statement for your final paper to your blog before class tomorrow morning. I'll be sure to respond to each person's entry. Remember: you'll probably be revising these statements as you go along. I just want you to start working on the focal point of your paper now. It's fine if it changes over the course of your writing and research. See you all tomorrow!

Assignment Five: Scholarly Research and Reporting

Purpose

Identify an unresolved question or problem and investigate it, in the course of gathering information that will help you formulate a response to this exigence.

Invention

Keep in mind as you brainstorm/draft:

Ø  Your research for this paper should be guided by a research question to which you do not already know the answer. Your last essay began with your taking a clear position. Now, this essay begins with inquiry that will eventually lead to an informed, well-researched position on the topic.

Ø  As you choose an audience with some investment in your topic, consider what kinds of sources and support they will find credible.

Ø  Aim to include at least one source that challenges your own preconceptions about your topic.

Ø  This assignment is not a plodding research paper for your instructor. Rather, it is for you: this assignment calls for interesting research findings that aid you in furthering an idea or argument that you find particularly engaging.

Expectations

A successful research paper will:

1.     Define the situation or problem that calls for your attention;

2.     Establish you as a credible source on this problem;

3.     Identify an audience who is (or should be) invested in this situation or problem;

4.     Demonstrate your purpose (to express or defend a position, to question or argue against a belief or action, to invite or convince an audience to change an opinion or practice);

5.     Marshal emotional appeals, logical reasoning or steps, researched details and examples to enhance your points;

6.     Acknowledge and respond to opposing viewpoints; and

7.     Supply a clear, identifiable conclusion that you want your audience to reach about the issue.

8.     Your paper must have the correct MLA formatting.

Length: At least 5 pages (double-spaced) of rigorous analysis backed up by at least 3 respectable outside sources, at least one of which challenges your argument

Rough Draft Due: April 18, 2011

Final Assignment Portfolio Due: April 29, 2011

Resources: “Checking Over a Position Argument” on page 237 and Chapters 17 and 18 of The Harbrace Guide to Writing.

Journal Eleven: Close Revision

For your 11th blog entry, I want you to pick one of the weakest paragraphs in your Proposal paper and revise it as best as you can. Your blog entry should include that paragraph in its original/weak form as well as its revision so I can see exactly how you revised your work. Make sure to fix all verb tense agreement issues. Include strong transitions if necessary. Get rid of sentence fragments and/or run-on sentences. Tidy up your word choice. Clarify language where needed. And make sure any citations or quotes are properly formatted.