ASSIGNMENTS ENGL102 Writing Rhetorically with Sources
Reading Journals
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LEE TORDA 310 Tillinghast Hall Bridgewater State University 508.531.2436 [email protected] www.leetorda.com Attend Zoom Class (when told to on the syllabus) by clicking on this link. |
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Overview
Reading is complicated. To read well is harder work than most people think. It’s more active than most people think it is—you have to use your brain to really make good sense of a text. And, more than that, reading for college—or in your career, say, not to be confused with your job at Dunkin’ Donuts but a career—usually doesn’t just ask you to read. You almost always have to do something with it—write about it, take a test from it, have a conversation about it.
Reading plays a central role in the research process. It's not just the obvious thing either: you have to actually read the sources you locate (but, I know from experience, even that is something students try to avoid doing--see my extended discussion of "quote loading" on this site). When you are reading as part of a research you are trying to figure out what other researchers have to say that might help or hurt your argument, might help you build your argument in new and unique ways. Reading for research helps you to determine if your research project is needed or just a waste of time.
And this is work--hard work. So one major reason for this assignment--which counts for a lot of your grade in this class respectively--is count all that hard work in a meaningful way.
Finally, Reading Journals will give you chance to practice the skills of analysis and synthesis as well as common quotation and citation practices that are important to any research writing you might need to do in this or in any other class. You can practice without having to get it perfectly right--so when you do have to do it perfectly right, you'll feel confident that you know what you are doing.
Details
Almost every class, you will be responsible for 500 word Reading Journal. You need to bring a hard copy to class. Reading journals should be double-spaced in a 10 or 12 point font (Garamond is a good one). The work and the notes are due on the day it appears on the syllabus.
Reading Journals are informal writing. I am not looking for perfect anything--not perfect ideas, not perfect grammar or punctuation. It is a places to share your ideas and to get feedback from me and your other classmates. We will use the documents in class. This means that you should expect that I will not be the only person reading these journals.
WANT TO WATCH A VIDEO ON HOW TO DO A GOOD SUMMARY? Click on this link to watch this short video explaining how to write a strong reading Journal.
In your 500 words you should make sure you include the following information:
1) Give a short summary of the main points of the material. What people are talked about? Where does it take place? What events happen ? What order does it happen in? So sort of like the plot.
2) Don’t make your summary too long, though, make sure you save room to talk about the thesis —the main point, the big idea, the argument, the reason the author is telling you about all this stuff in the first place. This is very important. If you don't have a thesis, you will not earn an "acceptable" for that journal.
3)Connect the thesis to evidence in the essay--if you say that the thesis is one thing but none of the evidence in the essay/video/podcast proves it, that's not a great thesis. Being able to connect the evidence to the thesis is a crucial step in being able to write about research.
4) If you are struggling with answering number two, it is acceptable to talk about what confuses you in the material and to ask questions about what is going on. You can try to answer your own questions and not worry if you are right or wrong—you can take a guess at what the essay is about even if you aren’t sure.
5) Start to use the language and format that is required of research writing. At the start of the semester, you will not be so good at this, but as the semester continues, you will learn about reporting verbs, quoting, paraphrasing, responding to a writer's argument. As you do, I will expect to see you practicing these skills in your reading journals.
Some words of advice:
Format
HOW I WILL EVALUATE READING JOURNALS
I am using something called "spec" grading to evaluate and assign a grade for your work on Reader's Notes. The grade is the result of quantity--or just doing what I'm asking you to do--and, to a lesser extent, quality. As explained in the policies page for this class, your work on your Reader's Notes will determine 20% of your final grade.
In order to earn a "B" grade for that 20%
If your reader's notes don't meet the above requirements for "acceptable," you will get your notes back with "unacceptable" written on it and some comments about where you went wrong. YOU CAN REVISE ANY SET OF UNACCEPTABLE READER'S NOTES AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT IN ORDER TO TURN IT INTO AN "ACCEPTABLE" SET OF READER'S NOTES.
NOTE: In order to earn the right to revise, you must turn in your reader's notes on the day it is due. If you aren't going to be in class it is acceptable to email your reader's notes.
In order to earn an "A" grade for that 20%
In order to earn a "C" grade for that 20%
You must meet all of the requirements identified above for a "B" grade for ALL BUT FOUR Reader's Notes.
Anything below a C grade for acceptable Reader's Notes and you will earn an F for that 20%.
Reading is complicated. To read well is harder work than most people think. It’s more active than most people think it is—you have to use your brain to really make good sense of a text. And, more than that, reading for college—or in your career, say, not to be confused with your job at Dunkin’ Donuts but a career—usually doesn’t just ask you to read. You almost always have to do something with it—write about it, take a test from it, have a conversation about it.
Reading plays a central role in the research process. It's not just the obvious thing either: you have to actually read the sources you locate (but, I know from experience, even that is something students try to avoid doing--see my extended discussion of "quote loading" on this site). When you are reading as part of a research you are trying to figure out what other researchers have to say that might help or hurt your argument, might help you build your argument in new and unique ways. Reading for research helps you to determine if your research project is needed or just a waste of time.
And this is work--hard work. So one major reason for this assignment--which counts for a lot of your grade in this class respectively--is count all that hard work in a meaningful way.
Finally, Reading Journals will give you chance to practice the skills of analysis and synthesis as well as common quotation and citation practices that are important to any research writing you might need to do in this or in any other class. You can practice without having to get it perfectly right--so when you do have to do it perfectly right, you'll feel confident that you know what you are doing.
Details
Almost every class, you will be responsible for 500 word Reading Journal. You need to bring a hard copy to class. Reading journals should be double-spaced in a 10 or 12 point font (Garamond is a good one). The work and the notes are due on the day it appears on the syllabus.
Reading Journals are informal writing. I am not looking for perfect anything--not perfect ideas, not perfect grammar or punctuation. It is a places to share your ideas and to get feedback from me and your other classmates. We will use the documents in class. This means that you should expect that I will not be the only person reading these journals.
WANT TO WATCH A VIDEO ON HOW TO DO A GOOD SUMMARY? Click on this link to watch this short video explaining how to write a strong reading Journal.
In your 500 words you should make sure you include the following information:
1) Give a short summary of the main points of the material. What people are talked about? Where does it take place? What events happen ? What order does it happen in? So sort of like the plot.
2) Don’t make your summary too long, though, make sure you save room to talk about the thesis —the main point, the big idea, the argument, the reason the author is telling you about all this stuff in the first place. This is very important. If you don't have a thesis, you will not earn an "acceptable" for that journal.
3)Connect the thesis to evidence in the essay--if you say that the thesis is one thing but none of the evidence in the essay/video/podcast proves it, that's not a great thesis. Being able to connect the evidence to the thesis is a crucial step in being able to write about research.
4) If you are struggling with answering number two, it is acceptable to talk about what confuses you in the material and to ask questions about what is going on. You can try to answer your own questions and not worry if you are right or wrong—you can take a guess at what the essay is about even if you aren’t sure.
5) Start to use the language and format that is required of research writing. At the start of the semester, you will not be so good at this, but as the semester continues, you will learn about reporting verbs, quoting, paraphrasing, responding to a writer's argument. As you do, I will expect to see you practicing these skills in your reading journals.
Some words of advice:
- If you fall short of 500 words, INCLUDE MORE SUMMARY. Because if you pay better attention to the what the text is actually saying and not what you think it is saying, if you really pay attention to what you are reading, watching, and listening, you will understand it better.
- BUT DON’T JUST SUMMARIZE THE BEGINNING OR THE END. Include summary from the whole thing. Some parts are more important than others, and as you get better at this, you’ll figure that out. But if you only write about the beginning or end, you’ll find that you’ll never really know what the material is about.
- IF THERE IS STUFF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WRITE ABOUT THAT STUFF. Ask questions. Write about what you think the material is saying. Don't worry about being wrong. Take the risk. This is the place to do it.
- STOP TRYING TO REDUCE EVERYTHING TO A CLICHE. The stuff I'm asking your to read, watch, or listen to is complicated and hard. You can't reduce the thesis to a word like "love" or a cliche like "don't judge a book by its cover." Try to figure out a full sentence about what it maybe means.
- MAKE SURE YOU ARE TRYING TO DETERMINE WHAT THESIS IS AND WHAT EVIDENCE YOU FIND IN THE MATERIAL THAT PROVES THAT THAT IS THE THESIS.
Format
- At least 500 words.
- Typed in 10 or 12 point font
- Double-spaced (except for heading--see the next bullet).
- Your name, the date, and the name of the reading/video/podcast, single-spaced in the top left corner.
- Printed out and ready in class on the day it is due.
- Ideally stapled (but I have a mini-stapler I usually have in class)
HOW I WILL EVALUATE READING JOURNALS
I am using something called "spec" grading to evaluate and assign a grade for your work on Reader's Notes. The grade is the result of quantity--or just doing what I'm asking you to do--and, to a lesser extent, quality. As explained in the policies page for this class, your work on your Reader's Notes will determine 20% of your final grade.
In order to earn a "B" grade for that 20%
- You must to complete ALL BUT TWO assigned Reading Journals at an "acceptable" level. There is no wiggle room on this.
- An "acceptable" reading journal is 500 words. It can be a little bit over. It can't be under (NOTE: increased length will not make up for late or incomplete work).
- An "acceptable" reader's notes will provide enough summary so that I know that you read the WHOLE essay, not just the first two paragraphs and the last two paragraphs.
- An "acceptable" reader's notes will identify a possible thesis for the essay and = connect the summary of the essay to the thesis as evidence that you are right.
- An "acceptable" reader's notes will identify the places were you are confused with the reading and show your attempt to try to puzzle through what the author might mean, what the thesis, might be, even if you aren't totally sure or right.
- You practice, when asked, the writing about research skills we are learning in class.
If your reader's notes don't meet the above requirements for "acceptable," you will get your notes back with "unacceptable" written on it and some comments about where you went wrong. YOU CAN REVISE ANY SET OF UNACCEPTABLE READER'S NOTES AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WANT IN ORDER TO TURN IT INTO AN "ACCEPTABLE" SET OF READER'S NOTES.
NOTE: In order to earn the right to revise, you must turn in your reader's notes on the day it is due. If you aren't going to be in class it is acceptable to email your reader's notes.
In order to earn an "A" grade for that 20%
- You must meet all of the requirements identified above for a "B" grade for ALL BUT ONE Reader's Notes.
In order to earn a "C" grade for that 20%
You must meet all of the requirements identified above for a "B" grade for ALL BUT FOUR Reader's Notes.
Anything below a C grade for acceptable Reader's Notes and you will earn an F for that 20%.