Argument Rubric

I forgot to post this before - you don't need it for the draft, but make sure that you print it when you put together your final paper.

Argument rubric

VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ!

I have changed the due date for your argument paper! The final draft of your argument is now due at the final - for this class that will be December 8, 2009 at 1:00. This will be your final, so expect to show up and turn in your argument, then leave.
J Moody

For next Tuesday

3 sources from the library website, copied, with the annotation sheet stapled to the front (one sheet per source). Please staple these before class because I am not lugging around a stapler. The information for the annotation can be found on the argument assignment in the blog post below.

On Tuesday, we will talk about doing the in-text citations as well as about logical fallacies and claims and assumptions - we have a lot to cover!

For those of you who were not in class, please do the library information literacy modules on finding sources:

Information Literacy Module

You must obtain a score of 90% or higher in order to pass this module - feel free to use the tutorials below to help you before you take the assessment.
Finding Journal Articles by Subject
Finding Electronic Journal Articles

Topics

Should we ban texting and driving?

Should UCF fire George O'Leary? Should we hire Charlie Strong?

Should aspartame be banned?

Should gay couples have to meet a higher standard to adopt children?

Should we standardize the legal adult age at 18?

Why should celebrities get special treatment when they get arrested?

What should we do with 95 year old convicts? (this one is kind of weird)

Should people who work all day be allowed to adopt a dog?

Why do people seem to think it's reasonable to spend $40,000 on a wedding?

Should people have to be recertified to drive after a certain age?

The argument paper

Today we will go over what an argument is, and how to structure an argument. I will assign the argument paper, and will give you some reading (ACW 517-534 and Lunsford 105-146). For Tuesday, please have your topic posted on your blog, and be prepared to come in and do some research - we'll be looking at the library site and learning how to find peer-reviewed articles.

Argument Assignment

Also, please make sure to bring your Lunsford book with you on Tuesday. You could bring your laptop with you as well - that might be helpful.

What's due on Thursday

The final copy of your review paper, with the rubric (I didn't give you a copy of that initially, so here it is so that you can print it: Review Rubric).

On Thursday I will also be assigning the argument paper. On Tuesday we WILL be having class, and we will be doing the MLA workshop, which is a very important class. I understand that this is Thanksgiving week, but we don't have much time to pack this all in, and this workshop, while not particularly scintillating, is really helpful. It will also help you research in other classes, so I don't recommend that you leave early for the holidays.

Peer Review

Purpose:

Students should be able to identify parts of the review and revise.

Process:

Directions: Get into pairs and exchange review papers. First just read the review once, not taking notes. Then, read over the questions and answer the questions below. Finally, discuss your findings with your partner.

1. Underline the thesis. Does the thesis provide an evaluation of the object being reviewed? Is this evaluation positive or negative? How do you know this?

2. Does the evaluation summarize or describe the subject thoroughly? (Where might the summary or description be unnecessary or unrelated to the main idea?)

3. Where does the writer support broad evaluative claims with specific details about the subject? Are there any places where there are specific details that don’t support a particular claim (a detail that is not necessary, perhaps)?

4. Are the evaluative claims important to the audience? Are these points of criteria that the audience cares about?

5. Point out any places where the paragraphs shift without a smooth transition.

6. Point out paragraphs that have excellent details to support a single point of criteria.

7. Does the reader gain information or value from reading this review?

8. Consider the following technical aspects to the paper: (Circle each area of concern)

· What sentences contain wordy phrases

· Where can the writer change linking verbs to active verbs

· Where is the writer overusing the words “I” and “You”

· Where is the writer using passive voice

For Tuesday

Bring your review draft with you to class on Tuesday - we will be doing peer review in class in order to catch up. Your final draft will be due on Thursday./jm

What you should have done and posted for Thursday 11/12

Template B from the Review Assignment (it's posted on an earlier post on this blog). This should be done by start of class on Thursday as we will go over them in class.

Then we will outline the review in class, so start thinking about how you want to structure your review. Find an example of a review that is similar to yours (keep in mind the plagiarism workshop!) and note how they bring up their criteria. How do they arrange the review? What are some things you like about this review? What do you want to do differently in your own review? You shouldn't borrow criteria from this review - criteria should be more personal. What YOU like in a restaurant, for example, is not what another author might like. But good restaurants do share some common themes - good service, appropriate ambiance (this might be different for a pizza place and a french restaurant!). These (service, ambiance) are CATEGORIES of criteria. So your criteria should be more detailed.

I will see you in class on Thursday.
/jm

Plagiarism Workshop

First, what is plagiarism? UCF defines plagiarism as the intentional or accidental misrepresentation of someone else's work,ideas, or words as your own.

In your groups, consider the following scenarios. Rate these scenarios on a scale of 0-5, where 0=not plagiarism at all, and 5=probably IS plagiarism. You should also discuss and answer the question -does this situation have a high potential to BECOME plagiarism? Why or why not? Also discuss the reasoning behind your decision - is this situation fair? Is it justifiable? Are there perhaps some instances where the University atmosphere CONTRIBUTES to plagiarism?

1. You and a roommate have ENC 1102 papers due at around the same time. In order to save time and have more fun doing research, you choose similar topics and research together. You will certainly write your own papers, but you use the same articles and books.

2. You have a paper due in Technical Writing that is supposed to be a proposal. You are also taking a speech class where you have to write a proposal. You decide to write the paper and the speech on the same topic to save time since you are taking 6 classes.

3. You are taking your first online class, and the teacher's assignments are very vague. For this assignment, you really aren't sure what he wants, but you do know that you are supposed to post something on the discussion board and answer some questions from the module. You look at the discussion board and see that some other students have already posted their assignment, so you look at their postings to get an idea of what they answered in response to the question and feel much better. Now you know what you have to do!

4. Same scenario as number 3 above, but this time you look at their postings, and use one of the assignments as a template. You change their answers and post your response, but then you get an e-mail from the teacher accusing you of plagiarizing the assignment. How could she do this? Your answers weren't the same as the other student's!

5. You are creating a powerpoint for a class presentation and are browsing around the Internet looking for graphics. You find a picture that is just perfect for your powerpoint, so you copy it into your presentation. When you view the other students' presentations, everyone else has done this as well. Your teacher gives you an A for your presenation. Did you plagiarize?

For the next part of this assignment, I want you to look up on the UCF Office of Student Conduct website (http://www.osc.sdes.ucf.edu/) what the penalties for plagiarism at UCF can be. Discuss them in your group - do you think that they are fair? Too harsh? Not harsh enough?

For homework, please read the University Writing Center's handout on plagiarism at http://uwc.cah.ucf.edu/handouts/Avoiding_Plagiarism.pdf.

What is due on Thursday

Post the audience analysis (Template A) by midnight Thursday. Sometimes it helps me to think of the audience as a comparative audience. For a magazine, for example, how would the readers of Vogue and Entertainment Weekly (or Car and Driver) differ? How would older readers view drug ads (the kind that have the back page side effects listed)? How do younger viewers see these ads?

As you think of who they are, think also of who they're not. Would readers of Vogue, for example, be likely to be younger or older women (or men?). Would they be women who are rich (not necessarily - I read Vogue) or who appreciate the art that is fashion?

Your review assignment

Please note that your review assignment is due on 11/17, but the draft is due 11/12. We will be having conferences that day and for the next three days online in groups. You will be responsible for signing in to a chat room and we will conference that way. Please come prepared to these chats with at least three questions about your draft.

Review Assignment

Please bring your books with you to class during this assignment and during the argument assignment as well. I didn't like the treatment of the Commentary in the books that much (I thought I could do better :)) but I like the way that the author's handle the review material.

For Thursday, look me up on Rate my Professor, and read the chapter in ACW on Reviews.

Office Hours (NOT class!)

We will be having class as usual today, but I wanted to let you know that I have to cancel my office hours today because I am substituting for another teaching during that time. I'll be back to regularly scheduled hours on Tuesday from 10:30-11:30.
J Moody

Today in Class

You should already have the outline for your commentary done, so now draft the thesis paragraph for your commentary. This doesn't necessarily have to be the first paragraph, but it should be the paragraph which contains the thesis. Remember the following criteria for your thesis statement:

• Satisfactory thesis statements offer an observation of a trend or situation.
• Strong thesis statements offer some insight into what the trend or situation signifies.
• Outstanding thesis statements offer a qualified and thought-out insight into what a trend or situation signifies.

This thesis paragraph is due Thursday at the beginning of class. Make sure that you read my blog post on citing sources as well for Thursday's class.

Citing Sources

For this paper, we will be doing informal citations. For the argument paper, I will be VERY concerned with your research accuracy and your citation format, but for this paper I'm more concerned with the accuracy of your research than I am the format of your citations.

The general rule is that if most people don't know this information (general knowledge), you have to cite where you found it. So anything that you learned for this commentary, like information on skateboarding at UCF, how many students go here, or results from your interview with fellow students, has to be cited.

For the interview, when you refer to the person's interview in your paragraph, for instance to say that your partner thought that skateboarding was equally dangerous, you could say something like "According to Shelly Larson, who was run over by a skateboarder as she headed to class, skateboarding should be totally outlawed on campus." And then you cite the source on a separate works cited page. You can list them as just Lastname, Firstname. "Interview on October 6, 2009."

For newspaper or magazine information, in the commentary itself, reference it like this: "In a follow the information in the MLA section for newspapers and magazines.

For a website, in the commentary, say something like "On cancer.gov, the leading cause of lung cancer is listed as smoking." and in your works cited page, you would post a link to the actual page where you found the information, as well as the date you accessed the page.

If you have any questions about citing a source, as well as whether you need to cite a source, please ask in class on Thursday, as most of the class needs to know as well.In the Lunsford book use the MLA format section for information on how to set up the works cited page (you can also find information on how to set up all of the citations here as well).

Analyzing a commentary

Using either "The Hypocrisy Bowl" or "Metrosexual Matrimony," (links are below in the commentary assignment section) analyze the commentary using the following questions. This should be done in a small group of 2-3, and should be put on one person's blog. You can either use your laptop or your group can go to the computer lab if you're quiet. We will meet back here at the predetermined time so that we can go over your answers in class.

1. What is the trend or situation on which the commentary focuses?
2. Does the author give the reader an interesting introduction to the issue? Why or why not?
3. Does the author explain the context of the issue? How in-depth does he or she go? What do you think this signifies regarding the intended audience of the commentary?
4. What are the possible causes of the trend or situation the author explores?
5. What examples or observations does the author give from his or her own life to back their belief that these are the possible causes?
6. What is the author's stance on the topic?
7. What significance does the author see in this trend or situation?

Please phrase your answers in complete sentences. This exercise will be worth 50 points, so please make sure to put all of your group member's names on here!
J Moody

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - What you should be doing now

Post the 10 questions and the interview answers from today in class (if you didn't come to class today, e-mail me and I'll send you an overview of what we did).

Post your letter to your friend (see the commentary assignment #3 - it was due today but I extended the assignment till Thursday). The purpose of this letter is to inform someone who doesn't go to UCF about your issue so that you get a chance to articulate it to an outside party. This helps you think about the issue from someone else's perspective. It doesn't have to be typed and double spaced - that was only for turning the assignment in in class and I decided to have you turn it in on your blog instead.

Read the two articles listed below the commentary assignment (The Hypocrisy Bowl and Metrosexual Matrimony) and think about how they are arranged and how the authors got the background information to write them. We'll talk about them in class on Thursday.

Remember that you are supposed to post three ideas for your commentary that relate to issues here at UCF.

Then I would like you to take one of those issues and develop it a bit. Write about 250 words about that issue - Following prompt #2 from your assignment. Think about your issue, and observe the atmosphere around the issue. Think about the context of the issue - how did we get to this point?

As you observe, record the sensory details of the phenomenon/trend, as well as the spatial/contextual perimeters. How does it look and feel to you? Consider what it reminds you of, literally and figuratively. How is it like or unlike other things you’ve experienced? Note how others react to it. Are there differences between your response and others’ responses? What significance does it have for you? What significance does it seem to have for them?

Link to Commentary Assignment

Link to Commentary Rubric

The Hypocrisy Bowl

Metrosexual Matrimony

What you need to turn in for Commentary: Folder with your name on it, commentary rubric, commentary in MLA format (double spaced, name, class (including section), date, title, page number on each page except first), works cited page)

Memoir Rubric Link

Here is a link to the memoir rubric:

Memoir Rubric

Memo Assignment

Post a memo to me (on your blog) about how you are going to implement the feedback from the peer review. Where are you going to go from here, and what are you going to do with this feedback? This memo should be at least 300-500 words (about 2-3 well-developed paragraphs) and should deal with not only revising this paragraph, but with finishing the memoir in a way that incorporates strong visuals and insightful significance (see your memoir assignment and rubric for specific assignment criteria). This should be in memo format, written in academic tone, and should be done no later than Thursday, September 17, 2009 at midnight.

Keep in mind that this is due at the same time as your draft of the memoir (see your assignment sheet) but that I am giving you class time to work on it.

Links to other blogs

http://njbyersenc1101.blogspot.com/

http://crcollinsenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://mkcinicoloenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://kmbishopenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://jaducatenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://kmejiaenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://smluncefordenc1101blog.blogspot.com/.

http://lkkulinaenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://agcaneteenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://lnprattenc1101.blogspot.com/

http://kmdee1101.blogspot.com/

http://mhjaivenenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

rjforgetENC1101blog.blogspot.com

http://llizarraldeenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://hvansickleenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://frhellingerenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://tspiggottenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://www.blogger.com/profile/04258939152748282244

http://jjrasinskienc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://stvromanenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://rddivineenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

http://mabenedettyenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

ECRodriguezENC1101blog.blogspot.com

Matt Z.

http://tsunderlandenc1101blog.blogspot.com/

If you don't see your blog on here, please e-mail me!
J Moody

ENC 1101 Section 119

Welcome to the blog for ENC 1101 Section 119! This blog will be the main stomping grounds for you to link your separate Memoir blogs to, and a way for us to organize ourselves around a central theme. For now, remember the main ideas for your memoir:

• The event should have been long enough ago so that you have sufficient perspective on it
• The event should have been something that was important to you as a child, but that still resonates with you today as an adult.
• The event should be something that your audience can relate to.