Week 10

Good afternoon.  It is week ten, which means of course that we have just one week to completion of the quarter.  Thus far you have been assigned a total of 7 essays:  first week open topic (1), second week narrative (2), third week eye-witness account (3), midterm summary(not numbered) , sixth week summary/response (4), seventh week interview(5), and eighth and ninth week extended definition or cartoon description and news analysis (6).  

The final piece, a short research piece of 1000 words plus documentation is due by next week (#7).  I will be looking at drafts today and will review with you the documentation requirements and formatting of the Works Cited page.  Rewrites and any outstanding assignments must be submitted by next week.

Note:  I will drop the lowest grade from the final grade, so if you are missing one assignment (excluding the final in-class and the final short research report) it will not materially affect your grade in the class.

I  have a short "final" that will assess key composition skills and formatting of sources for presentation.  The description follows:

Today you are to write a final in-class essay of 400-500 words in response to a topic widely reported on in the media this past week:  the 911 ten-year anniversary and its commemoration.  The specific prompt is to explore how the event has impacted Americans and the world, and what has been learned from the event. The memories and stories and responses of a range of Americans, the cultural impacts, the legacy of political and military conflict, the financial costs and burdens–these are explored in a special report published in the New York Times called “The Reckoning” at the following URL:  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/us/sept-11-reckoning/viewer.html.  The report, including all photographs and video coverage, along with your own memories and thoughts, should provide ample material from which to select material comments and responses as you develop your piece.  You must include at least 2 direct quotations or paraphrased commentaries from the articles and videos and/or description of photographs in this report with appropriate references and MLA citations.  The essay should advance a specific point of view that you can support by means of personal experience and selections from the report.

Week 9

Wakulla Springs

Good evening, class.  Hope you are well!

Today we continue putting together the short research assignment, and finishing any outstanding assignments.  Our last two or three assignments have afforded some practice in the kind of sorting and summary you do when you are gathering background sources for a research study.  You must be able to read through and then summarize concisely an author's main point, key support and detail, strength of evidence, interest factors, and determine whether a particular source has anything of real merit to contribute to your research.  If it does, you selectively pull those elements into your work as support, including key reference words so that you can properly document the source in the Works Cited section of the essay.

Choose your research source materials carefully.  Sources should provide key information, context, illustrations, various perspectives, and counter- arguments or evidence.  The following source criteria will help you pull together comprehensive source material on your subject.

·                     1)   context and background material on the research subject

·           2)  explanations of key concepts

·           3)  examples or illustrations of claims

·           4)  authority for the claims you are making

·           5)  clear evidence to support your claims

·           6) counter-examples or evidence that your argument must take into account

Choose sources that address your research focus.  If a source does not have anything particularly useful to add to your piece, look for another. Consider the following questions as you sort through potential source material:

·                     How does this material address your research question?

·                     In what ways does it provide support for your claims or ideas?

·                     Does this source provide quotable support?

·                    Does the source provide counterarguments that your audience may require you to acknowledge and       answer?

Check the currency of your sources.  When was it published?  Is the information contained or the perspective held still valid?  Is the author or source a respected one or one whose legitimacy is clear?  How many cross-references or links to other authorities or source documents does the source contain?  Can you cross-check the accuracy of the claims made in the source?

Analyze the author’s stance as a means of understanding his or her potential biases or blind spots as regards the subject.  What informs the author’s tone and perspective:  respect for scientific study? a desire to advocate or oppose a particular position?  seriousness of purpose and desire to clarify facts and ideas, or angry, polarizing refutations of other perspectives, including perhaps personal attacks not relevant to the questions?

Assess the author’s argument and evidence, in so far as possible, by cross-checking references and sources relied upon or ignored in the source. 

·               What is the author’s main point?

·               How much and what kind of evidence supports his claims?

·                How persuasive is the evidence?

·                Does he offer or address counter-arguments or evidence?

·                Do you find any questionable logic or biases that may be skewing the argument?

You will need to know the point you want to make in the essay and to be able to frame it up front in opening paragraphs.  The body of the essay should develop context, evidence, examples, and expert  opinion and claims.  The conclusion should underscore the importance of the subject and the perspective on it you have attempted to create.  The essay title should be specific and engaging, and the works cited page accurate in reflecting the sources used directly in text, arranged alphabetically for ease of access.