Sept 8

Cross posted via a student in another section:

Tonight's Homework:

1) Final News Analysis (4 full pages)
2) Compile "Final for Now" folder together in this order:
- "Final" Draft
- Peer Comment Draft(s)
- Professor Comment Draft(s)
- Other Drafts (if applicable)
You can use a binder or folder, just as long as the papers are controlled and prevented from getting mixed with your classmates' papers.


Today in Class:

1) We slightly reviewed the 'Rhetorical Analysis' (reading for today).
2) We began to discuss the Editorial Analysis, our next paper.
- This is to be an opinion article in which we analyze a biased newspaper editorial rhetorically. To do so, we must dissect and scrutinize their argument without disagreeing with said argument.
- Remember to identify the claim.
+ use ethos (ethical credibility), pathos (emotion), and logos (logic) to see how the argument works (or does not work)
3) We then got into groups and worked on a rhetorical analysis of different magazine advertisements.
- Rhetorical Analysis Activity:
+ Step 1: Gather together in a group and look carefully at your advertisement.
+ Step 2: What is the ads purpose? What does it want you to do?
+ Step 3: Who has made the Ad? Nike? Dove? The Milk Processor Board?
+ Step 4: Who is the audience? Children? Women? Men? Both?
+ Step 5: How does the add appeal to this audience? Ethos, Pathos, Logos?
+ Step 6: Compile this information together to present to the class, and be prepared to explain/defend your analyses as a group.

4) Each group underwent the steps and openly discussed their rhetorical analysis of whichever advertisement the group had chosen.

September 1

In class today:
First we received our Short Write B back.
Second we got in to our respective conference groups. This allowed us to see who we would be working with and so we could exchange our rough drafts. We also gave a copy to Prof. Joyce. On page 163 in the JAC there are six questions that we need to answer for each of the papers we are peer reviewing. You can write the answers to these questions directly on the individuals draft. The questions are about: what the writer needs to work on, what you gathered from the reading, evidence, how well the paper flowed and a summary of what the paper was about. When you start the paragraph to the author be sure to start with something positive.
Third we got a paper that clarified what exactly Prof. Joyce is looking for in the News Analysis.
Finally we discussed MLA format. When to use in text citations include:
1. Direct Quotation
2. Summary (which is condensing more than one paragraph into one sentence)
3. Paraphrase (which is putting the meaning of one paragraph into one sentence)
Some examples are:
Lindsey Joyce states that “….”(1).
On page 1 of (book title) states that…(Joyce).
~Basically what ever you include in the sentence you don’t have to include in the in text citation~
If you have 1 author with multiple works the citation would be: (Name, “Article Title”, page).
From a Database would be (Name, “Article”, Page).
**Prof. Joyce is more worried about the citation being inside the period and that the citations are where they need to be. It is better to over cite that to be accused of plagarism.**
When it comes to works cited:
If your source is a book: Author Last Name, First Name Middle Initial. Book Title. City of Publication: Publisher, year. Print/Web.
Multiple authors: Put authors names in alphabetical order. After first author write first name first.
If there are more than three authors you can write etc.
For an article: Authro. “Article Title.” Journal Name.Issue: edition(year): pages. Database. Web. Date you found.
A helpful place for help with citations is OWL at Purdue. You can use citation machines or Microsoft but you should double check their work.
Homework: 1. JAC p163 Questions 1-6 (Due at Peer Review)
2. Chapter 5 of EA
3. Read p131-137 in JAC

Aug 30

At the start of class today Prof. Joyce handed back Short Write A and then asked us to to write down our availability this Thursday and Friday (between 8:30-5:00) so that she can put us into groups for our conferences.

After that, we got back into our groups from Friday. The groups who didn't present Friday talked about Purpose, Occasion, and Kind in their group's essay. Then each group also decided whether their essay contained more Ethos, Pathos, Logos, or an equal measure of appeals.

Following the group exercise, we went over five ways of looking at a thesis. These are:
1. A thesis says something a little strange
2. A thesis makes a lot of information irrelevant
3. A thesis deals with exclusive and specific texts
4. A thesis guides the readers from one point to another and gives the paper direction (the thesis is like a mini outline)
5. The Magic Thesis Sentence: By looking at ______, we can see _______, which most readers don't see; this is important because ________. (When it doubt, use the MTS first, and then go back and reword for a better more original thesis later)


Homework:
1. Read chapter 4 in EA
2. Draft 2.5-3 pages of the News Analysis
3. Bring 3 copies of your draft to class Wednesday

Wednesday we'll be going over MLA citation, so it's okay if your MLA citations aren't perfect in the New Analysis draft.

Aug 27

Today in class we did several things:

1. We went over the homework from the handout - discussing key words that reveal bias, examining article titles, considering the purpose of adjectives and adverbs, and sharing the news we found and what it revealed.

2. Discussing the importance of critical reading (JAC 52-53) but also the importance of critical writing, and using the steps outlined for reading in our writing too.

3. A reading exercise in which each group was given a different news article. After reading the 1 page article each group had to decide the Purpose, Occasion, and Kind of argument presented in the text and share with the class. We didn't finish this exercise so we'll continue it first thing Monday.

4. Discussion about Inference, Fact, and Judgment. An Inference as a statement made about an unknown based on a known. It is not a positive or negative statement. A Judgment, on the other hand, is an inference with a positive or negative statement embedded within it.

An example of an Inference: You see gray cloud and infer it is going to rain.
An example of a judgment: You see a banged up car and infer negatively that the driver must be a bad one.


Homework:
1. read Chap 2-3 in EA
2. read p. 20-31 in EW
3. Find 3 articles on 1 news event and fill in the spreadsheet that was distributed in class (if you were absent - email Prof. Joyce for this)

Aug 25

Today Prof. Joyce distributed our first assignment - the News Analysis and a 10 page handout called "Thinking and Writing - A Critical Connection".

She also passed out the blog sign-up sheet. Everyone signed up for a day to contribute to the blog. Prof. Joyce will bring the sign-up sheet every day in case students need to switch dates.

After everything was passed out Prof. Joyce talked to us about the requirements and expectations for the New Analysis assignment. Google news will be a valuable research resource for this paper.

Next we were given a writing prompt: What is the best or most convincing argument you have made recently and how did you support your argument? For 10 minutes each student wrote his or her response to the prompt and then Professor Joyce asked for volunteers to share what they wrote. By sharing, we were able to identify several kinds of argument.

Our homework for the night is:
1. Read Chapter 1 in EA
2. Read p 52-53 in JAC
3. Read p 14-20 in EW
4. Read the handout
5. Short Write A: answer questions 1-3 on page 10 of the handout.

Hello, Just checking how to write on the blogger! :D

1st day

Today we met and Prof. Joyce distributed the syllabus, and a policies and procedures handout. Additionally, Prof. Joyce showed up the three textbooks we would need for class:

1. Easy Writer (4th Edition)
2. Joining Academic Conversations (4th Edition)
3. Everything's an Argument (5th Edition)

As a class, we went over the syllabus and class structure. Important things of note:

1. Peer Reviews and Conferences will happen in groups of three in Prof. Joyce's office (very few peer reviews will ever be conducted in class)

2. There is no such thing as an excused absence

3. After 3 absences your grade will decrease by 1 full letter grade each missed class

4. This blog space will serve as a means to keep track of what happened in class and functions as a Short Write for the author of each post.


After we went over the class structure we did an introductory exercise to learn about one another.

Homework due Wednesday:
1. Buy all three textbooks
2. Read JAC (Joining Academic Conversations) xi-xviii
3. Write an Introductory letter about yourself