Blog #10

Yeah! Last one. This is due before your final exam (the week of the 13th). HAVE IT DONE BY THE TIME YOU SHOW UP FOR YOUR FINAL EXAM. What did you learn in this class? Be specific! Telling me what a great teacher I am and how you have learned SOOOO much is NOT what I'm after (although the "great teacher" part is always appreciated). I want specifics--what will you do in your writing in the future that you didn't do before this class? What aspects of the class made you feel the best about your own writing and development as a writer?Again, this is the LAST blog entry you are going to do for me. This is for all the marbles. I expect at LEAST 3 LONG paragraphs. Tell me everything (your wishes, your dreams, your development as a writer, your children's shoe sizes, etc. -- just kidding about the shoes, really).It has been such a pleasure the work with you all this term.

Blog #9

Yet another reflection. This time, I want you to reflect on Essay #4 (the Ad analysis). What ad did you find? Did you want another ad? Why? If you really liked the ad you used, why? Would you have or did you want to purchase the product or service advertised? What appeals worked on you (or did not work)? Why? How?

This is due by Saturday, December 4th at midnight.

Blog #8

This blog should be a free write. I would like you to write a really, really long (4-5 paragraph) blog about this.

This is due by class time on 12/2.

In the syllabus, I listed a few goals for this course. They follow, here:

1. Comprehend, analyze, and articulate a well-reasoned response to a variety of texts, from student writing to published writing to academic discourse;
2. Evidence an understanding of how topic, audience, purpose, voice, and levels of formality interact and vary in different rhetorical situations, in academic disciplines, and discourse communities;
3. Utilize various invention, drafting, and revising/editing strategies to meet the purposes of different writing situations, materials available to the student, and length of time available for the task;
4. Engage a topic in which the student explores writing as a means of self-discovery and produces a text that is designed to persuade the reader of the student’s commitment;
5. Establish a voice appropriate to the topic selected and rhetorical context;
6. Clarify major aims, arrange material to support aims, and provide sufficient materials to satisfy expectations of readers;
7. Select, evaluate, and interact effectively with sources, subordinating them to the student’s purpose and creating confidence that the sources have been fairly represented and acknowledged with academic integrity;
8. Demonstrate a satisfactory control over the conventions of edited American English and competently attend to the elements of presentation (including layout, visual elements, format, printing, and consistent style of documentation) appropriate to the academic discipline or discourse community;
9. Ethically employ appropriate computer-generated technology to the production of a writing project;
10. Recognize the importance of writing as essential to inquiry, learning, thinking, communicating, life-long learning, and as a career skill.

How did you meet or are you meeting these goals? In which papers? What revisions are you still working on? Why? I suggest that you take a look at Michelle's example. Here's a link to her electronic porfolio:

http://www.students.niu.edu/~z111902/teachport/MICHELLE/index.html

Remember that her "guiding reflection" is focused on other course goals, but they are similar to ours. Follow through the whole portfolio to get a good idea of what I want you to do -- only you lucked out and you needn't compose an electronic portfolio.This course was equivalent to English 101 at WCC. Keep that in mind. Also, the links contained in Michelle's guiding reflection, itself, are different than those in the bar at the top of the page. For example, the link to Essay 1 at the top of the page takes you to a final copy of that paper. In the guiding reflection, there is a copy of the paper that has "reflection" as an actual part of the document. There are additional links there, too. It's just a really good portfolio -- she was also an adult, returning student with a "unique" past.

PLEASE CALL ME WITH ANY PROBLEMS OR QUESTIONS. THIS IS VERY, VERY IMPORTANT!

Blog #7

Take your time on this. It is due by Thanksgiving at midnight.


How is your resume going? What trouble are you having? What is going well? Be as detailed as you can as this will help you to "think out" any issues.

Blog #6

Define "humor." Are you thinking of Jim Carrey movies, or something more subtle? Do you have to laugh out loud when something is funny? Was the article about the cocaine dealer that we read, "funny."

Also, define "style." Are you picturing Jane Seymour or Sean Connery, or are you thinking of the ways in which you incorporate "style" into your papers.

Remember, YOU have a voice -- how do you get it into your papers?

This blog is due on Saturday, November 13th at midnight.

Blog #5

For this blog, as in other entries, I would like for you to reflect on Essay 3 (Comparison/Contrast). Some of you have turned this in, though many of you have not. Regardless of whether or not you have received it back from me with a grade, please think about the essay and what you liked or didn't like about the assignment. Were the readings hard? Was it hard to structure the essay? Was it difficult to get started? Why?

The post should be 2-3 LONG paragraphs. This assignment is due on October 31st by midnight.

Blog #4

This blog is due Sunday, October 17th, by midnight.

For this post, I would like you to reflect on Essay #2 (the synthesis essay). This essay was using 3 different articles. You should talk about whether or not it was difficult to write on 3 articles. Was it hard to learn to cite them? How so? Did you use TS/CD? If so, did it work for you? If not, will you try using that format next time? Why or why not.

This entry should be 2 to 3 LONG paragraphs. As always, free write your response, but THINK about what you are writing.