assignments ENGL 101 Writing Rhetorically: READER'S NOTES
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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.
Added to this, a lot of students I’ve worked with say that they don’t like to read things they aren’t interested in. Newsflash: nobody likes to read what they aren’t interested in. The problem, of course, with that, is that you have to do a lot of reading in college that you won’t necessarily be interested in, and, more than that, you’ll have to do it well.
This is why we will spend a lot of time this semester working on improving your ability to get the reading you need to do done and to get it done well. This is an absolutely possible thing to figure out. One way we will do this is book club. Another way we will do this is with Reader’s Notes.
Details. Almost every class, you will be responsible for 750 words, or roughly two-pages, double-spaced and typed, of reading notes for each reading we do in class. You will turn it in at the end of class for me to read. You should expect to share this writing with your classmates during class as well. What you have to read for class THAT DAY (NOT FOR HOMEWORK, BUT HAVE TO SHOW UP, IN-CLASS, HAVING ALREADY READ) is listed next to “READ” on the syllabus. When you have Reader’s Notes due it will be listed next to “DUE” on the syllabus. The reading and the notes are due on the day it appears on the syllabus. You can access the majority of the reading for our class on the 101 required readings page.
In your 750 words you should make sure you include the following information:
1) Give a short summary of the main things that happen in the essay. What people are talked about? Where does it take place? What events happen during the essay? What order does it happen in? So sort of like the plot of the essay.
2) Don’t make your summary too long, though, make sure you save room to talk about the thesis of the reading is—the main point, the big idea, the reason the author is telling you about all this stuff in the first place.
3) If you are struggling with answering number two, it is acceptable to talk about what confuses you in the essay 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.
4) If you are really good at this, you can try to make a connection between number one and number two. So explain to me how the stuff that is going on in the essay proves that the author wants us to get some big point from the essay.
Some words of advice:
HOW I WILL EVALUATE YOUR READER'S NOTES
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 15% of your final grade.
In order to earn a "B" grade for that 15%
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.
In order to earn an "A" grade for that 15%
In order to earn a "C" grade for that 15%
You must meet all of the requirements identified above for a "B" grade for 6 Reader's Notes.
Anything below 6 acceptable Reader's Notes and you will earn an F for that 15%.
Added to this, a lot of students I’ve worked with say that they don’t like to read things they aren’t interested in. Newsflash: nobody likes to read what they aren’t interested in. The problem, of course, with that, is that you have to do a lot of reading in college that you won’t necessarily be interested in, and, more than that, you’ll have to do it well.
This is why we will spend a lot of time this semester working on improving your ability to get the reading you need to do done and to get it done well. This is an absolutely possible thing to figure out. One way we will do this is book club. Another way we will do this is with Reader’s Notes.
Details. Almost every class, you will be responsible for 750 words, or roughly two-pages, double-spaced and typed, of reading notes for each reading we do in class. You will turn it in at the end of class for me to read. You should expect to share this writing with your classmates during class as well. What you have to read for class THAT DAY (NOT FOR HOMEWORK, BUT HAVE TO SHOW UP, IN-CLASS, HAVING ALREADY READ) is listed next to “READ” on the syllabus. When you have Reader’s Notes due it will be listed next to “DUE” on the syllabus. The reading and the notes are due on the day it appears on the syllabus. You can access the majority of the reading for our class on the 101 required readings page.
In your 750 words you should make sure you include the following information:
1) Give a short summary of the main things that happen in the essay. What people are talked about? Where does it take place? What events happen during the essay? What order does it happen in? So sort of like the plot of the essay.
2) Don’t make your summary too long, though, make sure you save room to talk about the thesis of the reading is—the main point, the big idea, the reason the author is telling you about all this stuff in the first place.
3) If you are struggling with answering number two, it is acceptable to talk about what confuses you in the essay 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.
4) If you are really good at this, you can try to make a connection between number one and number two. So explain to me how the stuff that is going on in the essay proves that the author wants us to get some big point from the essay.
Some words of advice:
- If you fall short of 750 words, INCLUDE MORE SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE. 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 the words and to the plot of the essays, you will understand it better.
- BUT DON’T JUST SUMMARIZE THE FIRST TWO PAGES OF THE ESSAY. Include summary from the whole essay. Some parts of the essay are more important than others, and as you get better at this, you’ll figure that out. But if you only write about the first paragraph and first few pages, you’ll find that you’ll never really know what the essay is about.
- IF THERE IS STUFF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WRITE ABOUT THAT STUFF. Ask questions. Write about what you think the essay 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. These essays are complicated and they are 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.
HOW I WILL EVALUATE YOUR READER'S NOTES
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 15% of your final grade.
In order to earn a "B" grade for that 15%
- You must to complete 8 (eight) out of the 10 (ten) assigned Reader's Notes at an "acceptable" level. There is no wiggle room on this.
- An "acceptable" reader's notes is 750 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 try to 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, even if you aren't totally sure or right.
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.
In order to earn an "A" grade for that 15%
- You must meet all of the requirements identified above for a "B" grade for all 10 Reader's Notes.
In order to earn a "C" grade for that 15%
You must meet all of the requirements identified above for a "B" grade for 6 Reader's Notes.
Anything below 6 acceptable Reader's Notes and you will earn an F for that 15%.