9.25.14

I started class by making sure everyone checked out the feeback on your work on summaries. You should have received an email from me with comments and a grade for your "best" summary.  Just so you know, I had a big smile on my face the whole time I was reading through your portfolios. As I clicked through successive drafts I could see your writing getting stronger.  Well done!

Creating a rubric to evaluate your response essays:  We spend the first part of class creating the rubric (see previous post).  This rubric is important both because it gives you an idea of how to value the different moves you need to make in developing your writing (writing to the genre requirements, working of focus, checking organization, etc) => it also gives you and idea of what a "good" essay does and includes.  You can use this rubric to check through your draft  - as a way to figure out what you need to work on.

Using a rubric to identify what to "do" to revise your essay.  After we created the rubric, we used it to score several of the sample essays posted to the right.  For each score you gave where you took off a point, I asked you to describe what the author needed to work on in order to make that score stronger.  You did a great job on this!   After we identified WHAT these authors needed to work on, we had a short discussion of HOW (what they would DO) to "fix" what the rubric indicated they needed to work on.

Strategies for working on revision with respect to the categories for the rubric.

Audience/Genre considerations:  If the author is not writing to the genre requirements - s/he should review the form for a response essay.  Look back at the notes on the blog from our class discussions, review what the textbook says about the kinds of language moves, as well as about the overall organization of the They Say/I Say conversation of  responding to a text (in particular, review out the Chapter 3 ways to response).

Focus:  To work on focus - first you have to identify what your focus is.  If you are not sure, spend some time writing (and re-writing) what you want the focus of your essay to be.  Once you are clear what you want to say, check to see where (or whether) you make a clear statement of your focus.  You should set up the focus near the beginning (in a response essay, often it is the transition from the They Say to the I Say, though as we dicussed in class, the way you sum up the text you are responding to implies your focus).   Response essays often return to the focus in the conclusion  - to draw the discussio together.
Once you make sure that the set up and the closing are about the same focus - look at each of your supporting points and ask what they add to the focus?    Delete (or revise) points that go off topic.
Then ask if each point develops the focus in a DIFFERENT way.  This can help you identify additional material that you can cut.
Also ask - are there any points I need to add?  Are there any counterarguments that would work to make my response more clear?

Organization;  To work on organization - state the main point of each paragraph - and make a list that just states the points. Any points out of order? Need to add any?  Need to take any out?
Within the pargraphs, do you introduce/define material (set it up) before you challenge it or discuss it?  Do ?
Does the essay follow a logical order?

Development:  For development, ask your self if you provide enough background or context for the ideas you introduce?  Do you give enough examples and illustrations?  Do you provide evidence for your claims?  If your development seems a little thin, you might: do some freewriting, talk to a friend, chat or text with a friend about your topic (this gives you some writing), make some lists of ideas you might add, look around on the internet (though be careful not to cut and paste ANYTHING from the sites you visit without citing them).

So that should give you a start.

Peer review workshop. The last part of class was a peer review workshop where you shared your drafts so far, and gave eachother feedback.  Before you shared your work, we established a portocol (procedure) for what you would do and say.  This is what we came up with:

1. Author: Set up your essay.  Provide any background you want to put out there, and tell your peer group what kind of feedback you want.  If there is anything you DON'T want your group to comment on - mention that as well.

2. Author:  rovide your group with copies, and read your essay out loud.

3. Reviewers: take notes as you listen.

4. Reviewers: Say what works (what is going well) and say back what you heard (what you got as the main point.

5. Reviewers: Reply to the author's requests

6. Continue to develop a conversation where you ask and answer questions directed toward what might strengthen the essay.

You did a great job on this part of class as well!  Thanks for the good work - and have an awesome weekend!

Peer review groups for response essays:
Jacqueta, Austi, Sabrina
Erica, Vinson, Jessica
Sha, Doreen, Terrell, Jesse
Damian, Khizer, Lulu, Wenscent

For next class:  
Read:  Skim through the readings in the chapter on the cost of higher eduction.  Come to class prepared to talk about which readings we want to use for the persuasive writing portion of the course.
Write: Plan for revising your response essay.

Writing a revision plan:  Using the feedback from your classmates, write a plan to revise your essay.  Describe: 1)  what you are going to work on (use the rubric as a guide for what you might need to work on in each category, 2) and write your plan for HOW you are going to work on revising the points you have identified as needing work (refer to the suggestions in this post under Strategies for working on revision.)

In class on Tuesday we will choose the readings for the persuasive writing work, and you will have an in-class workshop to finish your response essays.  During the last part of class you will start on your reflective writing for the response.