Reminders for tomorrow

As I have now had 2 negative rapid tests, am feeling better, and will receive PCR results tomorrow morning, we WILL have regular class tomorrow morning.

Please remember to SUBMIT YOUR DRAFTS via the peer review portal on Blackboard BEFORE class time (I have double checked that the time is correct this time, the submission portal will close at 9:45, to give y’all a buffer period).

If you want to discuss your drafts in-person with classmates again, upload it here on the course site with “second draft” in the title.

Note about grades

I’ve begun catching up on grades, including inputting 0s into Blackboard. So, a couple things:

  • You are still welcome to complete any assignment that you have a 0 for, and I will grade it as if it was completed on time.
  • Blackboard only lets me create one form of calculating total grade. Therefore, the overall grade you see on Blackboard is being calculated using the “participation counts” option, since most people chose that one. If you did NOT choose that option, your actual grade is different than what displays. Once we get more non-participation grades in, I’ll give you updates on your actual grades.

Agenda: Week 4

Monday

TEXTS

WRITING/ACTIVITIES

None!

Wednesday

TEXTS

None!

WRITING

  • Second drafts of “This I No Longer Believe” are due. If you have chosen anonymous peer review (or if you prefer to switch to anonymous), go to Blackboard -> Peer Review -> Submit under “This I No Longer Believe Second Draft.” If you have chosen in-person peer review, upload your paper as a post here on the course site, using the category Unit 1 Work and including “second draft” in your post.
  • Complete exercises in the book for “Litotes” and “Antithesis” and post them as a comment here
  • Complete activities for “Fear Appeal” and “Humor Appeal” and post them as a comment here

Rhetorical Devices: Fear Appeal and Humor Appeal



Due Wednesday 9/21

For this assignment, I want you to look around in the world for examples of fear appeal and the humor appeal appeal. Make some up if you don’t find any.

Then, in a comment:

  1. List two examples of each that you found. (Do not Google- either observe them in the world yourself or make some up from your own head)
  2. Describe any relevant context for understanding the example. (You may not need to write anything for this if it’s obvious.)
  3. Explain why you think the speaker chose to use this strategy. What are they trying to achieve? Why do they think using it (fear appeal or humor appeal) will be effective?

Course Fixes for Next Week

Dear Writers,

I made two mistakes in preparing the materials for next week, but they have both been fixed now.

  1. You should now be able to upload your essays into Blackboard (only do this if you are choosing the “Anonymous” peer review option). Previously, you were only able to write responses to the peer review questions.
  2. I had forgotten to add something to the Week 3 Agenda that IS on the course calendar – your first batch of rhetorical devices assignments. They are there now. Sometimes, we will be doing exercises from the book, and other times, I will ask you to do another activity (analysis of examples you find in the world). These are graded on completion – if you do it, 2 points, if you halfway do it, 1 point. These are also graded for everyone regardless of what grading option you chose.

Rhetorical Devices: Namecalling and Bandwagon

Due Wednesday 9/14

For this assignment, I want you to look around in the world for examples of namecalling and the bandwagon appeal. (This is not the same as people jumping on a bandwagon– we’re specifically looking for examples of people/companies/other entities trying to persuade the audience by saying some version of “Everyone’s doing this, you should too.”)

Then, in a comment:

  1. List two examples of each that you found. (Do not Google- either observe them in the world yourself or make some up from your own head)
  2. Describe any relevant context for understanding the example. (You may not need to write anything for this if it’s obvious.)
  3. Explain why you think the speaker chose to use this strategy. What are they trying to achieve? Why do they think using it (namecalling or bandwagon appeal) will be effective?

Agenda: Week 3

Week 3: Writing Processes

For Monday:

Texts:

Writing:

  • Work on your “This I No Longer Believe” essay

For Wednesday:

Texts:

  • None!

Writing:

  • Choose your peer review option
  • “This I No Longer Believe” first drafts are due! If you chose the anonymous option, go to Blackboard and find the “Peer Review” tab, then follow the instructions. If you chose the non-anonymous option, post your draft here on the course site under the category “Unit 1 Work.” (It’s ok to post it privately if you only want to share it with your peer review group during class.)
  • Complete the Hyperbole and Understatement exercises in the book and post your responses here.
  • Complete the Namecalling and Bandwagon assignment (instructions here)

Agenda: Week 2

Week 2: Beginning Paper 1

For Monday:

No school Monday, it’s Labor Day!

If you are free on this day, perhaps you will want to attend the Amazon Labor Union’s Labor Day march, in support of Amazon warehouse workers and Starbucks baristas.

For Wednesday:

Texts:

Writing/Activities:

Reflections on Sample Essays

After you read the 3 sample essays, please leave a COMMENT on this post responding to the following questions. Comments are due by class time on Wednesday, August 31.

  • What did you notice about each of the student examples?
  • How did each writer structure their story?
  • What choices did each writer make that you found compelling, interesting, attention-grabbing, emotionally-moving, or otherwise positive?
  • What unusual or creative choices did they make?
  • Which parts of the story gave you some kind of emotional reaction?
  • What choices did the writer make in how they crafted their story that CAUSED that reaction in you?