Final Presentation / Portfolio

Your final presentation will be on Wednesday, Dec. 15 from 3 - 5 in our regular classroom. You will be presenting the research you've compiled for your final paper, due at the final. This should not be a simple restatement of what you've said in your paper. Rather, it should reflect the key points of your research. Your presentation should be 3 - 5 minutes long, and should include the following elements.

1. Rhetorical situation: introduce us to the subject you've researched

2. Summary: explain your stance, including information on the opposing viewpoint

3. Analysis: describe how you've used rhetoric in your argument; conduct a mini-rhetorical analysis on your own work to describe how you've attempted to be rhetorically effective in your communication.

4. Synthesis: describe how you've synthesized your research-- that is, how you've put together the elements of your various sources to create a cohesive whole. How did you go about conducting your research?

You should also be sure to include visual elements in your presentation, whether that be in the form of pictures, video, Powerpoint, etc. Remember, your peers will be critiquing the rhetorical effectiveness of your presentation, so employ all of your rhetorical skills!

Also due the 15th, at the beginning of the final, are your final Research Paper and Unit Portfolio. Your portfolio should include the following elements.

1. Cover Letter (instructions below)

2. Final Research Paper

3. Printed, annotated sources (only those cited in the paper)

4. Blog assignments

5. Brainstorming activity

6. Outline

7. Rough Draft

**For your final cover letter, please answer the following questions in-depth, and in essay format. Your reflection should be 2 pages, double spaced, with correct MLA formatting. This includes both heading information AND a running head in the top right corner of each page.

How do the contents of this portfolio demonstrate what you've learned this semester? Discuss elements of summary, analysis, and synthesis.

What activities, whether in-class or homework assignments, did you feel were most beneficial to strengthening your understanding of, and proficiency in, writing rhetorically? Why? What activities were most helpful in strengthening your understanding of summary, analysis, and synthesis? Why?

Discuss how you feel your writing has developed over the course of the semester. Use your initial reflection paper on your strengths and weaknesses as a writer, which came in with your first unit portfolio, to determine areas in which you've progressed.

How do you feel the skills you've learned this semester will be beneficial in the future? Be specific in describing individual skills.

What are your future goals as a writer?

Homework for 11/29

Due to the overwhelming number of students who will be leaving town before class, we’ll be doing a few online assignments. I think it may actually be easier for you to understand if you have this word-for-word lesson / assignment than if we had done it in class, so please refer to the next few posts often. Below, you’ll notice several sections ALL of which deal with your homework for Nov. 29. Please read the lessons, instructions, and complete the assignments by that day. You’ll need to come prepared that day with your MLA formatted research, outline, and rough draft research paper.

Your first online assignment will be to dive into your research. Remember, your topic should be arguable and narrowed to focus on a specific aspect or argument feeding into a larger issue. Look for promising sources on the sites we discussed in class (the library website, google scholar, etc.) and focus on finding sites with URLs including .org, .gov, .edu. This will increase the likelihood that you're getting scholarly sources. Once you have found several sources, begin putting together your annotated bibliography. For more information on the content and formatting of this document, refer to the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/. Remember, you will be required to have 4 – 5 sources. 

**THERE ARE SEVERAL RESOURCES FOR YOU ON BLACKBOARD! COURSE MATERIALS > SYNTHESIS / RESEARCH UNIT

MLA Formatting

REMEMBER…

Generally speaking, there are three ways to integrate sources into a research paper – summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting.  First, it is important to understand the difference between these three things:

SUMMARY – A relatively brief objective account, in your own words, of the main ideas in a source or a source passage.

PARAPHRASE – A restatement, in your own words, of a passage of text.  Its structure reflects (but does not copy) the structure of the source passage, and may be roughly the same length as the passage, but does not use exact wording. 

QUOTE – Using the exact words of a source. 

àYou will want to summarize and paraphrase most often in your research paper, using direct quotes sparingly.  Putting source material in your own words shows readers that you have a true understanding of that material.  Also, to restate in your own words the full meaning of a phrase or passage helps readers understand difficult, complex, jargon-riddled or ambiguous passages.  Such passages, if quoted, will still require extensive explanation in order to be understood.

SUMMARY - To write a summary or paraphrase, first read and reread your source until you understand exactly what it is saying. Write down the relevant information from the source. At this point you may still be using phrasing and language from the source. So next, rewrite this information into your own words and sentences so it becomes a coherent part of your paper written in your own style.
Remember, do not include your own ideas or commentary in the body of the summary or paraphrase. You should introduce a summary or paraphrase, then give your own ideas that show the significance of that summary or paraphrase afterward. You don't want your reader to become confused about which information is yours and which is the source's. And you always have to document summaries and paraphrases since the ideas are not your own.

DIRECT QUOTES

1. Always have a good reason for using a direct quote.  Otherwise, paraphrase or summarize.

2. Do not allow quotes to speak for themselves.  Your research paper is ultimately about communicating YOUR IDEAS.  Your research simply helps prove or support those ideas.  So, you should not just string other peoples ideas together giving quote after quote.

3. Always make sure you provide an analysis of the quote.  Show your readers that you understand how the quote relates to your ideas by analyzing its significance. 

4. Do not use quotes as padding.  This is related to tips 1, 2 and 3.  Very long quotes will require long explanations of their significance.  If quotes do not have adequate analysis, readers will feel that you don’t have a grasp on what that quote means, and they also might feel that you are using quotes as “filler” to take up space. 

Outline

OUTLINE

Your next assignment is to create an outline that you can follow as you begin to draft your paper. This outline should include your basic plan as far as what you’ll discuss in your paper. This should be in roman numeral format as discussed, and should be as in-depth as possible, including quotes, paraphrases, and summaries from each of your sources. This outline will be due hard copy in class on Wednesday. Remember, this can outline can evolve as your research progresses.

EXAMPLE OUTLINE

I. Intro Paragraph

            A. You can begin your paper with a quote, an interesting fact, etc.

Anything to get the attention of your audience.

            B. Thesis Statement

                        1. This is an opportunity to answer your research question. For

example, “Do dog owners enjoy better health than people without pets?” could be translated in a thesis statement to say “Research shows that dog owners enjoy better health than individuals without pets. This is due to A, B, and C.”

II. Body Paragraph #1: This will deal with example A of your thesis statement.

            A. This is where you begin giving me your information, trying to convince

me to agree with your original thesis statement.

            B. Give me some quotes, paraphrases, and summaries thoughout this and

other body paragraphs! Prove what you’re saying! But remember, you’re the

expert… you’re only using your sources to BACK YOU UP!

*See the Rough Draft section below for a good example of what should be in an intro paragraph and body paragraph.

Research Paper Draft

RESEARCH PAPER DRAFT

Sample Research Paper Intro

Music has become one of the central aspects of society in the United States. It is ever-present in our day to day routines. With the rise of new technology of gadgets such as iPods/mp3 players and the more convenient mp3 file formatting, adolescents and young adults especially have made music more centralized in their everyday lifestyles. Because of vast amounts of storage space, it is certain that teens and young adults have thousands upon thousands of mp3 files varying in different genres of music and artists. Many popular music artists of today have two common factors which have been recognized as having a negative effect on adolescents and young adults. Sex and violence are two key factors found in multiple forms of media entertainment, but significantly in music and music videos. Because of these two factors, the rising generation has become more accustomed to the ideas of sex and violence as a norm in society that happens on a regular basis. Exposure to these two factors can lead to arousals of certain thoughts and emotions or changes in emotions, behaviors, and even actions. Sexual and violent content are portrayed as a current popular fad in music and music videos, when in reality both are highly obscene, highly addictive, and can lead to multiple life altering changes.

Sample Research Paper Body Paragraph

The lyrics in the average hit or popular song of today contains either sexuality or violence, or even both. Most times a song captures one’s attention because of its catchy tune, not because of its lyrics. If a small child has the potential to memorize a few little tunes and nursery rhymes, teenagers and young adults have the potential of memorizing hundreds of songs as they become familiar with songs. When singing the lyrics to a song, many teens or young adults don’t realize the degrading meaning of the lyrics or don’t even realize the words which they are even singing (States Lyrics 12).

*** Keep in mind, this is a student example and not necessarily perfect. However, this paragraph is a good demonstration of a summary of info from one of this student's sources. Note that although it's not a direct quote, it's still cited.

Homework for 11/ 15

For Monday, you need to narrow your list of potential issue questions from 10 down to 3. This means you need to determine which 3 of your questions you feel the most strongly about, and are most interested in researching. Once you have chosen your research questions, you'll actually begin... RESEARCH!

The best resource you have is the UVU library's website: http://www.uvu.edu/library/ If you haven't done the library tutorial, do it!! It will be helpful to you as you begin. You can search for articles, books, and media in the right hand column.

For online searches, one of the best resources you have is http://scholar.google.com For this, and any other online search, you simply need to determine a few key words or phrases to search. If you enter your full issue question, you may not get many sources back. Often, if you can't access the actual article you want, you can find it via the library's website.

Finally, you can search at the library itself. Intimidating, I know, but remember that you're required to have at least one source hard copy from the library, so consider beginning your research there.

Remember, your sources need to be somewhat neutral, covering information on both sides of the issue (pros and cons). If it's completely slanted one way or the other, it won't work for the purpose of this assignment.

For each of the 3 sources you find, please find the following information.
A. The issue question
   1. Title
   2. Author
   3. Date Published (must be within the past 10 years)
   4. 1 paragraph (6 - 8 sentence) summary of the article
   5. 1 paragraph (6 - 8 sentences) discussion of how you could use the article to prove your issue   
   question - which side do you feel you lean toward?

Do this 3 times, once for each of the three issue questions. This should be typed, printed, and ready to turn in Monday.

Homework for 11/10

Your homework for Wednesday is to come up with 5 more issue questions to guide your research in this unit (this will complete the list of 5 you came up with in class Monday, for a total of 10). Review your list of 20 potential issue topics (which was due Monday) and choose 5 that interest you. Connect each of these 5 to an element in society. This can be ethics, law, business, health, technology, religion, etc. Find a way to connect these two so as to determine how your issue impacts (or is impacted by) the societal element you're connecting it with. For example:


Issue Topic: dogs
Societal Element: health
Research Question: Do dog owners enjoy better health than those without pets?


Follow this same organization for all 5 of the questions you come up with (those who weren't in class Monday need to come up with a list of 10, those who were there, bring all that you've come up with). Remember, your research question should NOT have a stance yet (pro or con) but should be answerable with either yes or no. After you've conducted some research over the next few weeks, you can determine your stance based on what you've discovered in your research.This should be typed and printed, ready for class Wednesday.



The second part of your assignment is to complete a portion of the online library tutorial. This can be accessed at http://www.uvu.edu/library/  Tutorials are in the left column under Quick Links (7th item down the list).Complete Parts 1, 2 and 3, as well as Creating a Topic and the Complete Tour. Refer to the image below to find where on the page these can be accessed.

Homework for 11/8

Today in class we discussed the upcoming Research / Issue Paper. Your assignment this weekend is to brainstorm some potential topics. For Monday, please have the following typed (unless doing a drawing activity) and ready to submit at the beginning of class.

1. A list of 20 things that are interesting to you. I know, I said 10. This will be a lot easier with more though, thus the increase. They can be activities, hobbies, current events, etc.

2. From that list of 20, find 10 that could be paired together... the goal is to create 5 pairs.
For example, say your list included eating, sleeping, movies, and food. (Which, by the way, would likely yield a lame paper). You see a connection between movies and sleeping, so pair those two and tell me what the connection could be. For example, late night movie viewing hinders deep sleep and results in poor participation at school. (Again, a very lame topic). You can reuse a word for more than one pair, for example if you had found a connection between movies and sleeping, you could also connect eating and sleeping if you saw something there. This is what it should look like:
Pair #1: movies - sleeping: Late night movie viewing hinders deep sleep and results in poor participation at school.
Pair #2: eating - sleeping: whatever connection you see goes here.
And so on, for 5 pairs.

3. Finally, you need to access Blackboard > Course Materials > Synthesis Research Paper Unit> Brainstorm. Read through the article, then choose 3 of the methods outlined to brainstorm 3 different topics. They should come from your list of 20.

Rhetorical Analysis Portfolio

Sorry guys, I didn't have a chance to post this before I left town. Since it's my fault, we won't worry about a cover letter for this unit. Just be sure your portfolio includes the following elements.

1. Rhetorical Analysis Final Draft
2. Rhetorical Analysis Rough Draft
3. List of 5 rhetorical tools
4. Tool #1
5. Tool #2
6. Tool #3
7. Writing Center slip

You don't need a new folder; just remove last unit's work and put in the work from this unit. This portfolio will be due Monday at the beginning of class.

Class on 10/27

Remember, we'll be conferencing on your Rhetorical Analysis Drafts in class on Wednesday! If you've forgotten the time you signed up for, please email me for a reminder. Keep in mind that your final draft is due Monday, so be sure you read your paper aloud to catch mistakes!

Rhetorical Analysis Draft

Ok guys...
I've been pondering our current schedule, and have made a decision. I feel that 2 days is not long enough to write a decent rough draft for this rhetorical analysis paper. I really want you all to have ample time to get the full length (3 - 4 pages) so I'm giving you until Monday to have the draft complete. I'm going to have you take tomorrow (10/20) as a work day (aka no class) with the following stipulation: you MUST visit the writing center with your draft before class on Monday. So again, do not come to class tomorrow. Instead, work really hard on your rough draft to make your final edit as painless as possible. Email me with questions: krobinson_150@yahoo.com

Class Cancelled

Guys, I'm so sorry to do this, but I have to cancel class Wednesday. I can't shake this flu, and don't want to infect any of you :( Let's just all take a break this weekend... NO HOMEWORK (other than what was assigned for tomorrow... just bring that Monday). Let me know if you have any questions... and please, if you see classmates, spread the word!

Homework for 10/6

You guys have been working hard, so as far as your homework for Wednesday, we'll take it easy. From your assignment that was due today (10/4), I'd like you to determine which of the 5 tools were most frequently used in King's speech, and plan to focus on those in your paper. You will be required to narrow your list of 5 down to 3 in your final analysis. However, we'll break this up in chunks to be sure we're all understanding the requirements.

So for Wednesday, choose the first of those 3 tools, whether it be repetition, metaphor... whatever you found the most evidence to support. For that first tool, please outline in the following manner.

I. Tool #1 (insert the tool you'll be discussing)
    A. Evidence #1 (this will be in the form of a direct quote - an individual word, sentence)
          1. What this evidence shows in the context of the tool your looking at (for example, if you're 
 looking at the repetition of certain words in the speech, piece of evidence #1 could be the word "freedom." For this outline entry, then, you would say something along the lines of "King's repeated use of the word "freedom" in his speech inspires his audience to reflect upon their own lives, and the freedoms afforded them." [no fair stealing my words!]
          2. Ramp up
          3. Ramp down    

* Refer to the student example on Blackboard to see how they've ramped up and down with their evidence (aka direct quotes)

While you will only be working with this one tool for Wednesday's homework, you will need to find 5 pieces of evidence (5 different direct quotes) and repeat the outline as above. So it should look like this:
I. Tool #1
     A.
          1.
          2.
          3.

     B.
          1.
          2.
          3.
     C.
          1.
          2.
          3.

     D.
          1.
          2.
          3.

     E.
          1.
          2.
          3.

If you have any questions, as always, please email me! You can also use the writing center as a resource. Also, at this point in the process, you may want to look at the King speech another way. I would suggest accessing the audio of the speech at 
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

Homework for 10/4

For Monday, October 4, please be prepared with the following.

Read in your "St. Martin's Handbook" Part 2 Section 9 (pp 146 - 166). A lot of this should be review, but remember that you will be quizzed on this information on Monday. For that quiz, also study the figurative language terms we discussed Monday / Wednesday, as well as those that will be posted to Blackboard > Web Links> Figurative Language.

Print off your Martin Luther King, Jr. "I Have a Dream" speech and begin critically reading the piece. For Monday, you should do the following. 

 1. Locate 5 rhetorical tools you think King is using in his speech to convince his audience of the truth of his message. These tools can include any of the figurative language terms we discussed in class (simile, metaphor, etc.), tone, repetition, word choice, etc. If you're feeling really brave, explore the terms on http://rhetoric.byu.edu in the column at the right. Be sure that you specify what kind of usage you see... for example rather than telling me that "King's tone is demonstrated when he says..." specify what kind of tone. "King's confident tone is demonstrated when he says..."

2. Find 5 examples / pieces of evidence for each of the tools you choose to focus on. This will equate to a total of 25 pieces of evidence  (5 x 5). These pieces of evidence should be in the form of direct quotes (words, sentences, phrases... NO paragraphs or long chunks of text). 

For example:

1. Repetition
     a. The word "the" is repeated 56 times in the speech. This repetition accomplishes x (this is where you tell me what you think the repetition of this word accomplishes - and obviously, choose substantial words like "freedom")

     b. The word"___" is repeated x times... And so on.

This assignment will be due typed, printed, and stapled at the beginning of class on Monday. Remember, from this point on you will lose 5 points for neglecting to staple you paper. 

Homework for Wednesday 9/29

For Wednesday, you need to access the student Rhetorical Analysis example on Blackboard. Go to Course Materials > Rhetorical Analysis and select student example. There are also copies of some notes on rhetorical analysis in general. You'll need to print out the student example and annotate it, with the goal in mind of understanding how this paper will be crafted. This will come with you to class tomorrow.

Homework for Monday 9/27

Your assignment for Monday is to complete your final Summary Paper. If you were not in class on Monday the 21^st to peer review, you’ll need to have at least one person (preferably the Writing Center) look over your paper and provide feedback. Those who were in class for the peer review, please be sure to keep in mind the revisions made by your reviewer. Again, here is what you should be looking for.

1.       Was the paper organized chronologically?

2.       Was the argument polished, and did it flow well?

3.       Did you avoid “me, my, I, he said”?

4.       Is the paper free of spelling / grammatical errors?

5.       Do you avoid personal opinion on the subject?

6.       Is the work introduced at the beginning of the summary?

You will also have your first portfolio due Monday. Remember that the papers should be turned in in a soft cover pocket folder. It should include the following elements:

1.       *Cover letter (more info follows)

2.       Summary rough draft

3.       Summary final draft

4.       Printed blog posts

5.       “Science Courses Key” ethos, pathos, logos, claims, reasons, assumptions

6.       Letter to Catherine Ford

If you don’t have these papers with you, I’m still reviewing them and will return them at the beginning of class Monday.

COVER LETTER:

Your cover letter should be one page, SINGLE - spaced (double spacing wouldn't allow as much room as you'll need), 12 pt. Times New Roman font, with 1 " margins. It should be in correct cover letter format, which incorporates the following:

Top Left:
Your Name
Date
Course Info
(double space)
Dear Professor Robinson:
Type your letter here, with double spaces between paragraphs only.
(Double space)
Sincerely,
Your Name

The cover letter serves as a sort of summary for your unit experience. It is also the written equivalent of my first impression of your portfolio. Here, you should touch briefly on the content of each of the assignments. Most importantly, you should discuss how you feel this unit will aid you in accomplishing your overarching goals for the course, as well as your future writing goals.

If you have any questions about the final paper or portfolio, please email me at krobinson_150@yahoo.com

Homework Due 9/20

We have worked for the last several weeks on developing the foundational skills necessary to write a polished essay. Now, we'll put those elements to practice to create the Summary Essay.

You will be summarizing Stephen Jay Gould’s essay “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs” found on page 294 of your 40 Model Essays textbook.

Your assignment over the next several days is to use your critical reading skills to become familiar with Gould’s essay. Then, use the tools we discussed in class to break down and summarize that document. 

Remember the simple steps to summarizing:

Step 1: Pick out the less important or repeated ideas from the story

and eliminate. 

Step 2: Pick out important details that are necessary to the story. 

Step 3: Highlight the important details using keywords.

Step 4:  List keywords in the order they appeared in the passage.

Step 5: Trim the list of key words down to one topic sentence.

For example, let’s look at the 9/11 speech we read in class on Monday.

Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts.

On September 11, 2001, America fell victim to several devastating terrorist attacks.

The victims were in airplanes or in their offices: secretaries, businessmen and women, military and federal workers, moms and dads, friends and neighbors.

Those killed in the attacks were airplane passengers and office workers from all walks of life.

Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror.

These acts of terror ended the lives of thousands of people.

The red text was inserted by me – in this case, I took my summary line by line. If you choose to use this method, be sure to edit your text when you combine it so as to avoid repetition. For example, my summary could read
On September 11, 2001, America fell victim to several devastating terrorist attacks. These acts of terror ended the lives of thousands of people including airplane passengers, office workers, and others, from all walks of life.

Your summary does NOT have to read line for line, however. You can summarize a paragraph at a time as well. Just remember to maintain the chronological feel of the original document.

*Remember the banned words list as you write: ‘me’, ‘my’, ‘I’, ‘he said’ (or any version of the same meaning, including ‘he stated’, etc.)

*Remember to avoid including your own opinions on the topic

Your rough draft should meet the full length requirement of 2 pages, and needs to be in class printed and stapled on Monday the 20^th. We will be peer reviewing, so come ready to discuss your writing.

And remember, we will not meet on Wednesday the 15^th .

Homework Due 9/13

Your homework today will draw upon all of the elements we've discussed in class thus far. To do this assignment, you'll need to access Essay #1 again in Course Documents > Summary Unit > Essay #1 on Blackboard. You'll be familiar with this article, "Science Courses Key to Future Jobs" from your last assignment. Now, we'll delve in a little deeper. 


1. Locate 5 examples of ethos in the article
2. Locate 5 examples of pathos in the article 
3. Locate 5 examples of logos in the article 

*These examples will be typed in list format, but please include direct quotes from the article


4. Write 3 - 4 sentences on the claims you see the author making
5. Write 3 - 4 sentences on the reasons you see the author making
6. Write 3 - 4 sentences on the assumptions you see the author making


With the evidence you've gathered, you'll write a response letter to the author. Please refer to the following example of the format I'd like to see. In place of the bracketed instructions, insert your responses. Be sure your writing is clear, formal, and polished.

Again, your list of examples, as well as your letter, should be typed and appropriately formatted according to MLA guidelines (12 pt., Times New Roman, double spaced [including your letter], 1" margins. Bring your completed assignment with you to class on Monday. 

Homework Due 9/8

The first part of your homework can be found in "40 Model Essays." Please read pp. 306 - 313. Study this section carefully as a review of today's class discussion, as well as to prepare for the quiz on Wednesday. Pay special attention to the bolded words and phrases.

The second half of your homework can be found on Blackboard in the Summary Unit folder (found in course materials).  Please read the two essays posted there, then do the following.

1. For Essay #1, find at least 5 examples EACH of ethos, pathos, and logos. In either a Word document (which will have to be copied and pasted onto your blog) or on your blog itself, write a paragraph on ethos, one on pathos, and one on logos. The sections should be formatted as follows.
 

ESSAY #1:
Ethos:
1. "_________" (page __). This demonstrates an appeal to credibility by...
2. "_________" (page __). This demonstrates an appeal to credibility by...
3. "_________" (page __). This demonstrates an appeal to credibility by...
4. "_________" (page __). This demonstrates an appeal to credibility by...
5. "_________" (page __). This demonstrates an appeal to credibility by...
 

2. Do the same for pathos and logos as well.
 

3. When you have collected this evidence demonstrating the use of rhetoric in Essay #1, complete the same exercise for Essay #2.
 

4. With this evidence, you are ready to make a claim as to which of the two articles was more effective and why. This claim should be at least one paragraph of 8 sentences.
 

5. Post this response to your blog no later than class time on Wednesday, Sept. 8.

Welcome to English 990!

Welcome to English 990 Section 017! 

One of the key elements of our course will be a technology-based meeting each week, which will take the place of a Friday on-campus meeting. On these days, you will be required to do critical reading, as well as to create polished writing. It's easy to assume that these will be free days, as we won't meet in our classroom. HOWEVER, the blog posts that you create here will be included in each of your unit portfolios for a substantial amount of points. Assignments will be due, posted, by class time the day after the online day. It's important that you do these assignments in a timely manner, as assignments posted to your blog late will not be accepted. This is the only exception to the 10% off per day late policy outlined in your syllabus. As this is a first block, and somewhat accelerated, section, expect these assignments to take about 2 hours.

You may ask, 'Why are we using a blog in an English class?' 
When students graduate from university and begin their careers, the bulk of their writing will not be done with pencil and paper, but rather on a word processor. Therefore, writing classes ought to be set [both in the classroom, as well as] in realistic environment utilizing the writing aids of a computer. Since most universities have computer labs with Internet access, writing teachers can easily create classes utilizing blogs that allow students the chance to write and submit assignments in class. Combined with essential discussion and lecture from the teacher, the utilization of both class and student blogs can effectively maximize student access to class materials and exposure to teacher feedback. (http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Johnson-Blogs/)
For your first assignment, you'll need to set up your own blog, follow this link to the online tutorial.
http://weblogs.about.com/od/creatingablog/ss/BloggerTutorial.htm
**Your blog must be created on blogger.com**
Once your blog has been set up, email me at krobinson_150@yahoo.com with the address you've chosen. It should be whatevernameyouchose.blogspot.com
For example, the address for the course is http://english990section017.blogspot.com

HOMEWORK

Once you've gotten your blog set up and the link emailed to me, you should begin on your first blog assignment, to be posted by class time on Monday, August 30. Go to the following link to listen to an audio account of how one teacher is using blog technology to teach female students in Bangladesh.
http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/blog/2008/03/15/kathryn-ward-on-the-benefits-of-blogging-for-bangladeshi-women/
After listening to this interview, write a response of no fewer than 250 words answering the following question. What do you feel are the benefits of incorporating online instruction in the English class? You may use examples from the audio you've listened to. This should be posted to your blog by selecting New Post at the top right of your screen. Write your response in the space provided, including a title. When finished, select the orange Publish Post option below the text box to submit.