UVM Blogs

Class, As promised, here’s the portfolio requirements: 1. You don’t have to include anything from your mid-term portfolio unless you chose to revise anything. If you did, you need to include the original plus the revision. You do, however, need to include the evaluation sheet I included in your portfolio. If you can’t find it, [...]

Remember, your op-eds are due on blackboard on Wednesday. Go to bb.uvm.edu, find our class, go to the discussion board, click on op-ed, create a new thread, copy and paste your op-ed. Done. Also, you must respond (on the discussion board), to three (3) of your fellow students’ op-eds. This should be a short response [...]

For Monday, please come with a draft of your op-ed. Remember to check your op-ed’s for both appropriate length (shoot for between 650 and 700 words) and clarity. We will workshop the drafts again on Monday. They will be due (you will post them to a discussion board I will create on BB) on Wednesday, [...]

I want you to come into class on Friday with answers to the following questions about your “journey” from research project to op-ed: 1: What topic now interests you? (after reading and identifying the key moments and surprising discoveries you-hopefully-made in your research project) 2: How will you support your new argument with a mix [...]

Remember, I want you to decide which one of these op-eds is more effective, and write a note explaining why. Article I:  Parents sway youth obesity Children didn’t do this to themselves. For years, the nation steadily has become aware of the growing epidemic of childhood obesity, said Karen Ramsey, health education supervisor at the Nash County…[Read more]

Just this: http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1441/full

It’s a research-based essay. We will discuss it tomorrow.

1. Does this project move from a unique question (not necessarily phrased as a question) to an original explanation? 2. Does the author’s voice come through? Could this research project have been written by anyone else? Or is it clear that the author is personally invested? 3. Does the research command authority and make you [...]

Class, As promised, here are the requirements for the research project plus some free-of-charge musings on the interview component. Requirements: 1. 4-6+ pages. Not three pages and one line, at least four full pages. 2. At least one interview with an expert in the field you are researching. (more below). 3. The project must be based on [...]

Class(es), For Wednesday, I want you to take a closer look at one of the five questions you asked about your five topics. Remember, I asked you to turn your five topic ideas into questions: Ex. “Hydroelectric power is the best option for replacing America’s dependence on fossil fuels” could be turned into the question [...]

Class, Here are just a few notes from our class on what makes a good research paper: 1: A good research paper seems to move from an original question to a unique explanation rather than from a problem to a solution (feel free to disagree with this characterization, just be ready to back up your [...]

Here is the promised link to the research guide:  http://researchguides.uvm.edu/content.php?pid=21561 Remember, this guide is not specifically for our class, but it still has some great resources. Here is the prompt for our research paper: Compose a research-based essay on an issue or question that you also have experience with and a  stake in.…[Read more]

Remember, we don’t have class on Friday. I wouldn’t want people showing up then being mortally disappointed that they couldn’t discuss radical revision one more day However, portfolios are due by 430 p.m. Friday in the English department offices; go to the fourth level of the main staircase in Old Mill Annex lobby, take a right [...]

Here is a run-through of the things we discussed in our workshop class. 1.How does your radical revision represent a new angle/vision on your project 1 topic? I’m looking for a radical, vision-altering change, not simply clarification or grammatical correction. 2. Do you know your audience? Do you have a clear idea of your audience’s [...]

Remember, for Monday you will need to bring a draft of your radical revision. It need not be complete, but it must be enough to workshop with your peers. Also, you will need to bring in your approximately one-page revision plan. In this plan, you will simply tell me what surprised you in your re-reading of your project [...]

Part 2-what we are doing Wednesday. For Wednesday, I simply want you to go through your project I and note any interesting/excellent/questionable rhetorical moves you made. What clams did I make in the piece? What questions did I ask? What issues did I explore? Where did I get my ideas? Who is the audience and how did [...]

As promised, I am updating the blog with two posts. This one will outline what is due in the portfolio. The portfolio is due Friday, March 4 in class. It should contain all of your projects and explorations, plus a cover letter (we will go over the parameters in class). This should include Exploration 1-your [...]

As we went over in class: 1. Does your project demonstrate a clear knowledge of both the text and the author’s point in writing the text? 2. Does your project hold your reader’s attention? Even if your argument isn’t groundbreaking, do you present it in a fresh, original way? 3. Is your project understandable? 4. [...]

Yay. Since we are only going over one reading, the journals seemed pointless.

In assignment news, your task for Friday (whether or not you choose to accept it) is to find a rhetorically interesting peice of writing and bring it into class ready to discuss it. That’s it.

Enjoy the cold midweek.

For Wednesday, read “The Greatest Nature Essay Ever” in your E and E book. Decide what you think Doyle’s point in writing the essay is (there are no wrong answers) and tell me in a single paragraph. Then, pick one paragraph from the essay and annotate it in some detail. Tell me how it works [...]

The goal of Project 2 is to give you the opportunity to give me (and your classmates) your take on how a certain writing works. Your mission in Project 2, in other words is to come up with an answer to this question:  What rhetorical (i.e., persuasive) stuff is going on in the essay you chose? [...]

Just for clarification: There will be one reading journal due each and every Friday, even if I don’t mention it in class. They are to be posted to blackboard. (I will start a new thread each week). They are not graded on content, rather, on thoughtful completion. They should be short, and include a summary [...]

Class, I decided that it would be advantageous if, instead of turning in paper copies of your short weekly reading journals, you posted them to a discussion board on blackboard so your fellow students can read them. I created a discussion board on the course homepage on Blackboard, simply go there, post your reading journal [...]

It’s time for peer review! As you exchange ideas and read your explorations to your partner, remeber a few things: Please pay attention, be courteous to your partner. Please be kind to your partner, don’t “shoot down” the writing of others. However, give good criticism. Ask good questions: What are some things you’d like to see to know more [...]

There seems to be a bit of confusion about Wednesday’s assignment, so I hope this clarifies some things. 1. Wednesday’s exploration is not the same thing as the weekly reading journal outlined in your syllabus. This exploration should be a short (1-3 page) retelling of a  personal story; nothing more, nothing less. It is designed to [...]

This is the new written expression blog. Here, I will post clarifications, assignments, and other information that we might need to know. You are free to post back comments that might be of use to your fellow students.