Portfolio Drop Off!

How you will feel after dropping off your portfolio

How you will feel if you don't...

 Folks:

This is the end.

Drop off your portfolios in my office (COAS/ARHU 270A) before 11:30am today, May 1st.

Please DO NOT leave your portfolio in my box; there is no guarantee that I'll get it and this is too big of a grade to take a chance like that. Plus, there are evil, portfolio stealing gnomes that wander these halls. Be on the safe side; turn your portfolio into me personally.

And have a great summer! Woot woot! Life long and prosper, punks! :D

COMPOCON 3! The Grand Finale

Folks:

This is it: the main event! Aren't you excited?

Compocon III will take place on Monday, April 29th and Tuesday, April 30th. We'll be in the ARHU lobby. Stop by and see all the awesomeness that we've created.

Representing us?

MWF 11:45 -- FYC at UTPA: A Student's Perspective
Prezi by Erick, Adriana and Cassandra

TR 9:10 -- Consider Your Source! Research in the 21st Century
A animation by Danielle and Robert

TR 10:35 -- Encouraging Active Aging
A powerpoint by Diana H, Irene and Maricruz

Attendance is mandatory, so please come by during your class period and sign in with me.

Compocon III will be all about showing off what you've created, celebrating how far you've come, sharing your knowledge, learning from your peers. Let's showcase our success. See you there!

Portfolio!

Soon, my evil plan will be complete...

Folks:

All portfolios are due on Wednesday, May 1st. This will be our last day together ::cue tiny violin music:: Your portfolio is hefty. It's a big piece of your grade (60%!). Be sure to go a good job with it.

Your portfolio must include:

1. Graded copies of stages 1-5 with my comments. If you've misplaced my comments, then instead of including this, you'll need to write a one page reflection on your revision process (what you've changed and why) for each missing paper.

2. Your original Stage VI -- of course, without my comments. This will be your pre-peer review version. 

3. Revised and edited copies of stages 1-6. For your revisions, I expect more substantial changes to stages 1, 5 and 6. Stages 2, 3 and 4 may just be light adjustments at this point.

Please be sure you're turning in polished work. At this point, I will be looking at grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting in addition to content. Many students have asked if MLA formatting is required. The short of my answer is "yes" -- UNLESS you have a reason for not using MLA. For example, if, throughout the semester, your writing has been focused on a science discipline, you may choose to use APA instead. Maybe your essays are all about how MLA ruined your life D-: in which case, it would make sense to use something else.

So in other words, if you don't use MLA, be sure to articulate WHY you've made the rhetorical decision not to.

 How you decide to present this information to me is entirely up to you. As long as it is presented in a way that your audience (me!) can easily make sense of your work, you'll be in good shape. Is turning in a big pile of crumpled/unstapled and messy papers audience centered? I'm thinking no.

You are being graded on the quality of your finished product and the rhetorical effectiveness of your writing.

May the force be with you! Make it so! For Durotar!

 

We're almost done! :-)

Stage VI!

Yes, yes it is.

 Here are the four main "things" I'll be looking for in your Stage VI essays! These can also be guiding questions for your peer review discussions


1. Narrative: What story is told in the essay? Does the narrative connect to the author's development as a reader/writer/learner and their experience in 1302?

2. Vivid Details: Does the author include vivid details? Do these details contribute to the narrative in a meaningful way? Examples of details, for this assignment, can be quotes from class discussions, samples of your writings, quotes/paraphrases from the readings, anecdotes, etc.

3. Significance: What significance does the essay have to your literacy i.e -- who you are as a writer today, in contrast to who you WERE as a writer before 1302? How do you apply what you learned here to who you are, going forward from here?

4. Discourse: How does the author situate their development as a writer within the greater discourse of writing studies?


DUE DATES: Drafts are due Monday, April 22nd for MWF, Tuesday, April 23rd for TR. PLEASE BRING 3 COPIES TO CLASS. We will be having peer review. Also, this is the one assignment you won't be getting my feedback on before putting this in your porftolio, so peer review participation will be essential.

And if that's not enough, here are some memes and pictures of cute animals:

 

And my cat. Like a boss.

Group Project Grades?

You wish, punk! (and so do I )-':  )

In case you're wondering how you'll be graded, here's my rough rubric:

Rhetorically Smart (Full five points -- document demonstrates an awareness of audience, purpose, and form. It is also complete and polished)
Rhetorically Aware (Four Points -- document demonstrates an awareness of audience, purpose and form, but is either unfinished/unpolished, or could have been approached in a more effective manner).
Rhetorically Average (Three points -- document is missing one of the crucial elements -- audience, purpose, context!)
Rhetorically Dull (Two Points -- document is missing two elements! and/or is unfinished/sloppy)
Rhetorical Fail (One point -- you know where this is going)


And for the reflective essay:

 1. How does the author describe the public document in their essay? There should be enough detail to get an idea of what is being described.

2. How does the author address the document's purpose? In other words, why was the public document created? Does the author give reasons for choosing this purpose?

3. How does the author address the document's audience? The audience should be a specific, targeted group of people. Are there any secondary audiences? How are they addressed? Does the author give reasons for choosing this specific audience?

4. Does the author include a detailed narrative in the project about who contributed what?

5. How does the author bring research (inquiry) into their discussion of their document? A works cited page should also be included.


For the Presentation:

1. Do the presenters effectively use their alotted time? Presentation should be between 5-10 minutes.
2. Do the presenters communicate with the audience? (I.e -- voice, body language, tone, etc)
3. Content of the presentation -- do the presenters go in depth in describing their document? How do they explain their rhetorical decisions to the audience?
4. Does each participant contribute to the presentation? 
5. Are they ready to present on their due date? This is like, free points guys. Just be ready.

Class! We Have Class!

And you better not do this, or I may break out into song

 On Monday/Tuesday. Be there, or be square.

MWFers -- Your research papers are due Monday :-D We'll be tying up any research loose ends and having warm fuzzy time.

TRers --  Be prepared to give a progress report update on your group projects. At this point, you should have some work completed, so you will be receiving a grade on your current progress. Be ready for the following questions!






1. Briefly describe your project/project plans.

2.  What is the purpose of your project? What message are you trying to get across?

3. Who is your intended audience? Why did you all choose this particular audience?

4. What genre did you choose to work in? Why did you pick this, considering your audience and purpose?

5. What are you plans going forth from here? Who is in charge of what?

MWFers -- Be prepared for THIS on Wednesday :-)

Also, all, we will be having a special guest in class towards the beginning. Please do not be late!

Compocon II

It was either a random picture of a goat, or this.

Compocon II will begin on Monday! Here's the schedule:

Monday -- Ballroom
Tuesday 8-12 -- PHYS 1.101.

Come prepared to talk about your research! There will be plenty of experts on hand and cool people to chit chat with. The main focus of Compocon II is finding ways to adapt your research projects to a public audience (your group assignment!). It is also a good time to finish up any last minute primary research you might still have... dangling.

Attendance is mandatory. Be there or be square (and fail).