Today’s Plan:
- Grades in Canvas
- AI Quotation Work
- For Next Session
Grades in Canvas
I wanted to remind everyone that I use that weird labor-based grading scale. If you pass something in, and it looks like you tried, you will get a 4.25 / 5 in Canvas. That’s the highest score. If elements of the assignment appear to be missing, or it doesn’t seem like you put in some effort, you will get either a 4/5 or a 3/5. If you want to revise and resubmit those, go ahead.
Remember that to earn an A, you will have to:
- Revise your project proposal
- Visiting student hours in order to share drafts or ask meaningful questions about a project/reading/work (have a Google Doc I can look at and we can discuss, come with specific questions about your writing you want me to address
- Submitting a draft of your final paper prior to the draft deadline
Quotation Work
Here’s how I teach quotation and the use of sources (be it direct quotation or paraphrase).
- Signal: who, what, where, when. Note that what/where can be a reference to a kind of media [article, book, poem, website, blog post], a genre [sonnet, dialogue, operational manual], or location/event [press conference, reporting from the steps of the White House]. The signal helps create ethos, establishing the credibility of your source, addressing their disposition toward the issue, and positioning them within the context of a particular conversation. Think of a paper like a dinner party. You’ve invited me and want to introduce me to all your guests. Very polite. After they leave, you might tell me how great they are or make snide comments about their dress.
- Quote/evidence: in-line citations use quotation marks and are generally three lines or less. Block citations do not use quotation marks and are indented from the rest of the text. Generally, quotes present logos of some kind–be it in the form of statistics or argumentation. Of course, quotes can also be used in an attempt to engender pathos, or a strong emotional reaction.
- Summary: especially for block quotations, you need to reduce a block of text to a single-line. You need to put the quote in your own words. Because language is slippery, and your readers might not read the quote as you do. So, offering a summary after a quote– particularly a long one (which many readers simply do not read)–allows readers an opportunity to see if they are on the same page as you. You might highlight a particular word or term of importance, especially if it indicates the writer’s attitude toward the topic.
- Analysis: Reaction, counter-argument, point to similar situation, offer further information, use the bridge, “in order to appreciate X’s argument, it helps to know about/explore/etc. This is where the thinking happens.
For Next Session
Go into your the reading response Google Document you submitted for today and revise your quotation–thinking about signal, summary, and analysis (you can also choose to change your quote).
I will email out a reading and response assignment by Sunday at midnight.
