last blog post from me... probably

Thank you for your honest feedback in class today--I really appreciated it! I wish I had more time to respond to each concern and question, and if you'd care to have a further discussion, I'd love to :)

Anyway. Good luck studying for the final. I encourage you to work in your groups and study together, especially with punctuation and the RA section. I will see you in our classroom next Wednesday at 2:30PM. Be on time. You don't have to bring paper; I will bring it. Just bring a pen/pencil and your brains.

...and food. I am willing to offer a few extra credit points to boost your final grade if you bring food for the class. I would rather not have a bunch of junk food... an excess of sugar during a final might not produce the most desired results. But I'll leave that to your discretion.

I'm willing to answer any questions about your Issues Paper grades, but as I've said with the other papers, wait 24 hours, read through my comments and the rubric carefully, and then we can talk.

IF you are taking a couple extra days to finish your MMA, make sure to get it to me this week. After this week, no can do.


Also, see you next Wednesday! Good luck with finals!

just because i love you

I've mentioned this to a few groups, but I thought I'd put it on the blog so everyone would know. Your MMA portfolios are absolutely, no exceptions, due on Wednesday at the beginning of class. However, I realize that you haven't had a lot of time to work on this assignment, so if you need an extra day or so to complete the webpage, that's okay. Just let me know on Wednesday if you'd like a couple more days to work on it.

Again, portfolios are due Wednesday, but if you need more time to finalize the webpage, that's not a problem.

We're going over the study guide for the final exam on Wednesday, and plus other fun stuff, so don't miss! Not that any of you would; you're all awesome. 

ALSO, I almost forgot. For your very last blog post, you will write a couple of paragraphs in response to the following questions:

• Did you like the blogs? 
• Did you like posting assignments on your blog instead of turning a paper copy in during class?
• Have you enjoyed reading your peers' blogs? Was it useful to you to see everyone's responses to the assignments? 
• A lot of these are yes/no questions, but make sure to explain your answers. Basically, I just want to know how you liked the blogs and if/how they were useful to you in this class. 

As per usual, post before class on Wednesday. 

friday's class

On Friday during class we will meet in the library, room 2233. I'm giving you the whole class to work with minimal interruptions from myself. I will be there, however, to answer any questions you may have. Please make good use of this time!
I'm excited to see your websites! I hope things are going well. If you have any questions, email me or remember them for Friday. Check the syllabus and course schedule to make sure you're aware of what's coming up the last week of classes.

I'm going to try and come Friday with a study guide for the final exam. As we mentioned in class, the final is absolutely mandatory. We will be meeting as a class during a scheduled time to take the test. (I put the date/time on the syllabus, but check the BYU website to make sure we're all on the same page.)

Also, I've been meaning to tell you this, but one of your final assignments for the class is to complete the student ratings for this class online. You've probably been getting emails about it. The due date is on Friday the 13th (next Friday), but I'd like you to get them finished by the last day of class.

See you on Friday!

blog prompt for wednesday AND an interesting article about cats

I didn't have a chance to properly defend my love of cats in class, mostly because I was being attacked by several dog lovers who didn't give me the opportunity to speak. What did we say about addressing your counterarguments fairly?? Have we learned nothing??? Well. Click here for a delightful article about why cats are awesome. It does say that most cat lovers are weird, but you already know how weird I am. I've accepted it.

I do want to say, however, that I also love {some} dogs. Some dogs are too jumpy and hyper and clingy and stupid, but others are wonderful. One of my favorite pets growing up was a dog. But I've been bitten on three different occasions by dogs, and they were all rabies-infested ugly muts in Uruguay. I think that's what tipped the scales for me. Dogs can be awesome, but I am more devoted to the feline species.

BUT that's irrelevant to your blog post for this week. I'd like you to select one of the websites you posted on your blog last week and analyze it according to the design principles we discussed in class today {contrast, color, composition, proximity, alignment, repetition, rule of thirds, etc.} You can pick either an effective or an ineffective website to analyze.

Please do an in-depth analysis. I want you to think hard about this one. If after learning some design principles you decide that one of the websites you chose was actually ineffective {or the other way around}, you are welcome to change your mind and tell us why in the post.

Happy blogging! And good luck putting together your websites.

i.p. portfolio/ multimodal info

Here's what you need to include in the I.P portfolio:

• Cover sheet
• Rubric
• Final draft (STAPLED!!)
• Annotated bibliography (the one I commented on)
• Outline (again, the one you gave to me)
• First draft (same as above)
• Peer reviewed draft (printed with the comments)

Okay, and here's the info for the Multimodal Argument:

Website builders:

• Google sites
• Wix
• Weebly
• DevHub
• SnapPages
• Webs
• GetShopped
• Webnode

Online tools:

•Pixlr.com (free photoshop)

•TinEye.com (reverse image search)

•Harmony Drawing Tool (draw online)

•PhotoshopLady.com (tutorials)

•Color IQ Test

•Goo.gl (shorten URLs)

Any questions, just email me! I will get back to you Monday morning. Try to meet with your group before class on Monday (if you can't over the weekend or Monday morning, try to meet sometime on Monday). You should have a website started by Monday at some point. 

yay! new design!

what do you think?

intro to multimodal argument (friday)

On Friday we'll begin the very last unit of the semester! Crazy how time flies (when you're having fun, right?) Okay, so you do have some reading for Friday: Supplemental Guide, pages 55-60. Easy enough! 

Also, please send your peers their papers today, so they have sufficient time to revise. As I mentioned in class, go over the paper and make any other comments you want to, correct grammar, etc., and then write a 150-200 word end note detailing your suggestions for their paper's improvement. Use the rubric as a reference for this end note, so you are hitting all of the important points in your review.

BY THE WAY, I was a little disgruntled to find that many of you merely googled "ineffective websites" instead of finding them on your own. Shame, shame, shame. 

I think that's all. See you Friday!

prompt for wednesday 03.28

Okay. For Wednesday's blog post, you'll do a couple of things:

• First, I want you to look at the problem you identified in your previous blog post, and tell us how you solved the problem. Paper revisions are about solving problems, so I want you to make sure you are actually taking the responsibility of resolving these issues. 
• Second, I want you to list (and give links to) four effective websites and four ineffective websites. For the next unit, we will be focusing more in-depth on visual rhetoric, specifically websites. I want you to start thinking about what you think is effective/ineffective about websites. Does it accomplish what it's trying to? Is the information organized in an intuitive, logical manner? What makes you want/not want to revisit a website? Obviously, we haven't talked about any sort of design principles in class, but I want to know what you know right off the bat. 

Sound fair? Buenisimo. See you in class on Wednesday! (HBLL 2232)

for friday

Hello all! Here's what's going to happen Friday:

I'm going to email you a couple of Issue Papers to read over. You will read the papers alongside the rubric and tell me what grade you would assign each of the papers based on the rubric. Then we'll discuss them in class. I'm trying to track down a couple of examples so you have a good range and a lot of examples to work with. So you should be getting a paper from me within a few hours.

Make sure to comment on your classmates' blogs! Oh, and thanks for your participation in the debate today. I had fun! And I think it was a productive activity.

Alrighty, I will see you Friday!

....and one more thing

The Steven Church reading is up on the website: http://ers.byu.edu/

Have fun!

for wednesday

Amigos,

Good luck with your IP rough drafts. To offset the amount of work you'll do, the blog post won't be too intense. Just paraphrase the following paragraph WITHOUT patchwriting:

“We do not in everyday life reflect much on how one people’s ‘myth’ may be another people’s religion or episteme. What ‘we’ label ‘myth’ from other cultures then translates into the ‘that’s just a myth!’ formula that implicitly sustains the value of our own beliefs. Thus trivialized—though in different ways—both outside and within Western culture, ‘myth’ in common English-language usage today is the object of exoticizing amusement or dismissal; it is deprived of its associations with history, knowledge, and vision—what has made myth culturally valuable and has most fascinated scholars of myths and traditional narratives” (Bacchilega 25).

Also, at the end of the blog post, I want you to think of something you've struggled with in the Issues Paper writing process and tell us what it is. Then when you comment on your peers' posts for Friday, you can help each other out by responding to the problem. 

Make sense? 

stuff

Okay, class. I saw at least ONE of you at the Steven Church reading, but if you came, I hope you enjoyed it. I'm emailing some of his essays to you just in case you are interested. Check on the website, too, and they should have his reading up in a few days. I am now weirdly obsessed with him, as I told you in class, so if you read some of his essays and watch the reading series recording, I'll be happy. You know, just a few things you can do to get on my good side :)

Also, if you love his style of writing (personal essays, etc.), you'll love the other authors I told you about in class:

• Scott Russell Sanders
• Brian Doyle
• Eduardo Galeano

Just do a search for these authors in the English Reading Series website (link above), and you can watch their readings. Fun stuff. Extra credit in class and extra credit in life. 

Remember, Monday's class is in the library, room 2232. You'll want to work on your papers over the weekend and get as much done as you can, so during class you can ask questions and get a lot of work done. With the Issues Paper, it's best to work on it at least a little bit every day, even on the weekends. Make sure, wherever you are in your writing process, that you have access to your draft through email or flash drive or something, so you can build off of what you already have. 

I will do my best to get your Annotated Bibs and Outlines graded over the weekend, and we can address any concerns you may have next week. I have been meaning to be more clear about this, but the breakdown on your Issues Paper grade is a little different than with other papers. The IP is worth 300 points. 50 of these points are for the prewriting process. Your Annotated Bibs are worth 20, your outlines are worth 15, and your first full drafts are also worth 15. So whatever grade you receive on these assignments does affect the overall grade of your Issues Paper. So the final paper itself will be worth 300 points. Does that make sense? 

Okay! Just so you know, I'm running away for the weekend to grade and do other stuff, so I doubt I'll bring my computer. So if you email me with questions, I'll get back to you on Monday morning. 

Phew! Long post. 

for wednesday: annotated bib and other exciting things

Here's the part when you love me:

• You don't need to do a blog post for Wednesday. I mean, you can if you WANT to, and if you do, you can write whatever you want. But you're not required

Okay, so make sure you have a printed copy of your annotated bibliography (don't post it--print it and bring it to class). 

Also, I wanted to say that for this paper (as with the RA), there is only one required instructor conference. I'm going to make a few changes on the course schedule for this unit, so I'll give you an updated schedule in class on Wednesday. So you'll have the updated day for this required conference. With that said, if you want a GOOD GRADE on this paper, you will probably want to make the extra effort to meet with me at least one other time (or more). I am giving you freedom to email me about meeting. I want to help you with these papers, but I want to give you enough independence with this paper that you come in when you're struggling or when you feel like you need the most help.

Again, review the Issues Paper section in the Supplemental Guide. This unit is complicated and there simply isn't time to go over everything in class, so you'll need to do reading on your own. I'll give you more examples of Issues Papers to analyze and use as examples, but for now, just use the one in the SG. 

See you on Wednesday! Good luck with your research.

for monday

Hi y'all. Okay, first things first. Some of you have had questions about the Issues Paper in general (structure, purpose, etc.), and while I am happy to answer questions, 90% of the surface level questions can be found in the Supplemental Guide. Please take time to read over the Issues Paper section two, three, four times until you understand what the assignment is!

As you can tell from my email, I want to meet with each of you about your research. This doesn't mean, however, that I want to do your research FOR you. I want you to come with a list of your current sources that we can discuss. Show me the work you've done, and come to me with additional questions. I am here to help, but you need to do your part. Know the assignment, do your research, and bring any additional questions to me and I'll be happy to help.

Do your reading for Monday! Get as much done with the Annotated Bibliography assignment as you can this weekend. And have a good weekend!

for wednesday

It was so good to see you all today! I missed you. I hope that Monday's class was helpful to get you started with research. For Wednesday, you need to check the syllabus for reading. Also, here is the prompt for this week's blog post:

• What did you learn about research from Monday's class? What are you still confused about? 
• I want this to be a well-developed paragraph. And by well-developed, I mean more than a couple of sentences. Make your paragraphs look healthier than some of your proposal paragraphs looked! Remember, I'm grading you on these!

I think that's about it. I only have one more thought:

Let's be lifesavers, people! (:

Hasta Wednesday

here's everything you need for the week

Okay, this is the last you'll hear from me this week. I'm off to CHICAGO to the AWP National Creative Writers Conference. Should be an adventure. I will, in all sincerity, miss all of you. 

Here's what you need to know for the rest of the week:

•Wednesday’s blog post {list of 20 interests/things you would be interested in writing about or are that interest you in general}

•Check syllabus for reading

•Friday’s blog post {Issues paper proposal: 2-3 well-developed paragraphs describing your issue, your initial stance, your research question(s), and any background research you’ve done, and why you care about this topic.}

I will do my best to give you feedback on your proposals by Monday (I'm flying in Sunday night, so I'll get as many as I can done Monday before class). Monday, in the library, we will be learning research skills, so it will be beneficial for all of you to have a topic squared away. 

•Come to class both Wednesday and Friday {Paige will take roll}

•Monday: we will meet in the library {HBLL room 2231} 

Have a FANTASTIC week! Enjoy Paige; she's a rockstar. 

also, one more thing

Make sure to check your syllabus for Monday's reading!

ESSENTIAL info for monday

As you are finishing your papers over the weekend, make sure you comb through your whole paper for grammatical and punctuation errors. Because we reviewed commas extensively, I will be a little less lenient about comma errors as I'm grading these papers (especially as they apply to the rules we reviewed in class). I'll email you the ppt. we looked at in class, but make sure you review the rules in the handbook if you have any other questions. The handbook is there for your benefit, so I'd like you to consult the handbook before talking to me (not because I don't want to talk to you, but because I'd like to get you used to utilizing the handbook in the writing process).

As you are turning in your RA portfolios on Monday, here are the exact specifications for what is required in your portfolio:

1. Cover sheet
2. Rubric
3. Final draft
4. Rough draft from peer review
5. Rough draft from instructor conference (or conference notes, if I didn't make specific marks on your paper)
6. A small paragraph telling me if you received papers from your peers for the peer review and how helpful each review was. 

That's it! NO REFLECTION WILL BE NECESSARY. A couple of you typed a reflection for the Op Ed, and this will be unnecessary for this paper. 

I will be in class on Monday. Please don't be late to class because I will collect the papers right at the beginning of class, and any paper that is not turned in right at the beginning will be considered late. 

Have a good weekend! Good luck finishing your papers.

PS. Staple your papers. Amen.

tomorrow

this is what you should have for tomorrow:

1. one clean, hard copy of your most recent draft (your "final" draft)

also, a few things of interest:

get more sleep, because NO ONE is this cheerful at 3:17 in the morning writing papers. even me.

also, considering how many of you listed both star wars AND lord of the rings in your favorite movies, I thought you would appreciate this.

the end. see y'all tomorrow!

as promised

I warn you, this is going to be a ridiculously long list.

1. Return of the King (I love all the Lord of the Rings movies, but this one is my fave--extended edition all the way)
2. Anne of Green Gables & Anne of Avonlea
3. The Mummy (laugh all you want)
4. Much Ado about Nothing
5. Chocolat
6. Stranger than Fiction
7. Anonymous (see why I want you all to watch it? there are some scandalous parts in it, I must warn you)
8. Persuasion (the Ciaran Hindes/Amanda Root version)
9. Pride and Prejudice (both the one with Colin Firth and the shorter one with Kiera Knightly)
10. Sense and Sensibility (both the Emma Thompson one and the newer BBC version)
11. Dan in Real Life
12. Singin' in the Rain
13. Strictly Ballroom
14. Italian Job
15. Princess Bride
16. Sherlock Holmes

You asked for it! 

for tomorrow

Okay, so conferences tomorrow. 3004 JKB. Please be on time. Here are the times:
10:00 Ben
10:15 Kennedy
10:30 Heather
10:45 Sofia
11:00 Will
11:15 Caryn
11:30 Nello
11:45 Christian&Aaron
I'll probably be a bit behind because of seeing Aaron and Christian at the same time. I'll try to be quick, so I'm not too far behind. If this doesn't work (Samantha, Jordan, and Alex), let me know and we'll reschedule. 
12:00 Samantha
12:15 Jordan
12:30 Alex
1:45 Kenny
2:00 Cam
2:15 Megan
3:00 Jeff
3:15 Kari
3:30 Avarie
If you can't make your scheduled time, let me know asap. For Friday, make sure to bring your "final" draft (this is a draft you would feel comfortable turning in for a grade). The grammar and punctuation check, then, would ideally be the last changes you make to your paper. 


Okay, and here are the simile winners!! Prizes will be awarded on Friday 

1. Jordan: "Love is like dancing in a prairie. It's fun until you step in a cow pie." 
2. Jeff: "He kissed her lips like they were the last envelope to lick in a stack of 100 thank you cards."
3. (tie) Cameron: "Her skin was golden and glowing, kind of like pee when you don't drink enough water." and Christian: "They loved each other like a zombie loves to give hugs. And I'm not referring to a brain-eating zombie; I'm referring to a zombie that actually loves to give hugs. So yes, they really loved each other."
4. Honorable mentions: Kennedy and Sam

And here's the post for tomorrow (so make sure to post both this by 11:00 am tomorrow. Also, your love letter post is due by 11:59 pm today.)

• tell us three things you will change in your paper as a result of peer reviews
• tell us YOUR favorite movie(s)

You'll have to wait a few hours on my favorite movies. I'm still deciding. 

for Friday

I hope everyone is excited for the long weekend. I definitely am! Don't mentally check out until AFTER class on Friday though (:

From now until Friday, you will need to complete your RA second draft. This does need to be a full 4-6 pages, so make sure you expand on analysis and add paragraphs as needed. On Friday, make sure to bring 2 copies of your rough draft for your peers to review over the holiday weekend. For the two groups I emailed just barely (Will Caryn Ben Aaron Nello Kari), make sure to email your drafts to each other.

See how great I am that I'm only making you read two drafts, and I'm giving you the long weekend to do it? Y'all should be bringing ME candy.

Also, make sure you comment on your peers' blogs. I'll pass around a paper on Friday that you can check off for commenting on this and last week's blog posts.

I am going sponsor a contest, so we'll vote on maybe the top three similes. I'll pick one of each of your similes (my favorite), and you guys will vote on it during class. Then Tuesday, I'll announce the winner, and there may or may not be prizes involved.

You probably saw this on Facebook (it was going around), but if not, this is for your pleasure:

And here are some quotes from Alexander Smith, also for your pleasure:

"He loves ruin like the ivy, he skims the twilight like the bat, he makes himself a familiar of the phantoms of the heart and brain. He is fascinated by the jarred brain and the ruined heart."

"The sky is clear, and an arm of bleak pink vapour stretches up into its depths. The air is cold with frost, and the rain which those dark clouds in the east hold will fall during the night in silent, feathery flakes. When I wake tomorrow, the world will be changed, frosty forests will cover my bedroom panes, the tree branches will be furred with snows; and to the crumbs which it is my daily custom to sprinkle on the shrubbery walk will come the lineal descent of the charitable redbreast that covered up with leaves the sleeping children in the woods."

"If a man is worth knowing at all, he is worth knowing well."

Love!

as of right now, there are 777 page views for this blog

...and that's really great. Just thought I'd share that with you.

I hope class was helpful today. If your introduction is thorough and developed, you will be able to successfully give context for your readers. Well-written introductions are like the first day of spring--so refreshing! Make sure you work on your introduction as you are revising your paper this week. Your second draft (the one you will bring to class on Friday) should be significantly different (thus, better) than your first draft. Make some good revisions.

You don't have any homework due on Wednesday (you're welcome), but it would be a good idea to get started on revisions so you don't save it all until Thursday night. Revisions are--should be--time consuming, so make sure and give them the time they deserve. Pretend your paper is like a pet dog that you know is going to die soon: you will want to spend as much time as possible with it, right?

I hope you enjoyed my similes.

Okay, so your blog post. Click here to link you up to the 56 best/worst similes page we looked at in class, and read through them all because they are deliciously funny. Your job is to create 5 similes/metaphors that beat these. And they have to have something to do with love (yay, Valentine's Day).

Have fun with this.

Also, these are for your enjoyment:

Is this how you feel as a student sometimes? Also, this:

Sherlock Holmes is my valentine.

The end.

for friday

PLEASE BE ON TIME. Also, in class on Friday make a special effort to be model students. You guys are anyway, but try not to chat with your neighbor during class or fall asleep or anything :) It's going to be fun! Yay.

Okay, with that out of the way, here's what you need to do for Friday:

• Email me a copy of your rough draft BEFORE class (please before, or I can't give you credit for it)
• Bring a copy of your rough draft to class
• Make sure and comment on your peers' blog posts before class on Friday. 

Also, just as a reminder, make sure you get your blog posts done before class on Wednesdays, because after class it is considered late, and you won't receive full credit it. Just stay on top of the posts! I haven't seen a huge problem with this, but I just wanted to make sure everyone gets assignments in on time. 

One more thing, about the 15 rhetorical tools you turn in. Overall, I was impressed. Obviously you won't be analyzing that many for your actual papers, but I just wanted to make sure you could pick out plenty of tools so you can have plenty of options to choose from for your papers.

Remember to email me your thesis statements today!

And see you Friday (:

for wednesday

I have enjoyed reading your found poems immensely, so I will probably have a few more "creative" blog posts coming your way. Feel free to be creative with this week's post, because I think it will be really fun.

Okay, so here's the prompt:

Imagine you just got your fourth speeding ticket in a month, and they are taking away your driver's license. I want you to write three letters (just one paragraph each) explaining your transgression.

• One letter will be addressed to the judge. You want to get off.
• One letter will be addressed to your mom. You want her not to freak out. And,
• The last letter will be addressed to your classmates. You want them to back you up. 

Also, for Wednesday you will turn in 3 body paragraphs of your RA. We're going to be working on them in class extensively, so don't worry about perfection, but do the best you can. You'll want to look at the criteria in the Supplemental Guide as well as the sample paper in the SG to help you with this. Make sure you have these elements in each paragraph:

• Identify the rhetorical tool
• Quote from the text
• Explain the author's intent (why is he/she using this specific tool?)
• Explain the audience reaction (is this an effective tool? Does the audience react the way the author wants them to?)

Good luck! See you on Wednesday.

Also, I mentioned this at the end of class, but some of you had already left: If you have any questions about your grade for the Op Ed, I want you to wait 24 HOURS to ask me. I want you to look over my comments and review the rubric, and if you still have questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks!

reminders and other stuff

Okay, first, here's a list of what is expected by Monday:

• A list of 15 examples of rhetorical tools from your chosen article. You obviously don't have to choose 15 different tools, but 15 examples of a few different tools. For example, you could choose four examples of imagery, four examples of allusion, four examples of metaphor, and three examples of diction (does that add up to 15? oh well, you get the point). You will give the quote, identify the tool, and say whether or not it's effective for the audience. I'd like a typed, hard copy of this. Let me give you an example:
• "ROFL!" (page 92 from "Dear Students...") This is an example of diction, particularly idiosyncratic diction because only people who are familiar with Internet acronyms are going to understand it. I would argue that this is ineffective; although Burton is trying to use "lingo" students are familiar with, it seems almost condescending because he's assuming students communicate on this level. Thus, he seems to be "dumbing it down" for the students. 
• You don't have to go as deep into the analysis, but you get the idea. 
• Found poem, which you will post to your blog. Here's what Wikipedia says about found poetry: 
• Found poetry is a type of poetry created by taking words, phrases, and sometimes whole passages from other sources and reframing them as poetry by making changes in spacing and/or lines (and consequently meaning), or by altering the text by additions and/or deletions. The resulting poem can be defined as either treated: changed in a profound and systematic manner; or untreated: virtually unchanged from the order, syntax and meaning of the original.
• Here's an example:
• This is a facebook status from one of my friends: "Cut my hair to my chin, died it black. After Darci said I looked evil I woke up a little depressed. Took me a moment to realize that wasn't really my reality. Way bad dream, huh." Okay, here's the poem I made from it:

Cut my hair to
      my chin, 
died.

It black, after
Darcy said I
        looked evil I woke up

A little depressed.

Took me a moment to 
        realize that 
                        it wasn't my reality. 
Way bad 
                       dream, huh?


Fun, right? You can "find" poems anywhere (handyman guides, cookbooks, Facebook statuses, book reviews, travel guides, book jackets, etc. etc.) Just go for it, and I think you'll like it. 

One more thought: Please bring your supplemental guide to class on Monday.

one more thing

Here are a couple more WWII posters. The first one here is my favorite:

And this one is pretty crazy:

Question: These both seem to be recruiting posters for the military (the first one is more subtle though); which one do you think is a more effective method of motivating people to join the army/military?

excitement and other stuff

First of all, let me tell you why I'm so excited: you're going to read two of my favorite personal essays for Friday (the ones I passed out in class)! Brian Doyle is fantastico, and so is GK Chesterton. So as you're reading these alongside WR chapter 5, try to identify some of the rhetorical tools in the essays.

Also, as I mentioned, I want you to comment on four blogs as usual (preferably your group members'). I'm finding the comments pretty hard to keep track of, as I have to look through all of the posts and keep a tally of your comments. It seems like an ineffective way of keeping track, and I want to make sure everyone gets the points for commenting. So here's my solution: I will pass a paper around on Friday so you can tell me if you commented on your peers' blogs, and how many you commented on. So keep track! 

Also, a few of you haven't been commenting on your peers' blogs, so remember that there are points attached to that as well as to your personal blog posts.

Hasta luego!

rhetorical analysis and critical reading

Amigos! Y'all are awesome; I thought I'd just let you know that.

Does it feel great to have the Opinion Editorial off your back? Onward and upward! I'm excited for this unit. The Rhetorical Analysis can be difficult, but we'll work hard and make it fun. Promise.

Okay so here's your blog post as we discussed in class today:

Read all four articles assigned for Wednesday, and choose one to read again more thoroughly with these questions in mind:

1) What is the author's intent? What is the author trying to persuade the audience to think/do/feel?
2) What are the specific rhetorical tools the author is using? (You can talk about how specifically they are appealing to e/p/l, but try to also use some of the rhetorical tools you are familiar with already--like imagery, metaphor, etc.)
3) What is the audience reaction? Does their reaction correlate with the author's intent? Thus, judging by what you feel like the audience reaction was, was the article effective or ineffective?

Bonus question (optional, but you'll eventually need to know this): Google the author and find out who he/she is. Where was the article published? There should be a little of this information in the New Media reader, but try to find out more if you can.

That's all!

PS I'm a pretty thorough grader as far as papers go, so it takes me awhile. I'm going to try and break my back to get them to you by Friday. So if I do, then I deserve candy! (:

instructor conferences/portfolio/op ed due date/etc

Okay. First, some reiterations: We don't have regular class on Friday, because you each have a conference with me. Please don't be late, so we can stay on track. Also, if you don't show up, it counts as an absence. I'll write out all time slots at the end of this email in case anyone forgets when they signed up.

Also, on Friday at noon author Melanie Rae Thon is coming to do a reading in the library auditorium (1080 HBLL). She is a fiction writer, and from what I hear she is very accomplished. Readings are typically every Friday at noon if you're interested. They've had some pretty prominent authors in the past, and it's always worthwhile. Also, I might be willing to offer extra credit to those who attend some of the readings.

Remember, your papers are due on MONDAY, January 30, at the beginning of class. Please don't be late. I said that I would post a reminder for the portfolio requirements, so here they are:

• Cover sheet and rubric (take them right out of the Supplemental Guide)
• Final draft 
• At least two rough drafts
• first draft
• one of the peer review drafts
• with your peer review drafts, include a paper telling me if you got papers back from each of your peer review group members. Also tell me if their feedback was thorough and helpful

Lastly, here are the instructor conference times:

9:30 Caryn 

9:40 Kenny 

9:50 Nello

10:00 Kennedy

10:10 Alex

10:20 Heather

10:30 Avarie

10:40 Cam

10:50 Will

11:00 Samantha

11:10 Christian 

11:20 Aaron

11:30 Sofia

11:40 Kari

11:50 Jordan

1:00 Jeff

2:00 Megan

2:50 Ben 

See you then!

business as usual

Okie dokie. Let's do this!

I emailed all of you the sheet for the peer review on Wednesday. Make sure you read over it before you start reviewing their papers. The most important thing to remember is to make at least FIVE comments per page, as well as a half-page response to their papers. In the response, you can sum up your comments, as well as including any suggestions that you feel would be helpful so their papers comply with the criteria found in the Supplemental Guide. 


So for Wednesday, you'll need to bring your peers' papers reviewed. And make sure you bring the five punctuation exercises to turn in.

Okay, so here's your blog prompt for the week:

• Find FIVE grammatical/punctuation errors in your Op Ed draft (yours, and not your peers').
• Type out the original sentence, tell us what's wrong with it, and then type the corrected sentence.
• Also, I want you to write a small paragraph telling the class how you generally feel about peer reviews. Be honest, because if you hate peer reviewing, I want to make sure to make changes in the structure of the review so it's helpful and relevant. 
• Also, I realize that you have a lot to do for Wednesday, so you have until Friday to post this. And then you'll need to make sure and comment on four of your peers' blogs sometime before the next post (next Wednesday).

Any questions, shoot me an email, or stop by my office. 

Ever at your disposal,

NJ

PS How did you like my grammar/punctuation comic relief from the last post? Comment on this blog and let me know if you love these as much as I do (:

reminders

Amigos,

We went over most of this in class, but there are a few tidbits you might like (:

Business first.

For Monday:

• I forgot to tell you this: bring your Writing Matters handbook on Monday. As you are preparing your lesson, you will need to be able to find the rule in the handbook for every question on the punctuation exercise you're teaching on. 
• punctuation exercises 1-5 completed
• two minute lesson prepared on your expertise
• bring five (or four) drafts depending on what group you're in. (for the table with Heather, Megan, Avarie, and Caryn: Sofia will be joining your peer review group for Wednesday, so you will all need to bring five drafts--one for me)
• clarification: as it says in the syllabus, you need to meet with me twice for each paper (you will lose 5% of your paper if you don't). On Friday we won't be having regular class because I will be doing conferences with all of you, so everyone will be coming in on Friday, and you'll need to come meet with me before then. 
• I haven't met with: Sofia, Megan, Kenny, Alex, Aaron, Christian, or Cameron. I have appointments scheduled with some of you, but some of you not. 

Okay, now fun stuff. Because you're going to have a grammar/punctuation weekend, you might need a little bit of a comic relief. I understand, punctuation can be taxing. 

Here's the first comic relief: 

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

This is the funniest blog ever. WARNING: this post doesn't swear (I don't think) but in general, this blogger is fond of throwing random swear words in (specifically the f word, unfortunately), so if you're sensitive to that, don't poke around too much in her other posts. 

Also, look at this:

Here's one more resource you can use if you have more questions about punctuation:
http://english.byu.edu/writingcenter/handouts/PunctuationUsage/commas.html

The Writing Center's website has a ton of useful information and different handouts about grammatical principles. Excellent resource.

Good luck! Have a fantastic weekend, and I'll see y'all on Monday. 

info for friday and other things

I hope we had fun in class today :) I know I did, even though I was really scatterbrained and disorganized. Lesson number one in college: get enough sleep. I won't be testing you on that, but I promise that if you sleep more you'll do better in class. Obviously it's something that I'm still working on!

Okie doke. Let's get down to business. Here are a few important things I didn't get to mention in class:

You are expected to read and comment on your classmates' blogs. Now, I know there are 18 of you, so what I want you to do is read at least FOUR of your peers' blogs (you can focus on your groups/tables, or read others) and comment on them. I want the comments to be more than "hey, that's cool," or "I agree." I want to know that you actually read through the post and see your response.

Also, I'll talk about this more on Friday, but what I want you to do is prepare a two minute lesson on your grammar/punctuation "expertise." This is all due on Monday. I will hand out exercise two (commas) on Friday, so those of you who have commas as an expertise, do the reading and then you'll get the exercise to complete on Friday. But remember, everyone has to complete ALL the quizzes, due on Monday. But you only have to give a mini presentation/lesson on one of the quizzes. Make sense?

Make sure that those of you who haven't signed up for a conference with me email me and make sure you get in sometime this or next week.

One more thing to remember: you are, as it says in the syllabus, required to go to the Writing Center once per paper. Click here for the link to the website so you can see the location and hours. It gets kind of crazy because a lot of the Writing 150 classes have papers due around the same time, so go as soon as you can.

Sorry, lots of things to remember! Any questions, email me.

just because i'm awesome... (read previous post first)

I'm giving you a second option for the speech analysis. You can either analyze the Henry V speech I gave you in the previous post, or you can analyze Mr. Collins' proposal speech from Pride and Prejudice. The same rules apply: find two examples of ethos, two of pathos, and two of logos. (don't everyone neglect Henry, though. It's another fantastic speech!)


Click here for the youtube clip, and here's the transcript:


Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Collins' Proposal

Mr Collins: Believe me, my dear Miss Elizabeth, that your modesty adds to your other perfections. But you can hardly doubt the object of my discourse, however your feminine delicacy may lead you to dissemble. For, as almost as soon as I entered the house, I singled you out as the companion of my future life! But before I am run away by my feelings on this subject, perhaps it would be advisable for me to state my reasons for marrying.

              (Elizabeth: Mr Collins...)

My reasons for marrying are:

  First, I think it a right thing for every clergyman to set the example of matrimony in his parish.

  Secondly, that I am convinced it will add very greatly to my happiness.

  And thirdly, which perhaps I should have mentioned first, that it is the particular recommendation of my noble patroness Lady Catherine de Bourgh! "Mr. Collins", she said, "you must marry". "Choose properly", she said. "Choose a gentlewoman for my sake, and for your own, let her be an active, useful sort of person, not brought up too high." "Find such a woman as soon as you can, bring her to Hunsford, and I will visit her!" And your wit and vivacity, I think, must be acceptable to her, when tempered with the silence and respect which her rank will inevitably excite.

Yes. So much for my general intention in favor of matrimony.

Now, as to my particular choice:

My dear cousin, being, as I am, to inherit all this estate after the death of your father, I could not satisfy myself without resolving to choose a wife from among his daughters. And now nothing remains, but to assure you, in the most animated language, of the violence of my affections!

              (Elizabeth: Mr Collins, please... - To fortune I am perfectly indifferent.)

I'm well aware that  pounds in the four per cents is all that you may be entitled to, but rest assured, I shall never reproach on that score when we are married!

              (Elizabeth:You are too hasty, sir! You forget that I've made no answer. Let me do so now. I thank you for your compliments.I am very sensible of the honour of your proposals, but it is impossible for me to accept them.)

    

 I am by no means discouraged. Indeed not. I understand that young ladies often reject the addresses of the man they mean to accept, when he first applies for their favor, and therefore I shall hope, my dear cousin, to lead you to the altar before long.

              (Elizabeth:Upon my word, your hope is an extraordinary one in view of my declaration. I was perfectly serious in my refusal. You could not make me happy, and I am the last woman who could make you so.)

      

 My dear Miss Elizabeth, my situation in life, my connection with the noble family of de Bourgh, are circumstances highly in my favour. Consider that it is by no means certain that another offer of marriage may be made to you. You cannot be serious in your rejection. I must attribute it to your wish of increasing my love by suspense,  in the usual manner of elegant females.

              (Elizabeth: I assure you, sir, that I have no pretensions to the kind of elegance which consists in tormenting a respectable man. I thank you for the honour of your proposals, but to accept them is absolutely impossible. My feelings forbid it in every respect.)

        

Can I speak plainer? - You are uniformly charming! And I am persuaded that when sanctioned by your excellent parents...my proposals will not fail of being acceptable.

we few, we happy few!

Isn't that speech from Henry V the best ever? Gets me every time.

Okay, so business first: For next Wednesday, review chapter four in Writing and Rhetoric, as we will continue talking about ethos/pathos/logos, as well as the fallacies. (Also, just to clarify what I said in class: you don't need to complete the grammar quizzes for Wednesday, but they are due on Monday Jan. 23rd so it might be best to get a head start.)

Due on Wednesday is your first official blog post. The prompt is twofold.

• First, I want you to identify ONE fallacy (found in chapter four) from the news, or from politics, or from Facebook, etc. I want you to quote the example in your post, tell us where it comes from, identify the fallacy committed, and explain why it's a fallacy. 
• Second, I want you to analyze another speech from Henry V. Identify TWO examples (each) of ethos/pathos/logos. (In other words, two examples of ethos, two of pathos, and two of logos) You'll want to review the concepts in your book because, as we discussed in class, there are multiple ways to appeal to ethos, pathos, and logos. 
• Click here to watch the youtube clip from the movie, and
• Here's the transcript: 

SCENE III. The same. Before the gates.

The Governor and some Citizens on the walls; the English forces below. Enter KING HENRY and his train

KING HENRY V

How yet resolves the governor of the town?
This is the latest parle we will admit;
Therefore to our best mercy give yourselves;
Or like to men proud of destruction
Defy us to our worst: for, as I am a soldier,
A name that in my thoughts becomes me best,
If I begin the battery once again,
I will not leave the half-achieved Harfleur
Till in her ashes she lie buried.
The gates of mercy shall be all shut up,
And the flesh'd soldier, rough and hard of heart,
In liberty of bloody hand shall range
With conscience wide as hell, mowing like grass
Your fresh-fair virgins and your flowering infants.
What is it then to me, if impious war,
Array'd in flames like to the prince of fiends,
Do, with his smirch'd complexion, all fell feats
Enlink'd to waste and desolation?
What is't to me, when you yourselves are cause,
If your pure maidens fall into the hand
Of hot and forcing violation?
What rein can hold licentious wickedness
When down the hill he holds his fierce career?
We may as bootless spend our vain command
Upon the enraged soldiers in their spoil
As send precepts to the leviathan
To come ashore. Therefore, you men of Harfleur,
Take pity of your town and of your people,
Whiles yet my soldiers are in my command;
Whiles yet the cool and temperate wind of grace
O'erblows the filthy and contagious clouds
Of heady murder, spoil and villany.
If not, why, in a moment look to see
The blind and bloody soldier with foul hand
Defile the locks of your shrill-shrieking daughters;
Your fathers taken by the silver beards,
And their most reverend heads dash'd to the walls,
Your naked infants spitted upon pikes,
Whiles the mad mothers with their howls confused
Do break the clouds, as did the wives of Jewry
At Herod's bloody-hunting slaughtermen.
What say you? will you yield, and this avoid,
Or, guilty in defence, be thus destroy'd?

Good luck! Have a fantastic long weekend.  

a few items of business

Good luck on your first drafts! I recommend eating chocolate before you start writing--that always helps me (: If you have any questions about the paper, consult the Supplemental Guide first. That has all of the information you need, and you should review it frequently. I grade straight from the rubric found in the chapter on Opinion Editorial, so you should also be familiar with that.

As far as Friday goes, I am making the reading from New Media optional (in other words, you don't have to read "I Tweet, Therefore I Am"). I didn't announce it in class, because I wanted to reward everyone that checks the blog! Haha. Really, though, I don't think we'll get to it, so don't worry about reading it unless you want to. But you DO need to read chapter four in Writing and Rhetoric. 

One thought on claims/thesis statements: I didn't get to say this in class, but one way to make an okay argument a great argument is to make sure you are proposing a concrete solution. In other words, it is insufficient to argue that something is good or bad; rather, you need to argue what people should actually do to solve the problem. For example, if you were to argue that American Heritage is a terrible class, it wouldn't be a great argument unless you included in your argument what BYU should do to make American Heritage a better course. Does that make sense? Hopefully so.

Also, make sure that you are following this blog as well as all your classmates' blogs. Your first official post is coming up next week.

another blog to follow

Here's the final blog to follow:

http://writing150blognello.blogspot.com/

See you Wednesday!

blogs to follow and other things

Thanks for your participation in class today. I'm going to be emailing each of you about the topics you turned into me today--hopefully my suggestions will help as you select and narrow your topics. Also, make sure you give me your info sheet on Wednesday if you haven't already done so.

Here are some questions to consider for Wednesday's class:

• We're going to be talking about claims, reasons, and assumptions. Can you identify your own claim, reasons, and assumptions in the New Media article? ("Are We Facebook Friends Yet?")
• Also, try to identify your own claim, reasons, and assumptions for your Opinion Editorial topic.

And lastly, here are your blogs to follow (I'm still missing one, so I'll post it as soon as I get it!)

http://sam-rhetoricallyspeaking.blogspot.com/

http://likeeatinganelephant-wtg150.blogspot.com/

http://writerightkh.blogspot.com/

http://2012writingandrhetoric.blogspot.com/

knel117.blogspot.com

http://writingripples.blogspot.com/

alex-rasmussen.blogspot.com

http://jc10102.blogspot.com/

http://righting150.blogspot.com

camjarrell.blogspot.com

http://mnielson.blogspot.com

http://sofiawritesright.blogspot.com/

blahblahblogben.blogspot.com

www.jeffwraywriting150.blogspot.com

http://christianrocksblogspot.blogspot.com/

http://aaronrocksblog.blogspot.com

http://wovenwriting.blogspot.com/

Also, it says on the syllabus that your first official blog post isn't until next week, but before then write a post introducing yourself to your classmates--tell us a story about yourself, explain why you are so cool, etc. 250-300 words.

See you Wednesday!

things to know/do before monday 01/09

First things first, thank you for your discussion in class today. I hope that as we continue discussing in the class and in groups, we can see the usefulness of rhetoric in our everyday lives. As I mentioned, I want this class to be relevant to you.

Here are some questions to consider as you complete the reading (WR ch. 3, "Things as They Really Are"):

• Why is audience so important? How is an argument made effective/ineffective based on considering the audience?
• When you are considering a "BYU" audience, what does that mean? What kind of people are here?
• Why is it important to have a kairotic argument? How does it make an argument more/less effective considering kairos?
• Okay, so apply chapter three to "Things as They Really Are." Is this a kairotic argument? Why or why not? Also, who is the audience Elder Bednar is trying to reach?

So next, here's the link to the article from the New Media reader: Elder Bednar, "Things as They Really Are"

Have a great weekend! See you Monday.

welcome welcome!

In my experience, the first day of classes is typically long and boring and overwhelming. I hope that wasn't your experience in class today. I am looking forward to this semester; I can tell we have a great class that will work well together.

For Friday, remember to check the syllabus for the reading. You will read chapter one in Writing and Rhetoric and pages 3-20 in the Writing and Rhetoric Supplemental Guide. Also, make sure you read through the syllabus thoroughly. You will be responsible for knowing the information in the syllabus. In class, we will be discussing the definition of rhetoric as well as going over the first major paper, the Opinion Editorial. As you read, keep these questions in mind:

• As you can tell from reading chapter one, there are many definitions of rhetoric. How would you blend these definitions together into one brief definition?
  
• What is the connection between the two reading assignments? (i.e., what does the Opinion Editorial have to do with rhetoric? This may seem obvious, but I want you to think of a few different examples.)
  

As I mentioned in class, you don't necessarily need to worry about starting a blog between now and Friday--you will have to have it before Monday though. We'll briefly go over the sign-up process in class; however, you're all smart kids, and I'm pretty sure you'll be able to figure it out on your own.