Week 4

RHET 1311.991 & 992 Comp I

Fall 2017

(Week 4 begins September 11 and closes September 17, 2017.)

Weekly
Checklist

Reading & Resources & Projects & Reflective Critical

response Practice Portfolio Journals Discussions

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 Week 4 Checklist
All assignments are due no later than 11:30 p.m.,
Weekly
September 17, 2017.
Checklist

! Assigned reading: Ethos, logos, pathos: Three ways to persuade

! Composition response: Rough and first drafts of literacy narrative
! Resources:
o Intros and conclusions
o Theses
o ProQuest Module 2
! Portfolio: Upload rough and first drafts of literacy narrative (also submit first
draft in drop box)
! Reflective Journal: None
! Critical discussions: WPA outcomes discussion: Critical thinking, reading,
composing

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 Reading and writing. This weeks reading is a short handout
(NOT from Writing Spaces) entitled Ethos, Logos, Pathos:
Three Ways to Persuade. It is located in our weekly content
Reading & area. Your composition response for this week is to closely
response read the first major project assignment document (also
located in this weeks content area) and compose your
rough and first drafts for that narrative. However, before you
read the project 1 assignment document and begin
composing, be sure to finish reading THIS document. Theres a lot of relevant
information here that youll want to apply within your composition work, and Ill
be touching on Project 1 again below in the Portfolio section of this
document.

Resources. When we discuss foundational concepts within

composition, theres so much to talk about that we cant
possibly cover all these concepts before we begin writing,
Resources & and honestly, youve already studied them in previous
Practice years of school. As you know thats why this area is called
resources and practice. So if youve already mastered
this information, this section is the easy part. This week I
want to talk just a little about theses, then about introductions
and conclusions (even though you may not add an introduction or conclusion
until you write your final draft in a couple of weeks).

Intros/conclusions. This is just intended to be a helpful review, so you can be

thinking about your introduction and conclusion. The elements of introductions
and conclusions are as follows:
An introduction
o Is inviting and creates interest
o Is well developed
o Provides context and forecasts the authors line of thought
o Opens up the thesis rather than flatly announcing it, but the thesis
and points of support are readily identifiable
A conclusion
o Uses clear and creative transitional phrasing to lead the reader into
the conclusion
o Recasts the thesis, relating back to the introduction in a novel
manner
o Provides cohesion to the entirety of the piece
o Looks to the future in a thought-provoking manner and uniquely
motivates the reader in some fashion

Now to expand a little on each of these elements separately

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Introductions. Just as in public speaking, an effective introduction opens with a
hook. This hook snags then helps to focus reader interest. In the information
age in which we live, there is tons of reading material, so your hook needs to
catch your readers interest in such a manner as to cause him or her want to
read the rest of your piece.

Secondly, your introduction should raise a question. This also helps to focus
reader interest and is the point of your writing at all. In order to define the
question (the issue or the main pointmore about theses in the section below),
you need to offer enough insight to clearly identify the question and the reason
it even IS a question. In other words, your introduction should provide a little
background. Obviously, the background will be fleshed out elsewhere, but your
reader has to agree with you that the issue is important or interesting or inviting,
and the brief background in the introduction should provide that.

Finally, your introduction should clearly state your thesis. Your thesis is your
answer to the question raised. This typically occurs at the end of the
introduction. It should be a tight, concise statement that clearly responds to the
question your essay is raising, and in that statement you should include your
points of evidence that will be explained within the essay. This helps to focus
your readers expectations for the rest of the composition.

So those three things all done in an interesting manner are what you need for an
effective introduction. It seems like a tall order, but with focus, thought, and
practice, it can be done! The following three OWL at Purdue resources can be
helpful if you get stumped on writing an effective introduction:
How to write a lead (focus is on journalism but provides pertinent
information): https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/735/05/
Writing a developed and detailed introduction:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/2/2/58/
Introduction: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/724/

Conclusions. Conclusions should be cohesive for the piece as a whole. Our

rubric for project 1 states,
Cohesive conclusion provides insightful answers and looks to the
future, continuing to stimulate the readers thinking in a thought-
provoking manner, which may suggest areas for further
consideration in the reader's mind.
In order to be cohesive, your conclusion must tie your work together in a tight
package with a bow on top. Tying your composition together is achieved by
pointing back to your beginning, reviewing your thesis, and reminding the
reader of why your point is important. Such repetition keeps your main point in
sharp focus as you wrap up your part in the conversation. Placing a bow on

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top of this tidy package is achieved by reviewing in a fresh manner or with a
surprising idea. Providing novelty in your conclusion will hold your readers
interest and can inspire the reader to deeply consider future eventualities on
your topic.

Theses. A thesis is a viewpoint, position, or stance in response to a question or

issue. Now you may think, Project 1 is a narrative assignmenta story. There
really isnt a stance because Im just narrating my story. And theres some truth
there; a narration of a story is simply a re-telling. However, theres an old adage
that says, Never make a point with a story, and never tell a story without a
point. We dont typically tell stories without a point. So in the telling of your
story, you should make a point. In other words, for this first project your literacy
journey is NOT the thesis; thats the topic. Whatever stance you come up with
(the answer to whatever question youre answering by writing your story) will be
your thesis. I wrote my own literacy narrative in order to prepare this assignment,
so Ill provide you with my thought process as I developed a thesis

When I roughed out my literacy narrative, at first I just reported

about how I learned to read as a child. But as I wrote, I began to
really reflect on the fact that education is a privilege. I recognized
that the hard work of other people provided me with this privilege,
and at times I worked diligently to appropriate the benefits of that
privilege. At other times in my life I chased after other, lesser values.
In other words, I saw how I had failed to comprehend and failed to
pursue the education privilege Id been given. Eventually, I realized
my thesis should be certain privileges can be inherited for a short
time, but only by diligence are they kept. As you might guess, I
actually arrived at an answer before I knew the question. But once I
saw the response, the question could be framed as, Is there a
price for certain privileges? Notice I say certain not all. Thats a
qualifier that narrows my thesis. Qualifiers are often necessary when
making a claim in order to avoid a slippery slope fallacy. A narrower
claim is also beneficial, as its more readily supported and
defended.

(Just a side note: My later story (the one I dont tell in detail) is perhaps more
integral to supporting my thesis. This is something a peer review might reveal if I
had run it through the process that well do here in class next week.)

ProQuest Module 2. Watch the second set of videos to learn more about topic
selection. Remember to return to the list icon (it provides the selection menu)
until youve watched all nine videos in this module. This should be helpful for
narrowing the topic for this project and will be especially helpful when you have
an open assignment where youre entirely responsible for topic selection.

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 Literacy Narrative and timeline.
Projects & Major project: Personal literacy. So were ready now to dive
Portfolio right into our first major project as we consider our personal
literacy and the narrative of how we came to be literate
individuals. One of my favorite books is Narrative of the Life of
Frederick Douglass (which we used to read in this courseI highly
recommend it!). Douglass proves to us the need to own our
education. He quotes one of his masters as stating, [Knowledge] would forever
unfit him to be a slave.1 Douglass is also attributed with the quotation, Once
you learn to read, you will be forever free. He shares his own personal literacy
narrative within his story, and we find that although the privilege of formal
learning was cruelly yanked away from him, he continued to seek his own
education until he could read and write proficiently. In essence, Frederick
Douglass truly owned his education. He thought about it, sought it, and
worked hard to attain it, and the very act of knowing propelled him to
freedom. Hopefully, this project will help each of us see how our literacy
narrative has been positive in the past or can be positive in the future if we
choose to take hold of it.

Because each of our major projects extends over two or three weeks, for each
project thats assigned, Ill provide a project assignment document that is
separate from this weekly assignment document. So for detailed assignment
guidelines, the Project 1 Literacy Narrative document is located in this weeks
content area. Before you begin reading that document, however, take time to
create a new folder on your computer for this project entitled Major Project 1.
Thats where youre going to store all of the documents you compose related to
this project.

Also notice that the project rubric is in this weeks content area. The rubric helps
you understand how the project will be assessed, so it is a tool you can use
before, during, and after you write. Now about those drafts

Rough; very rough. Your rough draft will be the very first thing you compose. Be
careful to follow the assignment guidelines and think deeply about your
composition. However, also be aware that the first thing you write is a rough
draft, not a final draft. You may not offer an introduction or a conclusion, you
may be disorganized or disjointed in the body of your composition, and you
may have way too much verbiage. You may forget to include important

1 Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass: An American slave. Urbana,

Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved August 11, 2016, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/

23/23-h/23-h.htm

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information, or you may have information that is irrelevant to your point. This is all
okay. Save this draft in your Major Project 1 file folder, and name this file
YourLastName-Rough-Proj1. (Mine would be called Moore-Rough-proj1.)

Its important to save this rough draft because changes from draft-to-draft are
important evidence to substantiate your claims within your metacognitive
reflection. Youll also provide evidence within your final for this course, so project
rough drafts will be applicable there as well. Once youve saved this rough
draft, close the document on your computer and return later.

First drafts are final? Say what? When you come back to write again, open the
rough draft document and immediately hit save as and re-save the
document as YourLastName-FirstDraft-Proj1 in that same Major Project 1 file
folder. You can now review what you wrote and begin to finesse your piece.
Read your piece aloud to hear what is unclear, where you have excess or
irrelevant information, where illogical organization occurs, and so forth. Re-
envision, and revise as you add missing elements and refine those already
present. Also take a moment to review the assignment document and check to
be sure you met the guidelinesdoes your piece fulfill the assignment? If not,
revise accordingly.

Finally, address any further issues that you see. If you havent already done so,
add an introduction and conclusion, or at least apprise your assigned peer
reviewer that youre aware these items need development. (To do that, you
can simply type your thesis statement and the words Intro coming next week
before the first paragraph, or type Conclusion will be added here after the last
paragraph.)

Take a (quick) break, but dont quit entirely. Once you believe your piece is your
very best work, save your work again (still under the file name YourLastName-
FirstDraft-Proj1) and take a short break. Grab a glass of tea, do a quick chore,
or just walk around the block, then come back and read your piece aloud. If
you see any glaring issues, repair them, save your file, and repeat the whole
take-a-break, re-read aloud deal, etc. Repeat this process until you come back
from the break and feel your piece is perfect.

Once you think the piece is perfect, proofread it for surface-level issues.
Proofreading is best achieved by reading from the bottom to the top,
backwards through the piece sentence-by-sentence. After making your edits,
save it one last time. Up above I said first drafts are final, but thats only in the
context of submitting your first draft (Ill tell you how and where in a minute).
Next week youll conduct peer reviews, and the week after that youll get
another shot at revision based upon comments from external readers.

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Your rough and first drafts are due no later than 11:30 p.m. September 17, 2017.
Youre going to submit the first draft in two places but the rough draft in only
one place. First, upload both within your portfolio project 1. Then drop the first
draft (NOT the rough draft, only the first draft) as a Word document into the Bb
file exchange area within your assigned peer review group. It will be titled with
your group name and Project 1 Lit Narrative First Drafts. (Thats where
everyone will grab papers for peer reviews next weekdetails will be
forthcoming at that time. Then the following week, youll have the opportunity
to review your peers feedback and revise your final composition before final
submission within your portfolio.)

Word processing options. If you dont own Microsoft Word, do not purchase it for
this class. I use Word, but Google docs are fine, too, and all of you have that
capability within your UALR email account. The caveat, however, is that any
time you utilize Google docs, you must correctly set permissions to anyone at
UALR with the link can VIEW. If you fail to set correct permission, when you
submit a Google doc, your peer cannot access the document, and theyll have
to request access. This affects your peers time constraints. On the other hand, if
your peer goes to your document, and the permissions allow him or her to edit
your document, thats NOT a good thing because Google docs instantly saves
all changes. They can be tracked and later undone, but no one but you should
be responsible for any changes, accidental or otherwise.

In response to these two potential problems, be sure to set your permissions

correctly. If I learn that your permissions are incorrectly set, I will automatically
deduct 10 points from your final assignment score if your peer cant review the
paper due to no access OR if the paper offers edit capabilities to others. The
former rule is to protect everyones asynchronous schedule; the latter rule is to
protect you, your peers, and your work.

Timeliness. BE ON TIME! Your peers cannot review your paper next week if you
dont submit it this week. Neither are you permitted to earn the peer review
points if you didnt submit your paper. Be thoughtful be on time. To motivate
timeliness, youll earn five participation points if youre on time with these drafts
in the correct locations. If you miss these points, youll also miss the peer review
points, so it will add up.

The timeline. Also begin thinking about your timeline. Theres nothing due on the
timeline this week or next, but you should begin to consider what points in time
youll include. You might even begin to check out the timeline media-tool
options. Again, nothing is due, as the timeline wont be peer reviewed, but it will
be less stressful if you spread the work out over the entire project time. (The
timeline is due when the entire final project is due, which is October 1, 2017.)

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 Reflective None this week.
Journals

WPA outcomes: Critical thinking, reading, and composing.

Read through the handout about critical thinking, reading,
Critical
and composing in this weeks content area then, within
Discussions your groups on the discussion board, answer and discuss
the questions below. This discussion will close at 1:00 a.m. on
September 18, 2017.

1. How does someone use composing for inquiry and learning?

2. What is the relationship between assertion and evidence?
3. What is meant by the interplay between verbal and nonverbal elements
within a text?
4. What is the difference between scholarly and informal sources?
5. How do you evaluate scholarly sources for bias?
6. What does it mean to integrate your ideas as a writer with the ideas
of a primary reference source?

Thats it for this week! If you have ANY questions about this weeks assignment,
message me in Blackboard, and well work through them together.

Remember all assignments are due no later than 11:30 p.m. September 17, 2017.

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