Over to you (Week 8/9)

W R I T I N G I V(HE285)

Prof. Dr. Ron Martinezdrronmartinez@gmail.com

Today’s agenda

• Midterm miscellanea• Discuss next phase of course• Mid-course evaluation

Midterm paper

• Any questions or concerns?• Feedback next Wednesday• So far so good...

So far...1st half of course 2nd half of

courseWriting topic(s) Chosen by

professorReading Chosen by

professorEssays Read by

professor

Now...1st half of course 2nd half of

courseWriting topic(s) Chosen by

professorChosen by student

Now...1st half of course 2nd half of

courseWriting topic(s) Chosen by

professorChosen by student

Reading Chosen by professor

Chosen by students

Now...1st half of course 2nd half of

courseWriting topic(s) Chosen by

professorChosen by student

Reading Chosen by professor

Chosen by students

Essays Read by professor

Read by professor and peers

Now...1st half of course 2nd half of

courseWriting topic(s) Chosen by

professorChosen by student

Reading Chosen by professor

Chosen by students

Essays Read by professor

Read by professor and peers

Same, but different:

• Will still have to write, but more freedom in terms of topic.

• Will still have RELs, but these will be more student-driven.

• Will still have focus on form in writing, but somewhat less on rhetorical elements, more on features of lexis, discourse, and style.

Ultimate goal:

• Produce a polished text of a publishable quality that is of relevance to the student author and student body as a readership.

• These texts, which also count as the final exam, will be published in an online “webzine” that will be partly organized by the students themselves.

Over to you...

Considering that you will ultimately need to write an argumentative paper (one that will involve problematization on some level), discuss the following:

1. What topic(s) might you be interested in writing about?

2. How would you focus the paper?

Feedback

• Please fill out the online course feedback form.

• Remember that the feedback is anonymous (so please answer honestly).

• When finished, you may feel free to leave – no homework this weekend!

“So far in the course, what have you liked?”

• FEEDBACK• “The organization of the classes and the

detailed feedbacks.”• “I really liked the feedback videos!”• “The feedbacks are delivered in a clear way…”• “How the feedback was given to us…”

“So far in the course, what have you liked?”

• SCAFFOLDED ASSIGNMENTS• “I was bummed at first with the many essay

assignments, but then I realized they were not all from scratch! I liked that our midterm was the result of all that.”

• “We had many opportunities to improve the same essay…”

• “…the fact that we were able to improve our texts.”

“So far in the course, is there anything you did not like?”

• READING ENGAGEMENT LOGS• “I´m not very excited about the whole ‘reading

engagement log’ thing.”• “Reading engagement logs.”• “Reading Log and essay every week…”• “I think that it is ok, maybe not so much

engagement logs on weekends...”

Online poll: please discuss!

Your “homework” from last week

Considering that you will ultimately need to write an argumentative paper (one that will involve problematization on some level), discuss the following:

1. What topic(s) might you be interested in writing about?

2. How would you focus the paper?

Feedback is coming...

Online poll: please discuss!

R.E.L. Survey Results (N = 16)Option Number of votes

I like them exactly the way they are now. No change.

1

Eliminate them! 0

Keep the current format, but make them less frequent.

9

Simplify the format. 3

Other 1 “Keep everything the same, but smaller articles.”

Other 2 “Format and frequency are fine, but make deadline Wednesday instead of Sunday.”

Other 3 “Make them optional.”

Today’s agenda

• Intensive resources workshop to help narrow down topic.

• Discuss assignment 6.

Finding Sources

1. Where do you start?2. Why start there?3. What problems have you encountered?4. What about the UFPR library resources (i.e.

book holdings). Have you used them before? What was your experience?

CHALLENGE!

• You have 45 minutes to find 5 sources that will be useful for you.

• Remember, one purpose of this exercise is to narrow down your topic, so don’t be surprised if you find yourself changing topics in the course of this exercise – that’s normal!

• These 5 sources will be part of your assignment for Sunday.

WEEKEND HOMEWORK

By Sunday

1. Send me your proposals (see sample online).2. There is a rubric for this assignment (online).3. All proposals must also come with a list of

references at the end. (Yes, I realize that a reference list is not what one would normally find in a cover letter, but...)