Today’s Plan:
- Attendance
- Annotated Bibliography Scores
- Calendar Review
- Workshop Groups
- Drafting Expectations
Annotated Bibliography Scores
Two criteria: number of sources (11) and word count (2000). 4 people did not turn in an annotated bibliography.
Calendar Review
Week Eleven
Tuesday, Mar 21
Working with Sources (review).
Workshop group formation.
Thurs, Mar 23
MLA and APA Review
Workshop 5 pages of drafted material.
Week Twelve
Tuesday, Mar 28
Active Topic Sentences / Making a Claim.
Workshop 5 pages of drafted material.
Thurs, Mar 30
Writing Introductions.
Workshop 5 pages of drafted material.
Homework: Complete Draft of Research Paper.
Week Thirteen
Tuesday, Apr 4
Peer Review of Final Papers.
Thurs, Apr 6
Revising Final Papers.
Homework: Read chapter 14, “Visual Rhetoric,” (pages 330 – 43) and chapter 15, “Presenting Arguments,” (pages 344 – 60)
Workshop Groups
As you can see from the calendar, we will be spending the next 3 class workshopping writing. In preparation for class, you will write 5 pages (double spaced) of draft material. You will bring 3 copies of this material to class. You will break into groups of 3 and take turns reading through draft material. I will provide both a general checklist and specific criteria for workshop sessions.
The purpose of this format is to tackle procrastination and force productivity. In order to be qualified as “present” for the next few classes, you will need to bring these pages with you to class (otherwise you will be absent regardless of whether you are here). We’ve dedicated quite a bit of time to research and pre-writing (both the proposal and the annotated bibliography), now it is time to crank out a complete draft of the paper.
Working With Sources (Review)
Incorporating Sources into Academic Writing
First, I want to cover again the importance of using a transition that introduces and builds some credibility for a source. It can be really jarring to a reader when you just throw a quote at them. Taking some time to provide a summary of a source before the quote helps them digest it.
[Author’s] [time period] [genre] [title] [verb] [purpose].
As I indicated above, it is the verb that is the silent star of the show here. Consider for a minute the following example:
Malcom Gladwell’s 2005 book Blink exposes how subconscious part of our brain think in ways we are not consciously aware.
Exposes. How does the meaning of the sentence change if I use the verb:
- suggests
- argues
- questions whether
- supposes
- explicates
- details
- reveals
- offers a theory of
- explores
- claims
Each of these verb choices subtly alters the way I approach the work discussed. Exposes suggests something secret and perhaps mysterious is being uncovered. Suggests suggests that an amount of doubt surrounds the issue. Supposes implies that I am hostile or at least quite skeptical toward the idea. This subtle indicator allows my an opportunity to softly align or distance myself from the source I am using. Good authors do this all the time to subconsciously prepare readers for their arguments.
Examples from Topic Research Assignment:
- An Article written by Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Khan explains and discusses the pay gap and why there is such a gap.
- In a CNBC article by Kate Rogers “Small Businesses look ahead to a trump presidency in 2017” Rogers talks about the optimism small businesses have for Trumps presidency.
- In Ronald Takaki’s A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America, a book from 1993, Takaki discusses the history of america through the perspective of multiple cultures.
- ‘What Works’ rehabilitation programs work better in prisons that have a positive social climate?”, offers insight on whether rehabilitation programs can positively affect the lives of the prisoners in the programs.
- John D. Rummel’s March 2016 Scientific article Planetary protection for human missions: Options and implications conveys to the readers the plans and long term goals and achievements needed for colonization of Mars
- In Cris Rowan’s 2013 article “The Impact of Technology on the Developing Child”. Rowan argues that technology’s impact on the 21st century family is fracturing its very foundation, and causing a disintegration of core values that held families together.
- In Jane Morris’s 2011 research article “A semi-quantitative approach to GMO risk-benefit analysis,” Morris argues that although GMOs are originally used as a way to help society, GMOs are doing more harm than good.
Just as important as what you do before a source (whether it is a direct quote or a paraphrase), is what you do after it. In They Say, I Say, Graff and Birkenstein provide a list of “templates” that can help writers respond to sources–either agreeing, disagreeing, contributing, etc. The reason you should never end a paragraph with a quote is because you should never leave it to a reader to interpret what a quote means or why it is important–be sure to follow up on all sources (again, whether a quote or a paraphrase).
With this in mind, I want to work today in class to craft introductory sentences for research material. I have distributed:
- A Fox News article on Invanka Trump
- Two pages from Mark C. Taylor’s Moment of Complexity
- AAUP Statement on Political Litmus Tests
- A blog post from Maria Papova’s Brain Pickings on Susan Sontag
We are going to spend a few minutes with each. First, I will ask you to read the selection. As you read please identify the author’s purpose for the entire piece, and then focus attention either on a specific piece of evidence they use to support that claim/purpose, or a particular bit of advice they provide the reader for doing something.
I will ask you to write two sentences that both introduce the source and offer a paraphrase. We’ll write these sentences in the Canvas discussion forums.
Homework
Compose 5 pages (double-spaced) of your essay. Bring 3 copies of this draft to next class. NOTE THAT YOU SHOULDN’T TRY TO WRITE THE INTRODUCTION TO THE PAPER YET. You can’t write the introduction until you have written the paper. Instead, the first five pages should concentrate on another part of the outline that you generated the week before break.
