We are not in class today because of the snow emergency, but we will probably be back Wednesday. The weather forecast says we will get very little new snow, but very cold weather, so stay in, stay warm, and be careful.
As the class was set up, today was planned for a set of basic writing comments, most of them pretty self-explanatory. I will just write a few words about each and let the items speak for themselves.
Writing in School—A Brief Overview: I adapted this one from The Writer’s Way, a great textbook for college writing. I think of English 102 as the real first step into serious writing, and this is an excellent introduction. Essentially, there are a lot of different kinds of writing (and you have done several). Love letters, text messages to friends, and the usual English 101 “This is me” kind of writing are all legitimate, but now we are getting into a different kind of writing, and this article discusses the change. I doubt if any love letter you wrote had a thesis and MLA citations, but that’s OK. Different sort of writing. Now you will need them.
A hint for better grades: Item #2 (You Need Motivation) is key. One of the best things you can do for any assignment is to make it yours. I keep mentioning the paper that argued that the walleye should be Ohio’s state fish. If you told me that I absolutely had to write that paper, myself, I would struggle and postpone, and eventually squeeze something out that would be very mediocre. Ask me to write about the history of fountain pens or the value of bicycle trails, and I would dive right in—consider it recreation rather than a chore. The walleye student was an avid fisherman and writing in his personal area of passion. If you can do that, you are a winner.
Awkward little note: When I looked at the file this morning, I realized that Ashland has again changed the web address for the Academic Integrity rules. I will fix that soon after I post this.
Structure of a General Expository Essay: This piece, from the Mt. St. Antonio College of Walnut, California (isn’t the Internet great?) is a good visual of what we are trying to do here. Yes, it does look a lot like the five-paragraph essay. The point is that academic readers, especially those reading research papers, are very busy and very purpose-driven. They are trying to figure out what you have to say and whether it fits in with their own research needs. We are not writing mystery novels, and you do not need to worry about letting the cat out of the bag. We like to look into the bag very early and find out what kind of cat is in there, then spend the rest of the paper analyzing what kind of cat it is.
Holistic Grading and English 102: Most of the time, I will follow the “suggested Rubric” which is linked in the article, but rubrics are sometimes very wrong. At the core, the project of grading a paper is asking the question “Is this any good?” So there will be a few times when the numbers and my judgment do not agree, and I will go with my judgment. One particular example is in the “Barrel of Sewage” theory. Though Conventions (grammar, spelling, and so forth) are a fairly minor part of the official rubric, a few student papers are so rocky that poor grammar/spelling totally sabotages them, and I will give the appropriate grade.
Printing from Your Computer to AU Printers: I put this one in because, when I set up the schedule, Peer Editing was set for Wednesday. I cannot tell on Monday morning whether you will be able to get to campus on Tuesday or get into the library to use the printer. We will still hope for a peer editing session if we are in class on Wednesday, and printed copies will be very helpful, but do not panic.
Comments
Post a Comment