Final Grades Posted

Hello All:

Final semester grades have been posted to WebCT and I have also submitted them to RIC. You can view all your semester grades online by logging into WebCt.

If, ultimately, the grade you see on your report card differs from the "final grade" listed for you in WebCT, this is probably because of absences. If you had over two absences, your final course grade was lowered 1/3 for each additional absence (over the two), in keeping with the Attendance Policy as outlined on the course syllabus.

Happy Holidays and thanks for all your hard work this term.

Warmly-
mm

Homework for Thursday, 12/11

1. For Thursday, please bring one copy of your paper. This is your graded draft. Make sure the draft is stapled (I will NOT accept a paper without a staple). Please carefully review the assignment sheet to make sure that you are doing everything you are supposed to be doing with this paper. Additionally, today in class I suggested that your paper should have at least the following sections (there may be additional sections, depending on your individual project):

Section 1: Introduction: Identify the problem. (paragraph -- one page)
Section 2: Present your argument for how we should address the problem. (one paragraph or so)
Section 3: (the MAIN section of the paper) Present reasons for your argument/proposal. (2-3 pages)
Section 4: Acknowledge and respond to criticisms or likely objections to your proposal. (paragraph-page)
Section 5: Close (paragraph or so)

2. Your final reading. Please download and read the pdf document called Richardson1.pdf. It's up on our google groups page under "Files." It's short and not a difficult read. It briefly sums up many of the concepts we've been discussing/investigating this semester.

That's it. Good luck. See you Thursday.

Homework for 12/9

1. Please download and read Lloyd Bitzer's "The Rhetorical Situation" (on our google groups page, under "Files"). This is a somewhat difficult article. I am purposely sharing my copy with you--it is already highlighted. I thought that by sharing my copy, it might A) help you understand it better, and B) allow you to have the opportunity of reading something someone has already tried to make sense of.

2. Please write Blog #20 (our final of the semester!). In "The Rhetorical Situation," Lloyd Bitzer attempts to define the phrase/term "rhetorical situation. First, here are a few definitions that are important to understanding the article:

Discourse: written or spoken communication
Rhetoric: the art of effective speaking or writing.
Exigence: an occasion that requires something (e.g., The exigence for the party was her birthday.)
Situation: a set of circumstances in which one finds oneself.

Bitzer explains that a rhetorical situation "calls discourse into existence" (2). Furthermore, he writes, "We need to understand that a particular discourse comes into existence because of some specific condition or situation which invites utterance" (4). The point here is that discourse, whether spoken or written, is always social--we don't write or speak in a vacuum. When we write or speak, we are embedded within a social situation (although we may not always realize it) which precedes and calls forth the existence of our speech/writing. Furthermore, our speech/writing does something, it is a form of action, within the situation.

Bitzer explains that there are three parts to any rhetorical situation:

Exigence (the cause of the speech/writing)
Audience (the person/group to whom the speech/writing is directed/aimed)
Constraints (those factors/things which shape what can be said/written)

Bitzer provides several examples of rhetorical situations. One example is the assassination of President Kennedy. One genre of writing that responded to this situation was the news article. Thus, we can think of it this way:

news article:

exigence (the death of the president)
audience (readers of the newspaper, american citizens)
constraints (what is known about the death, the space/length allowed by the editor, the conventions of what is appropriate in journalistic language--e.g., no swear words)

The news article is just one genre that responded to the situation of the President's death (there were others such as the feature article, the eulogy, the investigative report, etc.)

Bitzer writes, "In our real world, rhetorical [situations] abound…" (13) For Blog #20, I'd like you to apply your understanding of Bitzer's article by describing two rhetorical situations in which you have found yourself. If we think of discourse as something that can be both oral and written, I'd like you to give an example of a rhetorical situation for each.

So, organize your blog entry like this:

Rhetorical Situation (Oral)

1. Describe the rhetorical situation.
2. Describe the exigence, the audience, and the constraints.

Rhetorical Situation (Written)

1. Describe the rhetorical situation.
2. Describe the exigence, the audience, and the constraints.

You might use the example of President Kennedy's assassination to help you organize your examples.

Good luck! If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch.

mm

To Guide Your Writing of Proposal Argument:

Three Key Questions For EVERYONE:

1. What is the argument? What are you proposing we do?
2. Why? What are the reasons your proposal is a good one?
3. Who can help? What sources/voices can you bring to your proposal to support your argument/reasons?

Homework for Thursday 12/4

Just a quick reminder: a revised/second draft of your Proposal Essay is due tomorrow in class. Please bring the following:

1. A revised draft (2 copies).

2. A cover letter, to be stapled to the top of each essay, in which you answer these two questions:

a. What (3) things have you changed since your initial draft? Why? Please create a numbered list, like this:

1. 

2.

3.

b. When your group mates read your draft, what (3) things would you like them to read for or look for, in particular. Please create a numbered list, like this:

1. 

2. 

3. 

That is all. See you tomorrow in class.

Homework for Tuesday 12/2

1. On the assignment sheet for Writing Project 2 it says that we have a second draft due of the Proposal essay on Thursday, 12/4. I am going to keep this deadline, so, plan to have a revised draft for that day. (again, please bring 2 copies)

2. Over the break, I am asking you to read Andrea Lunsford and Karen Lunsford's article "'Mistakes are a Fact of Life': A National Comparative Study" (the authors are mother/daughter). This is another long article--23 pages or so. Again, I would NOT wait until the last minute to begin reading it. I would advise you to take a look at the article ahead of time and find a way to break it up into 4-5 parts or sections that you can tackle one at a time. 

A few words on the article itself: it's about errors in student writing. Particularly, it's about mechanical or grammatical errors. We have not talked a great deal about grammar this semester, so this article should give us an opportunity to explore the topic. In this study, the mother/daughter team of Lunsford/Lunsford review a study that was done back in the 1980s on the issue of errors in student papers. They then decide to replicate or "re-do" the study for 2008, to see what is still true about the way college students make errors in their writing and also what has changed since the time of the original study (which was conducted by Lunsford/Connors). Please read the article carefully and expect a quiz. 

3. Blog Entry 19: 

a) What interested you or surprised you in the Lunsford/Lunsford article? 

b) What errors do you make in your writing? Why?

c) What connections can you make, if any, with their study? How does it speak to you and your own experience with writing and errors?

250-300 Words

4. I am looking for (1) volunteer from each of my classes who would be willing to have his/her Proposal Essay critiqued in class on Tuesday. If you are willing, please get in touch ASAP!

Homework for Tuesday, 11/25

The only homework for Tuesday is to bring in (2) copies of your proposal essay. We will workshop these drafts in peer-groups in class and examine one student essay in detail together.

Have a nice weekend.

Homework for Thursday 11/20

1. Return to the Sommers/Saltz article, "The Novice as Expert: Writing the Freshmen Year." For blog #17, write five (5) True/False or multiple choice questions that could (and may) be used for a quiz on the article. Additionally, please:

• Make sure that each of your five questions comes from a separate section of the article. (I count 8 "sections" if you include the introductory section).
  
• Make sure you supply the correct answer to each question. So, your questions might look like this (please do NOT use this question):

In their article, "The Novice as Expert: Writing the Freshmen Year," Linda Sommers and Laura Saltz argue that students who make the greatest gains in college:

a. accept their role as novices
b. see in writing a larger purpose than fulfilling an assignment
c. seek out the help of professors during office hours
d. are those who come into college as already strong writers
e. Both A and B

(Correct Answer: E)

2. For Blog #18, please write a draft of the first paragraph of your proposal for Writing Project #2. Please bring a hard-copy of this paragraph to class to share with your peers. At some point in this paragraph, you should include the following sentence (fill in the blanks with the appropriate information from your argument):

In this essay, I will argue that in order to address the problem of _________________ we need to _______________ . 

Homework, Tuesday 11/18

1. I'd like you to get started drafting your proposal on how the teaching of writing at your old high school could be improved. Keep in mind that your task here is two-fold:

a. Make an argument for what needs to be done/changed/added.
b. Support your argument with reasons and evidence drawn from sources (again, you can use any of the articles we have read in class and/or your data on your own composing process from Writing Project #2.

For Tuesday, plan to bring in 1-2 pages of writing in which you begin to lay out your project. This could be a draft of the first 1-2 pages of your paper. Or, this could be extensive notes/plans on what you'd like to argue and how you will work to support this argument. Plan to have an actual draft of your paper due the Tuesday before Thanksgiving (not graded, just a draft). I will ask you to share this work with your peers. Please post this writing as Blog #15 and also bring a hard copy to class!

2. Please read (3) students blog entries from this past week. Look at what your classmates wrote for Blog #14 (about the Sommers/Saltz article). Write blog #16, in which you comment on what you learned from these other student's blog entries. What did you find interesting about what your peers wrote? What surprised you? What did they say that you hadn't thought of? What did they say that you gave you a new way to think about the article and/or Sommers/Saltz's work? Be sure to quote from your classmates blogs (and include their names, of course) as you write your blog entry.

3. Please read, in Axelrod and Cooper's _Concise Guide To Writing_ pgs. 238 (from "Analyzing and Defining the Problem") through 249. Just read these pages, don't do any of the activities (like on p. 242 where it says "Researching Alternate Solutions: an online Activity"). In reading these pages, you're just trying to get a general overview of what the genre of the proposal entails.

Homework for Thursday 11/13

1. Reminder: NO CLASSES ON TUESDAY 11/11.
2. Blog Entry #13: generate a list of no fewer than (5) ideas for how the teaching of writing can be improved at your old high school. Once you've completed this list, for each item, think about how you can connect your proposal with the research we have read this semester on composing processes.
3. Please go to our Google Groups site and download the article called "The Novice as Expert: Writing the Freshman Year" by Nancy Sommers and Laura Saltz (Sommers.Saltz.pdf). This is a LONG article--26 pages. DO NOT TRY TO READ IT IN ONE SITTING!!! I am assigning this longer piece because we are not meeting for a full week (again, no class on Tuesday). Thus, I think of this article as, essentially, two readings in one (even though it's just one article). Please divide the article into manageable chunks. I think that you will find that the writing, itself, is accessible (in the way that the earlier article we read by Sommers was accessible), but I would recommend that you take a look at the article before you begin reading and figure out how to break it up into 3-4 parts or sections which you will read one at a time, over the course of several sittings.
4. Blog Entry #14: What did you find interesting or surprising about the Sommers/Saltz article and why? (please quote from the article at least 3-4 times as you explain your answer). Your post should run 250-300 words or so.

Homework for Thursday 11/6

1. Please read pages 209-212 and 233-235 in Axelrod and Cooper's Concise Guide to Writing.
2. Please bring copies of the following articles to class: Rose, Perl, Sommers, Flower/Hayes, Berkenkotter/Murray.

That is all. Any questions/comments/concerns, get in touch.

See you Thursday.

mm

Homework for Tuesday, 11/4

For the most part, we went over the homework in class last Thursday (for this Tuesday). But, just in case:

1. Download and print out two documents off of our google groups page:

a. Chapter5.pdf
b. Boxes.pdf

2. Read the one call Chapter5.pdf (the title, when you open the document, reads: “Understanding Academic Scenes and Writing Courses” (187-199))

3. Post your responses to the two Writing Activities (WA), 5.3 and 5.4 to your blog. There should be one blog entry per WA (these should be Blog 11 and 12). WA 5.3 is on page 191/192 and WA 5.4 is on page 199.

4. In order to complete WA 5.3, you'll need to take a look at Box 1.2 which is in the document called Boxes.pdf (this is why I said, above, that you need to download and print out that box).

5. WARNING: WA 5.3 is going to take a bit of time, you'll want to look at that one immediately, to figure out how you are going to get it done in time for Tuesday's class.

Good luck. If you have any problems/questions, don't hesitate to get in touch.

mm

Homework For Thursday 10/30 (Important change of Plans!)

For Thursday, I am asking you NOT to read Schunk's article "Self-Efficacy for Reading and Writing." Instead, I am asking you to read Gee's "Reading as Situated Language." I have taken Schunk's article off of our google groups page and added Gee's.

Before you go into this piece, I want to warn you: it is among the more difficult texts I will ask you to read this semester. It is just 10 pages or so, but it is packed full of complicated terms and ideas. I suggest you pay careful attention to the first two paragraphs of the piece. In paragraph 2, Gee lays out exactly what he is going to do and talk about in the rest of the article. Keep returning to this paragraph as you read so that you can keep track of where you are in the "big picture" of his article at any given moment. Use your feature/function reading skills to keep track of the journey you are taking as you read this difficult text (which is to say, notice the headings, think about which section you are in and refer back to his explanation, again, paragraph 2, of what he is going to do and talk about).

In your blog entry, and this is Blog Entry #9 (please title it as such), please just take notes on the article. Your notes should consist of what you consider to be key passages in the article, key terms (e.g., discourse, language), and your understanding of Gee's argument. You might also pose questions that arise for you as you go. What he is saying in this article challenges our traditional notions of how language works and how people "make meaning." You might think carefully about how and where he challenges our traditional notions. I would also suggest you pay attention to the various examples he gives to make what he is saying a bit more accessible.

Your Blog #9 should be roughly 500-750 words in length. I suggest you just open an MS Word document and start taking notes and use the "Word Count" function to keep track of how much you've got (try to get notes on the WHOLE article...in other words, don't fill your Blog #9 with notes on just the first section). Then copy and paste your notes from Word into your blog post.

FINAL POINT: with an article this challenging, you shouldn't try to understand EVERY single thing that Gee says. What you are looking for is the gist or the general outline of the piece. Imagine that you are trying to look at a picture that is slightly out of focus and trying, slowly, to bring it into focus. This is not an article that one reads once by oneself and immediately understands. It is a challenging piece that requires multiple readings and the help of peers and teachers to "get." Having said this, please don't give up and stop reading when you're lost! Push yourself to keep going. If you feel lost for a while, that's okay...keep going and try to get yourself to that point where you are understanding again. Assume that you will get lost, but press yourself to keep at it.

Good luck.
mm

For Tuesday, 10/28

1. Please make sure to bring Writing Project #1. You should have the following three documents:

-Your analytic/reflective essay
-your transcript
-your essay (in response to prompt #1 or 2)

Please make sure that each of these items is stapled together and please paper clip all three of them together. Make sure your name is on all three of them.

IMPORTANT: As I said on the syllabus, I will not accept late work. You either have it in class on Tuesday, or you receive an F. If you aren't in class, do not email it to me or call me to ask when to drop it by. It is due in class. No exceptions will be made. Also, if the papers are not properly stapled (individually) and paper-clipped (all three together), I will not accept the assignment and you will get an F.

2. Please bring all seven of the articles we have read up to this point to class on Tuesday (Berkenkotter/Murray, Sommers, Rose, Flower/Hayes, Haas/Flower (on reading), Selzer, Perl).

On Tuesday, I will hand out the schedule of activities for the second half of the semester.

If you have any questions/concerns, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

MM

Blog URLs (Section 06)

Bryant, Nicholas C
http://nickwriting100-06.blogspot.com/

Callahan-Cormier, Devin R
http://dcal215.blogspot.com/

Carroll, Katherine L
http://katiecwriting100.blogspot.com/

Chau, Sathiarith
http://wrtg100-06.blogspot.com/

Choice, Mason T
http://bballmase21.blogspot.com/

Chrane, Sarah C
http://sarahswritingcourseblog.blogspot.com/

Coccio, Kevin E
http://thewritingwriter100.blogspot.com/

DeAlmeida, Shawn G
???

Downing, Tiffany L
http://tiffanydowning.blogspot.com/

Laythe, Jordan T
http://jordanlaythe.blogspot.com/

Levesque, Michael
???

Lussier, Gabby
http://gabbylu08.blogspot.com/

Marquis, Hailey A
http://xxgymnasty.blogspot.com/

McIntyre, Hunter G
http://huntermcintyre9.blogspot.com/

McKenzie, John (JR)
http://jrmcknz89.blogspot.com/

Ortega Boggio, Miatta D
http://miattaboggio.blogspot.com/

Pappas, Alexandra A
http://alipappas.blogspot.com/

Patterson, Jessica A
http://jessicap89.blogspot.com/

Trenholm, Brenda J.
http://bjtrenholm.blogspot.com/

Wapenyi, Richard T
http://richiew39-richiesblog.blogspot.com/

Wygant, Patrick T
http://pwygant.blogspot.com/

Zevallos, Richard R
???

Blog URLs (Section 14)

Attolino, Alex
http://aattolino.blogspot.com/

Blinn, Kelsey J
http://kelsweesblog.blogspot.com/

Cary, Megan A
http://meganswriting07.blogspot.com/

Clark, George R
http://george-writingrhetoric.blogspot.com/

Collins, Allie
http://www.alliewriting100.blogspot.com/

Erilus, Jenn
http://jerilus-writing-and-rhetoric-blog.blogspot.com/

Farrell, Alex
http://alexandrafarrell.blogspot.com/

Henry, Amanda M
http://allofmylovetoyounow.blogspot.com/

Kashouh, Joseph E
http://josephswritingcourse.blogspot.com/

Macamaux, Allie R
http://amacamaux.blogspot.com/

McDonald, Mike
http://mcdonald054.blogspot.com/

O'Loughlin, Jeff
http://joloughiln.blogspot.com/

Rado, Corrado A
http://corradorado.blogspot.com/

Reyes, Clemente R
http://creyesjr.blogspot.com/

Rezendes, Jasmine L
http://thenowannoyedblogger.blogspot.com/

Russell, Jess
http://aintthatlivin.blogspot.com/

Sarlitto, Laura M
http://lsarlitto.blogspot.com/

Trombley, Katelyn A
http://katelyn-writingblog.blogspot.com/

Werner, Austin S
http://austinwerner.blogspot.com/

Wilkinson, Phil
http://eatpiealot.blogspot.com/

Homework for Thursday 10/23

1. For this Thursday, please read the article called "Understanding Composing" by Sondra Perl. You can find this article on our google groups page, under "Files." It is fairly short and a bit different in format from the previous Introduction/Methods/Results/Discussion type articles we have read. Please be sure to carefully annotate the Perl article as you read.

2. Once you've finished the Perl article, please post an entry to your blog. Be sure to title this entry: Blog #9. In your posting, please pose (3) questions you have about the Perl article. They can be questions about comprehension--like things you didn't understand. Or, they can be broader questions--like questions that came up as a result of reading the article.

3. Once you have posted your (3) questions, please take a moment to visit (3) of your classmates' blogs. How do you do this? I have posted two blog entries to my blog (you probably also received an email about this) which contain your classmates' blog URLs. Look for your class's list by section # on my blog (06: morning, 14: afternoon) :

http://progressivelyprofressing.blogspot.com/

Once you have found the list of your classmates' blog addresses, visit (3) of them and read their three questions about the Perl article. Then, use the "Comment" function to post a comment to their blog in which you attempt to answer, or at the least address, their three questions. How do you use the "Comment" function? Simple, look for the link that says "0 Comments" at the end of their Blog #9 post. Click that link and it should take you to a new screen which will provide you with a textbox where you can leave comments.

Of course, the sooner you can get your Blog #9 posted, the more likely someone is going to come along and post a comment on it. So, try to get the reading done and your three questions posted to your blog ASAP.

4. Before you come to class on Thursday, print out: 1) your Blog #9 post, 2) any comments that were left on your Blog #9 post by your classmates. Bring this printout to class on Thursday.

I think that's it. If you have any questions, please get in touch.

Best-
mm

Announcements and Homework, 10/21

I am writing with an updated plan for completing Stage 2 of Writing Project 1 and also with a brief schedule for the next week or two.

1. Over the past few days, I have been reflecting on what Stage 2 of this project will be. I knew all along what I wanted it to be, I was just trying to find a format that would be appropriate for it. In section 06, we went over the handout on Stage 2 in class yesterday, Tuesday, 10/14. By the time I got to my afternoon class, section 14, I had decided that what I was asking you to do with that handout was too complicated. Thus, I did not give the handout on Stage 2 to the afternoon class. For now, I'd like students in both sections to just hold on Stage 2. I'm going to be out of town for a few days and I will be working on getting out a different assignment sheet for Stage 2 in the days to come.

2. Plans going forward:

10/21: review student transcripts together in class (no homework due)
10/23: linking transcripts with published research on composing processes (homework TBA)
10/28: Writing Project 1 deadline (due: transcript, essay (from prompt), reflective essay (on transcript...more to come on this soon).

3. I have to submit a mid-term grade for each of you to the registrar, due by noon this Friday. Your mid-term grade will consist of your mid-term blog grade and your quiz grade. It will also reflect my general impression of your performance in class thus far. It will not, obviously, include your grade on Writing Project 1. If you would like to see your mid-term grade, I should have it up on WebCt by Friday at noon. If you would like to speak with me about your grade, please feel free to drop me an email.

4. For those of you who produced thorough and detailed transcripts and brought them to class this past Thursday, there is no homework for 10/21. Just bring your transcript to class again. For those of you who produced less than thorough transcripts, meaning--you did the assignment wrong or only brought in a page or so of notes, please use the weekend to rework your transcript or choose the other prompt and start over. How do you know if your transcript was thorough enough? The transcripts that were thorough and well-done and satisfactory were no fewer than five or so single-spaced pages. You're going to need LOTS of data in order to complete Stage 2 of this assignment. So, if you are one of the people who came in with a transcript just 1-2 pages long, you have some work to do.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch.

mm

Homework for Thursday 10/9

Today in class we discussed Writing Project #1. This is not a small assignment. In light of this, I am assigning NO other homework between today, Tuesday 10/7 and the day that the Stage 1 of the project is due to be completed, Tuesday, 10/14. There will be no readings and no blog entries due. Your only responsibility is to work on this assignment, Writing Project #1.

Having said this, for this Thursday, 10/9:

1. Please bring those five articles to class that I asked you to bring for today (Berkenkotter, Selzer, Sommers, Flower/Hayes, Rose). Please bring hard copies of each article. No need to print new copies if you have already printed them out and annotated them.

2. I would advise you to get started on conducting your think-aloud protocol. I will allow time on Thursday for discussion of Writing Project #1. If you already have a head start on the project, you may be able to raise questions about the process and talk about how things are going. Again, I advise you to get the actual writing of the essay (in response to Prompt #1 or 2) out of the way before Sunday 10/12 so that you can devote Monday and what time you have on Tuesday to transcribing the tape.

Any questions, let me know.
mm

Link to "The Fakebook Generation"

Here's the link to "The Fakebook Generation" by Alice Mathias:

The Fakebook Generation

Homework for Tuesday 10/7

1. The homework for the weekend is to take some time to carefully review the following articles, information from which will appear on the quiz on Tuesday:

--“The Composing Processes of an Engineer” (Selzer)
--“Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers” (Sommers)
--“The Cognition of Discovery: Defining a Rhetorical Problem” (Flower/Hayes)
--“Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language: A Cognitivist Analysis of Writer’s Block” (Rose)

2. On your blog (entry #7, I think?, write one question you'd like to ask in class about each of the articles before the quiz on Tuesday. I will take a good chunk of time on Tuesday, before the quiz, to answer questions to help you prepare. Thus, blog entry #7 should just have four questions, one about each of the articles. Print out this blog entry and bring it to class on Tuesday.

3. Print out a hard copy of each of the following five articles (if you haven't already done so) and bring these hard copy to class for Tuesday's class (if you already have a hard copy print-outs of all the articles that you have already annotated, please just bring these copies):

1. “Decisions and Revisions: The Planning Strategies of a Publishing Writer, and a Response of a Laboratory Rat: Or, Being Protocoled” (Berkenkotter)
2. “The Composing Processes of an Engineer” (Selzer)
3. “Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers” (Sommers)
4. “The Cognition of Discovery: Defining a Rhetorical Problem” (Flower/Hayes)
5. “Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language: A Cognitivist Analysis of Writer’s Block” (Rose)

The activity we'll be doing on Tuesday will require you to have a copy of all five of the above articles with you, so, please just make sure that you bring your copy to class.

Have a nice weekend.

mm

A Vision of Students Today

Homework: 10/2/08

Homework for Thursday:

In my September Sum Up, as I attempted to explain why I have asked you to read these five academic articles, one of the reasons I offered was:

The articles serve as models of what some genres or types of academic writing look like and how they work. Each academic discipline has its own rules and conventions for writing…Over the course of your time at RIC, you’ll get insight into the kinds of work (and writing) that many different disciplines do—from history to biology—and when you choose a major, you’ll need to learn the specific kinds of work that those in your major take on (and their ways of communicating about that work, through writing).

Please read the Mike Rose article, “Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language: A Cognitivist Analysis of Writer’s Block” (Rose). You can download it on our google groups page. Use the Rose article to reflect a bit on academic writing. Please address the following questions in a blog entry (I believe we're on #7):

• How is academic writing as you’ve experienced it in these five articles, different from others kinds of writing you have read and/or produced in the past?
• If you were asked to explain such writing to a peer or a parent, how would you explain it? (please be specific and avoid general comments like “It’s boring” or “It’s hard”)
• Please identify three (3) features of academic writing that make it different from other kinds of writing you have read. Think about issues such as style, tone, title, persona, paragraph and sentence length, organization, purpose, audience, diction (the choice and use of words and phrases in writing or speech), syntax (the arrangement of words and phrases to create sentences). For each of the three features you identify, please cite a specific example by quoting directly from Rose’s article.

Homework for Tuesday, 9/30

For Tuesday:

1. Please go to our google group page and download and read the document called SeptemberSumup.pdf. This is my attempt to share with you my thoughts about where we have been with the class and where we're going.

2. Please go to our google group page and download and read the document called Notes.Flower_Hayes.pdf. These notes should help you to better understand the Flower/Hayes article, which we'll be discussing on Tuesday.

3. After reading my notes, go back to the 5 questions you wrote about the Flower/Hayes article last week (in your blog). Read your questions over and then re-read the Flower/Hayes article,

4. Blog entry #6: Having read my notes on the Flower/Hayes article and reread the article, what do you make of your five questions now? Can you answer any of them (if so, please do). What additional questions have arisen for you as you've revisited the article and your original understanding of it? (250 words or so)

Any questions, get in touch.

mm

Homework for Thursday 9/25

The reading for Thursday is Linda Flower and John Hayes' "The Cognition of Discovery: Defining a Rhetorical Problem." The article is posted in our Google group under "Files."

In addition to reading the article, in your blog, please generate a list of 5 questions you have about the article--as you do so, please refer to specific passages in the article and quote Flower and Hayes' actual words where/when necessary.

I continue to enjoy the level of intellectual engagement you all are bringing to this work (both in class and in your blog entries). Keep up the good work!

Announcements and Homework for 9/23

Announcements:

1. Today in class we had our first quiz. In the coming weeks, there will be more quizzes and, ultimately, quizzes make up 20% of your final course grade (see syllabus). Most of the quizzes will be like the one we had today. However, there will be another kind of quiz. Today in class we talked about annotating your text as you read. Annotating is the process of marking up something you read, as you read it, so as to better understand it and more easily access certain parts when you need to later. It is a critical skill for succeeding in college.

Occasionally, rather than handing out a multiple-choice quiz of the kind I handed out today, I will ask to collect the reading of the day (be sure to print out a hard copy of all readings and bring these hard copies to every class). Your quiz grade will be determined by how well you have annotated your copy of the article. So, I'll be looking to see what you are underlining or highlighting, how you make comments in the margins, etc. I will grade both on the basis of quantity of annotations and quality. If you don't have your reading that day, you will receive an automatic "F." If your text is not annotated, you will receive an automatic "F."

2. Big picture: next week I will introduce our first paper and we'll get started on it. In it, I will ask you to think about your composing process. Just a heads up that a draft of this essay will likely be due the week of 10/29. More to come on Tuesday.

3. For the next two weeks, we will continue to look at academic articles that explore the processes writers use to compose. Beginning in October, we will shift gears and move in a different direction. Plan to get a syllabus with details on the readings for the month of October during the last week of September.

4. On Tuesday, I will spend some time in class talking about the blogs and what my expectations are of them. I will put some of your blogs up on the screen and we will look at them so you can get a sense of what will constitute a good grade on the blog assignment (20% of your final grade).

Homework for Tuesday 9/23:

1. Read the rest of Jack Selzer's article "The Composing Process of an Engineer" (I asked you to read the first two pages for this past Thursday's class).

2. The reading on the syllabus for Tuesday 9/23 was

“The Construction of Purpose in Reading and Writing” (Flower)

I have changed it to:

“Revision Strategies of Student Writers and Experienced Adult Writers” (Sommers)

Please go the google groups course page and download a copy of this article. Please read it for Tuesday's class.

3. Blog Entry #4: Berkenkotter's study focused on Donald Murray, a professional journalist and English professor. Selzer's article focuses on Kenneth E. Nelson, a professional engineer. Write a short essay in which you discuss the differences between these two men's composing processes. This is an exercise in comparing and contrasting. You should first briefly summarize these men's processes and then discuss the ways in which they are similar or different. Also, describe the terms that Berkenkotter and Selzer use to characterize their subjects' composing processes and how these key terms are different. Please do quote from the articles themselves as you formulate your response. 300-500 words.

Good luck. And have a nice weekend.

Homework for Thursday, 9/18

No blog entry due.

Please read p 178-179 in “The Composing Process of an Engineer” (Selzer). This document can be downloaded at the "Files" section of our google groups page. Only read the introduction and “Procedure” sections.

Revisit the Downs/Wardle, Haas/Flower, and Berkenkotter articles to prepare for the quiz.

Announcements and Homework

Important Announcements:

1. The email address for our google group is: writingrhetoric@googlegroups.com. If you send an email to that address, or reply to an email that came to you from that address, you are sending your email to everyone in both of my Writing 100 classes. If you want to correspond with me, and just me, please address your email to mmichaud@ric.edu.
2. Please put the following on your radar (more info to come in class): i) you can expect a quiz on the Downs/Wardle, Haas/Flower, and Berkenkotter articles on Thursday, 9/18. ii) You can expect a draft of a formal paper (one of the three) to be due sometime during the week of 9/22.

Homework for 10/16

1. Go to our google groups page and download the document (under “FILES”) called: Notes.Haas:Flower.pdf. Read this document carefully; it is my notes on the most important points we discussed in regard to the Haas/Flower article.
2. Go to our google groups page and download the document called (under “FILES”): Berkenkotter.pdf. Print out a copy and read it. This is the major reading assignment for Tuesday. In this article, Carol Berkenkotter asked Donald Murray, an accomplished writer and writing teacher, if she could use him for an experiment to see what she could learn about how expert writers do their work. The article concludes with a brief follow-up essay from Murray in which he writes about what it was like to be Berkenkotter’s “lab rat” (meaning: research subject).
3. Blog Entry #3: Apply what you learned from the Haas/Flower about reading. Begin to create a “constructive” reading of the Berkenkotter article. In your blog entry, create three sub-headings:

a. Content Strategies
b. Feature/Function Strategies
c. Rhetorical Strategies

4. As you read, take detailed notes under each sub-heading. So, as you begin to speculate about the content of the article, take notes about what it seems to be about; as you begin to notice the various features within the article (or parts), take notes on them and what it appears their functions are; and finally, employ rhetorical strategies by going “beyond the text” to imagine the rhetorical situation of the article itself—take notes on what you notice when you think of the piece rhetorically, as a discourse act. (300-500 words)

If you have any questions/concerns, don't hesitate to get in touch (mmichaud@ric.edu).

mm

Homework for Thursday, 9/11

If you are one of the people who did not get the instructions on the homework for today, please check your RIC email address immediately and get up to speed. I will expect that the homework that was due for today (in particular, the blog posting) will be completed by, at the latest, this Friday at 5pm.

Here is the homework for this Thursday:

1. Read “Guidelines for Writing Scientific Papers” which (is saved as Guidelines.ScientificArticles.pdf) can be found here:

http://groups.google.com/group/writingrhetoric/files?hl=en

2. Read “Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning” (Haas/Flower)—you can find this reading on the same google groups page where you found “Guidelines…” As you read, take notes on where/when the authors move through the four (4) main sections of a scientific article: Introduction/Methods/Results/Discussion. They don’t have sub-headings to let you know where the Introduction section ends and the Methods section begins, but you can get a sense of it if you pay attention carefully.
3. Write Blog Entry #2: Summarize the key information in each of the four sections. So, briefly summarize the main points of the Introduction, then briefly summarize their Methods, the Results of their experiment, and what they conclude in their Discussion. (total: 400-600 words).

Homework for Tuesday, 9/9/08

This is the second email you should be receiving from me this afternoon. This email contains detailed information on the homework for Tuesday, 9/9/08. On your syllabus, it says that the reading for Tuesday is:

“Rhetorical Reading Strategies and the Construction of Meaning” (Haas/Flower)

We're going to push that off for Thursday, 9/11/08. For this Tuesday, please complete the following:

1. Create a blog using www.blogger.com (use ONLY this blog service, please).

• Go to www.blogger.com and create a blog (it’s fast and easy). Name it whatever you want (keep it clean).
• Once you’ve created your blog, you’ll receive a confirmation email from blogger. Open the email and follow the instructions.
• Once you have created and confirmed your blog, please email me your blog’s address or URL (it should look something like this: http://progressivelyprofressing.blogspot.com/). Please email it to me at mmichaud@ric.edu.

2. Once you’ve created your blog, write your first posting. VERY IMPORTANT: Title this first blog posting (look for the “Title” text box above the main text box where you type your blog entries) Blog Posting #1 (by simply numbering the postings in this way, it’ll make it easier for me to read/evaluate them). In your first blog posting, I’d like you to answer the following questions about the Downs/Wardle article I asked you to read for last Thursday’s class. We’re going to return to the article to discuss your responses in class this Tuesday, so bring a print-out copy with you to class.

Your answers should be thorough and include direct quotes from the Downs/Wardle article. Your response should run roughly 400-600 words (you can copy and paste it into MS Word and then use the “Word Count” tool, under the pull-down menu “TOOLS,” to find out how long it is). If you do not already have the article, you can get a copy by going to:

http://groups.google.com/group/writingrhetoric?hl=en

and then click “FILES.” By clicking on the Downs/Wardle.pdf link, the article will download to your computer.

Here are the question you need to answer in that first blog posting:

First Section (unnamed):

Paragraph 1:

• According to Downs/Wardle, why does the First-Year Composition (FYC) course (at RIC, it’s called Writing and Rhetoric) exist in the first place?
• What does the research say about whether or not such a course can accomplish its goal?
• According to Downs/Wardle, what is the field of Writing Studies, itself, guilty of?

Paragraph 2:

• What are Downs/Wardle proposing we change about FYC?
• What will Downs/Wardle do in the pages ahead?
• In writing this article, what are two of Downs/Wardle’s main goals?
• What are the three “important misconceptions” the authors of this piece will examine and attempt to dispel before moving on to describe their vision for FYC?

Section 2 (Systemic Misconceptions and Misdirection of Mainstream FYC)

• What seems to be the main point of this section?

Section 3 (Academic Discourse as a Category Mistake)

• What is the “category mistake” that has been made in regard to FYC?
• What kind of academic discourse is most often taught in FYC courses? Why? What is the problem with this?

Section 4 (The Open Question of Transfer)

• What do Downs/Wardle mean by the use of the word “transfer”—and what do they have to say about whether or not skills learned in FYC courses actually transfer to other writing contexts?

Section 5 (Resisting Misconceptions)

• What are the “two master narratives” that Downs/Wardle describe in this section?
• What, exactly, do Downs/Wardle believe FYC should be/do?

I think that's it. If you have any problems or questions or concerns, don't hesitate to get in touch. See you Tuesday.

Information and Update

Dear Students (Writing and Rhetoric, sections 06/14):

I have several important pieces of information to convey to you.

1. I want to apologize for having to cancel our second class this past Thursday, 8/4. On Wednesday, my infant son was admitted to the hospital back home in NH, where I live. He had a very high temperature and was not feeling well. After three days in the hospital, he and my wife came home this morning. He is fine, all is well, he seems to be fully recovered. Of course, I needed to head back to NH to attend to my family, which is why I missed class on Thursday. I will be back for our class this coming Tuesday, 9/9 and apologize for any inconvenience my absence may have caused you.

2. Here at RIC, we use a course management system called WebCT. At all other institutions I've worked at, I have used a different system, called Blackboard. After wading into WebCT over the past few days, I have decided that it is not a system I would like to use to conduct electronic business for our class. I have several reasons, which I will happily explain to you in class on Tuesday (if you care). Instead, I have opted to use google's services, which are free (whoopee!) and, I think, much easier to use.

I have created a google "Group" called Writing.Rhetoric. It can be accessed here:

http://groups.google.com:80/group/writingrhetoric?hl=en

Over the past 24 hours or so, I have added almost all of you as members, and I have done so using your RIC email address, which you will need to check regularly to keep abreast of correspondence in our course. I will be using our Writing.Rhetoric group for at least two purposes:

1. Communicating with you via email.
2. Posting course readings (the group page is where you will need to go to download the readings).

Hemlock Available in the Faculty Lounge


Teaching evaluations have become a permanent fixture in the academic environment. These instruments, through which students express their true feelings about classes and profes-sors, can make or break an instructor. What would students say if they had Socrates as a professor?


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