Final Exam Reminder

Well, it's the end of the semester. So don't forget: Our final exam is this coming Monday, 5/4, from 1:30pm to 3:20pm, at our usual classroom. Since it's final exam week, there shouldn't be any conflicts with your other classes. So please make sure you're there and ready.

If you know you definitely can't make it, let me know ASAP, and I'll have you make up the exam on your own time. Just be aware: By the time Tuesday rolls around, I will not allow any more make-up exams, and if you miss our final, I'll simply calculate your final grade without it.

Course Evaluations

Folks,

The end of the semester is fast approaching, so don't forget those last few deadlines. Your Essay 3 second draft packet is due Monday, 4/27, by the start of class. Then, your revised Essays 1 and 2 are due by the end of class on Wednesday, 4/29 (meaning, before 3:20pm -- no later than that).

Now, since this course is close to ending, that means it's time for course evaluations. So let me give you instructions for evaluating your experience in this course.

-- First, go to this web address: http://nveval.com.

-- After you go to the above address, log in with your 7-digit numeric NOVA Student ID. Then you'll be prompted to select your name from a randomized list, just to verify.

-- Once you're logged in, answer out the survey as fully as you can. It should take about 5-10 minutes to complete the whole evaluation survey.

-- If you experience any problems along the way, send an email to info@iotasolutions.com, and they should be able to help you.

-- Lastly, please make sure to complete this evaluation soon. You won't be able to do a course evaluation after May 4th.

Thank you all. Both the department and I appreciate any feedback from you.

-- ib

Week 6 Homework

Let me remind you again that your Essay 3 second draft packet is due next Monday, 4/27, by the start of class. Also, all revisions of Essays 1 and 2 are due by the end of class on Wednesday, 4/29. I plan to be strict on these deadlines, so please be timely and organized.

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Now, as for reading homework, I'll let you take a week off. Instead of giving you articles to read ahead of time, I'll provide you readings to work with in class. Please be aware: I might still throw a pop quiz about previous course materials, but I will certainly not quiz you on material that I present to you on the very same day.

This is your time to finish those last assignments. And if you're behind, let me know as soon as possible; we should develop a plan to try to get you quickly back on track.

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If you have any questions or concerns, please email me.

Update: We'll Meet in AA-416 on Wednesday, 4/22 (and Monday, 4/27)

Please note: We will be meeting in room AA-416, a room with a computer lab, on Wednesday, 4/22, and on Monday, 4/27. Those of you who have laptops that you like to work on, please bring them with you. We are going to dedicate part of our class period to independent work on your essays. I'll be sure to update you with more information this Wednesday. But for now, be sure to work on the assignments listed in the blog post right below this one.

Reminder: Your Essay 3 First Draft and Critique Are Due This Week

This is just to remind you of a few things:

1) Your Essay 3 first draft is due this Monday, 4/20, by the start of class. Please be sure to have as complete a draft as you can. If you're not completely sure what you're doing, try to plow through, even if you might end up doing something awkwardly or incorrectly. To remind you, a finished bad draft is better than an unfinished brilliant one.

2) Your critique in response to a classmate's Essay 3 first draft is due this Wednesday, 4/22, by the start of class. In your critique, please be sure to organize your ideas into several paragraphs, looking at several sections of your partner's essay, taking care to consider several issues in it separately. Be aware: A number of you are losing a lot of points by simply writing insufficient critiques.

And be aware of a couple more things for the near future:

Your Essay 3 second draft packet will be due one class early -- on Monday, 4/27, by the start of class (not Wednesday, as we've done before). Wednesday, 4/29, is the last chance to submit revisions for Essays 1 and 2 -- by the end of class, 3:20pm, and no later than that. Seriously, I will not accept an Essay 3 as on-time if it's submitted after we start class on Monday, and I will not accept a revision of Essays 1 or 2 at all if it's submitted after 3:20pm on Monday.

If you have questions or concerns, please email me.

Week 5 Homework

So we're into our very last essay assignment, Essay 3, an argumentative research paper. For this assignment, I'm using the term "argumentative" in the classic sense: You choose a topic that you want to argue about, and you use specific evidence to support your argument. Still, keep in mind that even an essay like this benefits from deep, detailed discussions of your sources -- with extensive quoted passages carefully framed in an effective "Source Sandwich," and maybe even a consideration of how the authors of these passages are trying to appeal to their readers.

With all of that in mind, make sure you get started working on your Essay 3 first draft soon. This first draft is due next week, on Monday, 4/20, by the start of class.

And, as usual, your first draft is followed by a critique. Your Essay 3 critique, in response to another classmate's first draft, is due on Wednesday, 4/22, by the start of class. Regarding this critique, I realize that some of your classmates might be writing a reasonably long essay, which might leave you wondering, "Do I have to describe and criticize absolutely everything here? Wouldn't that make my critique too long?" My answer is this: No, you don't have to describe everything, but you do have to describe your partner's full argument back to them. And you don't have to go paragraph-by-paragraph, either. In fact, it might be most effective if you choose only 3-4 of the most important places in your partner's essay and discuss each of those on their own, and leave the rest for your partner to discover on their own.

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Now, let me also give you some reading homework:

First, please read the following article, "How Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s immigrant path explains his guilty verdict," by Asra Q. Nomani, published in The Washington Post on April 8, 2015:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/how-dzhokhar-tsarnaevs-immigrant-path-explains-his-guilty-verdict/2015/04/08/8a182054-da37-11e4-8103-fa84725dbf9d_story.html.

Next, please read the following article, "The Abuse of Satire," by Gary Trudeau, published in The Atlantic on April 11, 2015:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/04/the-abuse-of-satire/390312/.

And lastly, please read the following article, "Are Americans Really Champions of Racial Equality?" by Maribel Morey, published in The Atlantic on April 12, 2015:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/are-americans-champions-of-racial-equality/389826/.

-- As you read these articles, consider closely, first, what kind of articles they are. Each of them is quite different from the others in their form and style. Next, consider what the authors are talking about the might be similar. Can you see what kind of overall argument might be formed from joining these three articles in one ongoing discussion?

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And that's it for this week. As always, if you have questions or concerns, be sure to email me right away.

Reminder: Essay 2 Second Draft Packet Due Wednesday, 4/15

This is just to remind you: Your complete Essay 2 second draft packet is due this Wednesday, 4/15, by the start of class. I realize that I've made some exceptions for Essay 1 second drafts, but this time I will make no exceptions. If your complete packet isn't in my possession, with all the materials stapled and in order, by the time I start class on Wednesday, then your essay is late. So please be sure to be on time in your submission.

Here's another piece of advice: Your midterm contains some clues for you to put a better Essay 2 together. You should be receiving your midterms back today, Monday, 4/13. And since the assignment for the midterm exam is similar in many ways to the assignment for Essay 2, then some of the comments I've made on your midterm can be applied to Essay 2. Of course, the midterm requires you to talk about just one article, and Essay 2 requires you to compare two articles, but in both the midterm and Essay 2, you need to talk about how the authors argue, how they appeal to their readers, and why that matters in the end. So can you see how to take the lessons you learn from your midterm in order to produce a better Essay 2 second draft?

(Also, please note: The assignment and prompt for Essay 3 appear in the blog post right below this one.)

Essay 3

Here's a link to a PDF version of the Essay 3 assignment and rubric:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STWFJVUTdEa21xU0E/view?usp=sharing.

Week 4 Homework

Let me just remind you: Today, Wednesday, 4/8, was the day for our midterm. If you missed the midterm, get in touch with me ASAP to arrange for a make-up exam.

Also, be aware: By now, pretty much half of our condensed semester is over. If you feel like you're behind on anything, let me know. Remember that if you submit a major essay on time, no matter what grade you receive on it, you can revise it for a better grade later. Revising your major essays is likely the best way to aim for a higher grade.

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With all of that in mind, here are the assignments that are due next week:

-- Your research write-ups 3 and 4 (two write-ups) are due on Monday, 4/13, by the start of class. I've made exceptions for people to submit their write-ups online last time, but this time I'd rather not do that. Please be sure to have your write-ups printed out and ready to submit. Otherwise, you'll have to accept a late submission with a slight point deduction.

-- Your Essay 2 second draft packet is due on Wednesday, 4/15, by the start of class. Likewise with this essay, I've made some exceptions for people who had to submit their essays after the start of class. This time, I'm not going to make any exceptions. If your essay is late, no matter the situation, your essay is simply late. To remind you, I don't take points off for a major essay being late. But I won't give you comments, and you won't get a chance to revise the essay in question.

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Now, let me give you two opposing articles to read for next week, too:

-- Please read this article, "Indiana’s religious freedom law can have real discriminatory effects," by the Washington Post editorial board:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/indianas-religious-freedom-law-can-have-real-discriminatory-effects/2015/03/30/f7470520-d71f-11e4-b3f2-607bd612aeac_story.html.

-- And please also read this article, "Religious-liberty protections promote tolerance," by Edwin Meese III and Ryan T. Anderson:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/religious-liberty-protections-promote-tolerance/2015/04/01/4fb66cca-d88b-11e4-ba28-f2a685dc7f89_story.html?hpid=z6.

Don't take my choice of articles the wrong way; I simply want you to take a look at the way two opposing positions on this topic are often expressed. Your Essay 2 still requires you to observe similarities in the way your two articles' authors argue, not differences.

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If you have questions or concerns let me know.

See you again soon.

Reminder: Midterm Wednesday (Essay 2 Critiques Due Wednesday, Too!)

Just to remind you: Our midterm exam is taking place this Wednesday, 4/8. This exam will take the form of an in-class writing, similar in format to the diagnostic writing we did on the very first day. However, this time, I'll provide you with an article and ask you to use this article in writing your in-class essay, according to the assignment that I will also provide. To prepare, be sure you're able to look through articles and spot places where an author appeals to a specific audience in a clear, specific way. And be sure you know how to present these places in quoted passages, and to discuss what you see in them.

Also, remember that your critique in response to another classmate's Essay 2 first draft is due by the start of class this Wednesday, 4/8, too.

Make sure you're there. If you can't make it, try your best to be there anyway. But if you really can't make it, let me know ASAP, so that we can arrange for you to take a make-up midterm.

Week 3 Homework

Let me give you this week's homework update.

First of all, don't forget the written assignments that are due next week. Your first draft for Essay 2 is due on Monday, 4/6, by the start of class, and your critique in response to a classmate's first draft is due Wednesday. But I'd like to give you a few initial notes, too.

Regarding your Essay 2 first draft:

Most importantly, keep in mind that you need to talk about how the authors of two articles (and no more than two articles) argue similarly. So, to be sure, you need to find articles where the authors are trying to argue a point, clearly and directly. In other words, find articles whose authors are really trying to persuade their readers of some idea.

Also, don't forget that you want to compare (not contrast) the ways these authors argue. In other words, you need to find similarities (not differences) between the two arguments. They don't have to be exactly similar, but if, for example, both articles' authors use some amount of emotional appeal, you should spot those moments and compare those specific approaches. If you find that the similarities are too difficult to point out, find other articles. And if you find that there are more than just one way the two articles' arguments are similar, don't worry about those extra approaches. Focus on just one main way of arguing. If you must, combine just one other approach -- but keep in mind that you're not writing two essays here; you're writing just one, about one main similar way of arguing and why it matters.

Regarding your Essay 2 critique:

I'm finding that a number of you are writing very limited critiques. When I asked some of you why your critique appeared so limited, the response I most often received was, "My partner just didn't write enough in their first draft." Honestly, I understand you: You want to be fair and direct, and you want to respond only to what's there, specifically what's going right and what's going wrong.

But then, I wonder, why should a short first draft limit you from writing a fuller critique? Remember that you can always ask questions, and you can always make suggestions. In fact, you can ask questions and make suggestions about things you don't see in the first draft you're critiquing. To be sure, you should start by observing what you see happening in the essay, but then, ask yourself, what more can you do to try to help your partner write a better essay? Keep in mind that you are the one being graded for your critique, not your partner.

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Second, let me give you some reading homework to do:

-- Please read this article, "Why America's obsession with STEM education is dangerous," by Fareed Zakaria:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-stem-wont-make-us-successful/2015/03/26/5f4604f2-d2a5-11e4-ab77-9646eea6a4c7_story.html?hpid=z3.

-- Please also read this article, "Hellhole," by Atul Gawande:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/03/30/hellhole.

As you read these two articles, consider the following questions: In what ways do these two authors argue? Can you spot moments where the authors draw on certain values that they know their readers have? Can you spot moments where the authors use emotions that they know their readers have? Remember that Ethos (values) and Pathos (emotions) are the two stronger ways to argue. Sure, using Logos (logic and reasoning) to argue can seem straight and to the point, but consider how an angry reader might respond to a detailed discussion of the facts. And consider how a reader who dislikes professors because he or she thinks education is over-valued might respond to an academic analysis of a topic.

-- And, lastly, please skim the following handout taken from a rhetoric textbook, a discussion of the kinds of questions that can come up for each of the Stases in Stasis Theory:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STa2d0MWN6NTlfYTg/view?usp=sharing.

As you skim through this handout, consider how you might say that Zakaria and Gawande answer some of these questions more than others in their arguments. For instance, is it possible to say that Gawande is making a Policy argument (meaning, he's literally telling us to do something and showing us how this course of action will be good)? Or is he simply making a Definition argument (meaning, he's simply describing how a certain issue works, and he leaves us to draw our own conclusions)?

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And that's it for now. Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

See you again soon.

Essay 2

Here's your link for the online version of your Essay 2 assignment and rubric:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B59oU02C12STMGl4NmhwWkR0dHM/view?usp=sharing.