Portfolio Self-Evaluation

Class, before beginning this task, make sure that you have in front of you, in some form: a rough draft and a revised draft of each of the three papers you’ve written for this class, your writing journal, and some of your introductions, outlines, or other pre-writing, if these things are not included in your writing journal, and your own blog posts from this semester. Next, answer six of the questions below in a post to your own blog. Be specific, and use examples from your own work. That’s right – quote yourself! (No citations needed.) You have until 12PM (noon) on Monday, April 30th to complete this task. Feel free to email me if you have questions.

What was the most difficult paper for you to write, and which was the easiest for you to write? Why?

Which pre-writing exercises were most useful for you, and why? (generating topic lists, outlining, writing the introduction, writing “I argue” statements, and so on)

In what areas can you see improvements in your writing, from the first paper to the third paper, or from your first blog post to your most recent?

Skim your freewriting/other journal exercises from this semester. What is your impression of your own journal writing? Were you able to generate ideas that later found their way into one of your papers in some form?

Skim your own blog posts from this semester? What is your impression of your own blog writing? Are you analytical, formal, humorous, some combination of these things, or something else entirely?

Do you think that your writing process has changed or evolved since the start of the semester? How has it changed? What things do you think led to these changes?

Is your writing “themed?” Meaning, are there certain words, ideas, images, approaches, fields of study, or other commonalities, that come up frequently in your writing?

Evaluate your own “writing journey,” from the start of the semester until now. Ideas for how to evaluate your journey include: How are your journal, your blog, and your papers connected? Did one kind of writing inform or help you with another kind of writing? How do you feel about having produced SO MUCH writing throughout this semester?

Reading Response 4

In class today, we read and discussed Adrienne Rich’s “The Burning of Paper Instead of Children.” In continuing our discussion about the poem’s meanings, please respond to at least two of the following prompts via a post to your own blog, for Friday 4/13, by 8PM.

1. Discuss at least two different ways that Rich uses images of burning in her poem.

2. How do you think Rich’s writing about making love is related to her writing about the burning of books?

3. Who are the “oppressors” that Rich refers to?

4. What does Rich mean when she writes, “This is the oppressor’s language / yet I need it to talk to you.”

Also, as a reminder, you are welcome to respond in a blog post to the Jean-Paul (page 43) and Van Der Poel (page 53) essays from the Strose Prose book. This is not required, but will count as extra credit for anyone who feels that their “online” grade might need a boost.

Resources – Writing About Film

Class, here’s an interesting website from Dartmouth College on writing about film. It gives some ideas about different approaches to film analysis, and also includes a glossary of terms that could be useful to you when writing about film. Check it out!

Dartmouth – Writing About Film

Mini Problem Paper

For Friday’s task, you will write a short problem paper about the film “Stranger Than Fiction,” which we watched in class this week. You should work to closely analyze a symbol, theme, character, scene, song, exchange of dialogue, or some other aspect of the film. For example, you might discuss the significance and purpose of the on-screen writing and numbers that map out Harold’s actions. Ask yourself the standard who, what, why, where, and how questions (though you do not need to include these, specifically, in your blog), and see what new interpretations or ideas you can generate.

Feel free to include a clip from the film – most of it can be found on YouTube, with a littler searching. Here’s the section that includes the “Aren’t you relieved to know you’re not a Golam?” conversation. It’s at about the 3:00 minute mark – in long clips like this, make sure you tell us at what minute mark to start viewing.

As always, email me at kbrady650@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Reading Response 3

For this Friday, March 23rd, you will be reading Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “Hills Like White Elephants.” You will also examine the hypertext version of the story. Hypertext is an online document that includes numerous hyperlinks, which direct the reader to definitions, common themes in a story, and other information. As the reader scrolls through the hypertext, they can click on these various links to access the additional information.

 

There are two parts to your task.

1. Google “Hills Like White Elephants and PDF,” and your first search result should be a PDF of the full text of the story. Read the story, and respond to at least two of the questions below in a blog post.

What do you think the relationship is between the two main characters in this story?

Why do you think the two main characters are drinking so heavily?

Why do you think the girl refers to the hills as looking “like white elephants?”

What surgical procedure do you think the two main characters are talking about?

Note that the dialogue uses tag lines (he said, she said) infrequently. Were you still able to follow the conversation easily? How else did Hemingway show who was speaking?

 

2. Explore the hypertext version of the story (the link is under the “Links to Readings” tab on this course blog). Click on many of the hyperlinks, and read the information provided. Then answer at least two of the questions below in a blog post (the same one that you use to answer questions from part one).

What new things about the story did you learn from the hypertext?

Is this the first hypertext you’ve explored/encountered?

What is your general impression of hypertext documents? Did you find this one useful?

Can you imagine (other) ways that hypertext might be useful in an academic setting?

 

As always, if you have questions, feel free to email me at bradyk@strose.edu.

Rainbow Position Paper Workshop

Today you’ll be workshopping the Rainbow group’s position papers. Choose three from Alex, Patrick, Sandra, Chelsea, Theresa, or Erica, and leave your feedback in a comment on their blog post. Please remember to look around and see whose paper has already received feedback, and whose has not – we want each Rainbow group member to receive some feedback. If you need a reminder about workshop etiquette, you can look here for the position paper-specific workshop guidelines the class came up with. Don’t forget to give your peers an “author believes” or “author argues” statement.

Library Scavenger Hunt

For this week’s online task, you will be completing a “scavenger hunt” that involves finding a particular book in the library, and then posting a picture of yourself, with the book, to your blog. Butterflies, you’ll be looking for _Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A cultural history of cacao_, edited by Cameron L. McNeil. WWF, you’ll be looking for _Hindi Cinema: an insider’s view_, by Anil Saari. Rainbow, you’ll be looking for _On the Farm Front: the Women’s Land Army in World War II_, by Stephanie Carpenter. Here’s what to do next:

1. Use the information given (title, author) to search the St. Rose library catalog to find the catalog listing for your book. Within the listing, find the call number for your book. Write it down. The catalog listing will also tell you which level of the library your book can be found on, so that should narrow down your search a bit.

2. Go to the library. Use the call number to find your book. Your book will be in the basement, or on the second or third floor of the library, in what are called the “stacks,” meaning all those rows and rows of shelved books. Each shelf will have a label on each end, telling you which range of call numbers (which books with those call numbers) can be found on that shelf. On the books, call numbers will be located on the bottom portion of the spine. Call “numbers” often include letters, too, and are usually organized alphabetically according to author or editor’s last name. Once you find your book’s number, you’ll have to do some closer searching to find the abbreviated letters that reference the author’s last name. For example, if I were an awesome published author, my last name would be listed with the call number as “BRA.” If you need additional help finding your book, ask a librarian.

3. When you find your book, take a picture of yourself with the book. Make sure both you and the cover of the book are clearly visible. Then reshelve the book in the EXACT same place that you found it, so that your other group members are also able to easily locate the book.

4. Post the picture to your blog. If you’re not sure how to do this, here are a couple of suggestions: email the picture to yourself from your phone, and then save it to your computer. Or, upload the picture to Faebook, and then save it to your computer. You could also insert your phone’s SD card directly into your computer, and save the picture that way. Once the picture is saved to your computer, it should be very easy to upload. There’s a camera-shaped icon in the toolbar above the box you type in when you write a new post for WordPress, which allows you to insert a picture into your post. If you don’t have a camera-equipped phone, you’ll have to borrow a friend’s. Better yet, figure out how to work with someone in your group, and search out your book together, and then take one another’s pictures. In the same post, write a short summary of what your library hunt was like, and what you learned from the experience.

Because this task involves traveling to the library and so on, you have until 12P (noon) on Sunday to complete your blog post. As always, feel free to email me at bradyk@strose.edu if you have questions.

Research Exchange Partners

For Friday’s online task, you’ll be spending some time doing research on behalf of your partner. Please find them at least three possible sources for their position paper. These sources can be journal articles, books, news articles, and so on – try to find a variety. You will be posting what you find to your own blog. You do not need to write a formal citation of the source, but you should include the source’s author, title, publication information, and so on. You should also write an annotation of each source. Here’s a reminder about what citations and annotations are really all about:

citation – information that allows someone, perhaps twenty years from now, to search for and find the sources you cite in your fabulous academic paper

annotation – usually includes a one to two sentence summary of the source, as well as one to two sentences explaining why that source is relevant to your paper

 

PARTNERS:

Christina – modeling industry & body image WITH Kelsi – modeling industry & body image

Patrick – home school v. public school WITH Veronica – family time, self esteem, & behavior

Sam – technology in elementary classroom WITH Becca – elementary school testing

Theresa – arts & music funding/budget restructure WITH Megan – return to studio system in America

Manuella – IVF coverage for LGBT families WITH Chelsea – limit US involvement in foreign affairs

Alex – caffeine’s negative effect on college students WITH Sandra – ban unhealthy foods as solution to childhood obesity

Alexis – legalization of marijuana WITH Erica – illegalize alcohol / modern prohibition

Lauren – separate drug courts WITH Morgan – pro-electro convulsive therapy

A “Good” Position Paper Topic

These are the criteria that we decided a “good” position paper topic should meet.

– available research (someone has written about it previously)

– you care (perhaps relevant to major)

– somebody else cares (audience)

– two clear sides (even if complex)

– what is going to change if we believe you?

 

Some class-generated ideas:

state testing in elementary school

gay marriage

family time & learning

urban schools & …

drug courts (as separate from crim. or fam.)

homeschooling vs. public schooling

war on terror… unconstitutional

pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (glowfish)

creation vs. evolution

sperm donation (regulations & limits)

Online Workshop – Personal Narratives

Today you’ll be workshopping the Butterflies’ personal narratives, online. There are actually seven to choose from, but you only need to read and respond to three. You can choose from Samantha, Elizabeth, Veronica, Morgan, Alexis, Erica, and Theresa’s stories. Simply leave your workshop feedback in a comment on the author’s blog post – yes, that means you do not need to make any posts to your own blog this week.

Remember that you can click on the “Workshop Etiquette” tab on the class blog for reminders about what kinds of feedback we’re looking for. It’s important to let the authors know, specifically (not just “I liked it…”) what they’ve done well, so that they can continue to do those things, as well as point out any areas that are confusing or could be improved.

Butterflies, you’re mostly off the hook, but make sure to workshop Alexis and Elizabeth’s narratives, since you didn’t get to see those in class.

As always, feel free to email me at bradyk@strose.edu if you have questions!