Spring 2014 - TR 2:35-3:50pm - ENG1301.30: April 2014

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Week 16 Agenda [Tentative]

Tuesday, April 29th

LAST DAY OF CLASS
Stage 6 Peer Review
Homework

continue revising ALL writing assignments on Google Drive

Wednesday, April 30th

FINAL PORTFOLIO DUE BY 5PM ON GOOGLE DRIVE

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Questions to Help You Write Your Stage 6 Reflective Essay

Your primary audience for your Stage 6 reflection essay will be me since I will be using it as a guide to your portfolio. Your essay will offer me a way of reading the work of your portfolio, and by extension the work of the class, and should help me understand what you have learned from reflecting on your work in the class and from the portfolio together.

To help you compose your reflective essay, here are ten questions to ask yourself about the overall 1301 experience and your development as a college writer:

What is your “English 1301” story? Where did you begin? Where have you ended up? What happened along the way?
Check out the course syllabus again. What are the goals for this class? Which goals do you feel you’ve accomplished this semester?
What were the challenges you faced this semester? How did you deal with those challenges?
What do you see in all the work you’ve completed for this class (Stage 2, Stage 3, etc.)? Discuss each assignment individually, if you wish? What was difficult/easy? How has all the work in this class helped you develop as a writer?
What do you know about yourself as a writer now that you didn’t know before the start of this class?
What strategies have you learned to use to make your writing more effective? What were the things that helped you learn in this class?
What were some of the important questions for you this semester? What important questions about reading/writing/learning do you plan on investigating after this class is over?
In terms of your development as a writer, what do you still need to work out in your mind to reach your educational goals?
What do you still want to know more about? After all of our readings/discussions in class, what do you plan on investigating further?
Overall, what have you learned in this class? What have you learned about composing, about rhetoric, about revision, about yourself? Do you consider yourself a more confident writer now?

Final Portfolio Guidelines

A writing portfolio is a collection of REVISED writing assignments that are representative of a student's work throughout an entire semester.

Your Google Drive shared folder will count as your final portfolio for this course. As discussed at the beginning of the semester, your final portfolio is worth 60% of your final course grade. Bear in mind that I will grade your final portfolio as a whole--not as the average of different project grades. Also, incomplete portfolios may not receive a passing grade.

YOUR FINAL PORTFOLIO IS DUE ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30TH BY 5PM. No late work will be accepted.

Below is an up-to-date list of all the files that you should have in your shared Google Drive folder by the assignment deadline. I have also included the correct file names. Finally, I would encourage all of you to visit the UTPA Writing Center (ACSB 2.130) prior to the deadline for assistance with any grammar or MLA-related issues in any of your assignments..

ASSIGNMENT FILE NAME IN GOOGLE DRIVE

Stage 2 Essay Stage2Essay_YourFullName
Stage 3 Plan Stage3Plan_YourFullName
Stage 4 Essay Stage4Essay_YourFullName
Stage 5 Essay Stage5Essay_YourFullName
Stage 6 Essay Stage6Essay_YourFullName

Monday, April 21, 2014

Week 15 Agenda [Tentative]

Tuesday, April 22nd

Discuss Final Portfolio Guidelines
Discuss Stage 6: Reflecting On Reading, Writing, and Learning in Your Final Portfolio
Stage 5 Presentations
Homework

continue revising ALL writing assignments on Google Drive
begin drafting Stage 6 reflective essay in Google Drive

in Google Drive, title file like this: Stage6Essay_YourFullName

Thursday, April 24th

Stage 5 Presentations [Cont'd]
Homework

continue revising ALL writing assignments on Google Drive
For Tuesday, print/bring three (3) copies of your Stage 6 essay draft
For Tuesday, print/bring two (2) copies of Peer Review Sheet - Stage 6

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Final Presentation Schedule & Guidelines

The next two class meetings (4/22 and 4/24) will consist of presentations of your Stage 5 Public Texts. Each of you will be required to showcase your Stage 5 Public texts to the class, as well as discuss its overall rhetorical dimensions. Don’t worry if you’re not done constructing your public text. Your presentation is meant to give the class a good idea of what you are creating, why you have chosen this particular form for your Stage 4 theory, and how effectively you are communicating with your public audience.

Presentation times are non-negotiable, so make sure to come prepared on your assigned date. For those of you working with digital picture files, videos, or web sites, you will have the computer in the classroom at your disposal.

Presentation times are non-negotiable, so make sure to come prepared on your assigned date. Here is the presentation schedule for next week:

Tuesday, 4/22
Bazan	Samuel
Cavazos	Angelica
Contreras	Erasmo
De Leon	Paloma
Elizondo	Sael
Garcia	Daniel
Gonzalez	Alejandro
Guerra	Angel
Hanks	Christian
Hernandez	Lisa
Mata	Carolina

Thursday, 4/24
Moreno	Jeniffer
Nieto	Alexander
Ochoa	Vanessa
Palacios	Talina
Palomo	Fabian
Perez	Anisa
Pompa	Stacy
Sandoval	Sanjuanita
Sapla	Shaquille
Tolosa	Hugo
Trevino	Ernestina
Vazquez	Oziel

For those of you working with digital picture files, videos, or websites, you will have the computer in the classroom at your disposal.

Here are the requirements for your presentation:

Keep your presentation between 5-6 minutes at the most
Start by stating your Stage 4 Essay theory
Showcase/describe your Stage 5 Public Text

How does your public text connect to your Stage 4 Essay theory?
What is the purpose of your public text? Who is the primary audience for this public text?
How easy/difficult was it to construct your public text? What other forms did your public text take before you settled on this final form?

Provide one (1) open-ended question for class discussion.

Don’t ask closed questions like this: Did you like my public text?
Ask open questions like this: Why/how is my public text rhetorically effective?

In addition to this, on the days you are not presenting, you will also be required to complete a 1-page, typed summary AND response to your favorite Stage 5 Public Text presentation. This document should 1) state the name of the author of the public text, 2) detail what the presentation covered, and 3) discuss how/why this public text is rhetorically effective/ineffective. Summary/responses will be due at the start of class, no exceptions.

I look forward to all of your Stage 5 Public Text presentations next week.

Prof. Moreira

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Week 14 Agenda [Tentative]

Tuesday, April 15th

NO CLASS [WRITING/CONSTRUCTION/REVISION DAY]
Homework

continue revising ALL writing assignments on Google Drive
continue constructing/drafting your Stage 5 Public Text AND your Stage 5 Reflective Essay
print/bring three (3) copies of your Stage 5 Essay draft for peer review on Wednesday
print/bring two (2) copies of Peer Review Sheet - Stage 5 on Wednesday

Thursday, April 17th

Peer Review Stage 5 Reflective Essay
Sign-up for Final Presentations
Homework

continue revising ALL writing assignments on Google Drive
revise Stage 5 Reflective Essay

DUE ON GOOGLE DRIVE FOR INSTRUCTOR FEEDBACK ON FRIDAY, APRIL 18 BY 10PM

continue constructing Stage 5 Public Text

DUE VIA EMAIL TO INSTRUCTOR ON FRIDAY, APRIL 18 BY 10PM--*FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS HERE*

print/bring Stage 6: Reflecting on Reading, Writing and Learning in Your Portfolio to class on Tuesday for discussion

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Questions to Help You Write Your Stage 5 Reflective Paper

Your Stage 5 reflective essay is the place where you will show me the need for your document--the need for the message and for "packaging" your public text the way you have chosen to. It is in this essay that you will need to discuss the research you did and how that played into the making of your argument.

To help you compose your reflective essay, here are ten questions to ask yourself about the overall experience of the creation of your public text:

What is my Stage 4 theory? Would the public agree with me? If not, am I aware of all opposing opinions? How has what the audience already knows and what they value affected the choices I made about how to make my argument, what pictures to use, etc.?
How would I describe my public text? How is it helping me raise awareness to my Stage 4 theory?
How did my public text grow out of my previous work in class?
How am I ensuring that my public text is rhetorically effective? Who is my audience, and what have I done with my public text to make my argument for my particular audience?
Is my public text the best way to reach the public, including those who do not agree with me?
What resources (articles, interviews, websites, construction paper, etc.) have I used in the construction of my public text? How easy/difficult has it been to use these resources?
What specific difficulties/successes have I experienced in the construction of my public text?
Besides the current form I have chosen for my public text, could a different form have worked just as well/better? Specifically, how have other existing public texts helped me construct my own public text?
Are any of my classmates working with similar theories/public texts? How are they constructing their public texts, and how would we benefit from collaboration/sharing information?
What have I learned in the construction of my public text? What specific connections can I make between the construction of my public text and the readings/discussions from class?