Day 31: Rough drafts and peer review

1. In groups --> share rough drafts. On this pass you're looking for three things:

• grammar
• adequate evidence
• answering the questions presented.

2. Check-ins with Mary --> be prepared to answer the following:

• What have you noticed about your writing?
• What have you done well?
• What weakness have emerged as you review your work?

Weekly Post #12: You as the writer (LAST POST!)

Please tell us what you've done particularly well this semester in terms of your writing for this course. It can be process or product related, something related to in-class discussions or nightly homework. Regardless, be honest and give praise where its due. Be sure to tell us why you're proud of this accomplishment.

For no additional credit at all, post a song (link to YouTube if possible) that somehow (loosely or maybe sort of kind of not at all) captures you as a writer. Song must be appropriate and free of profanity. Here's my song: End of the Movie by Cake.

Day 30: final writing and recording

Final assessment

Daily schedule (will be on MyMA)

11/28: work on final essay --> rough draft for homework
11/30: check-ins with Mary (what are you noticing?) --> second draft for homework
12/2: workshop second draft with peers --> another draft & start drafting recording

12/6: check-ins with Mary & workshop group --> finish up essay and recording
12/8: Essay uploaded and recording ready to go. Class will be spent listening to recordings

Day 28: Workshopping & Revising

1. Check-in ... how is everyone doing?
2. Small groups --> discuss SAS, How, Why, So What?
3. Workshop with peers --> what do you love about your work? What are you struggling with? Is thesis and intention clear?

Day 27: The Letter rough draft

Why best is the worst ... a little fun read

Check-ins with Mary.

Heads-up --> we will be workshopping on Thursday and Tuesday (in the same groups), so please be ready to share.

Weekly Post #11: Letter from your writer

Now that you've written a letter to your writer (super great job!), I want you to get creative, embrace the style and tone of your writer, and write a letter to yourself FROM your writer. Have some fun. Capture their voice as best you can. We will share these in class.

Weekly Post #10: a letter to your writer

In keeping with our letter writing work, I'd like you to write a brief letter (think postcard) to your writer. Tell them anything you like. Something you dislike. Offer praise or suggestions. Keep it clean and appropriate. Be sure to include an opening and closing (that's the TO and FROM portion of the letter).

Day 25: Burns, TED Talk, NPR

Write
Write a thank you note to someone at MA. I will deliver the letters.

Discussion
Small Groups --> what did you respond to in the homework?

Ken Burns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNfBdzpG6L4

What does this letter tell us about war time? What does it reveal about family?

Ted Talk

https://www.ted.com/talks/lakshmi_pratury_on_letter_writing?language=en

How has letter writing changed in the digital age? What is the societal loss of letter writing? What's the gain?

NPR Story

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/26/132263637/perfect-thank-you-notes-heartfelt-and-handwritten

Listen
1. Snap Judgment: Unspoken --> Prison Librarian (6 mins)
Thoughts?

2. This American Life: Parent Trap --> Act 1 (14 mins)
Thoughts?

Day 24: Baldwin, Fitz, Angelou

Writing: Write a letter of advice. You need to pick a topic you have yet to explore.

Discussion:

HW: How does using the structure of a letter complement the content of the letter? In other words, why is the format of a letter the most successful form to convey this information?

A Letter to my Nephew // Letter to My Daughter // Things to Worry About

small groups --> discuss homework, SAS (entire triangle)

Listen
Snap Judgment: Unspoken

Day 23: MLK & letter writing

Writing: Write a letter to your ninth grade self. Be sure to address the following: advice for your time at MA, insights into managing life outside of school, and a funny story about yourself.

Review: What is a letter?
1. Parts: greeting, body, closing, signature
2: Purpose: communication between two people ... family, heads of state, companies, etc
3. Value today?
4. Ethos, Pathos, Logos are back!!

Assignment: write a letter to someone. This will be personal and it will be mailed (by me). I will be looking for sincere expression, clarity of ideas, precision of language, organization of ideas, articulation of a clear point (thesis). I understand that this assignment might be more personal in nature, but you must write a letter to someone about something that you feel comfortable with me reading. You will not have to swap with peers if you're uncomfortable doing so.

Discussion

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Small groups --> review homework questions (1. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr. invokes passages from “The Gettysburg Address,” The Declaration of Independence, and the Bible. Why do you think he references these sources? How do these sources help make his letter more powerful? 2. Select a paragraph or section of this letter and talk about the tone. Define the tone. Is it effective? What is King trying to convey?)

Structure
1. This is a very persuasive essay with lots of argumentation. How does he organize his ideas, transition between different examples, and maintain the reader's attention?

Content

1. In King’s response he writes, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” What are the implications of this statement for all people in relation to social injustices? Do you believe he is right? Why or why not? 
2. Where do you hear King's passion? His desire to demonstrate his point?

Weekly Post #9: Words!

Diction. Vocabulary. Word choice. Call it what you will, but the style and tone and voice of a writer are all created with the most basic unit of writing: words. Find something in the diction that stands out. Maybe it's a word combination, the use of simple words, a word bomb that makes you reach for the dictionary.

A sentence I just had to share. From the NYT and Mark Bittman. This is awesome!!

The food processor replaces the whisk; the pastry cutter; the standing mixer (for which there are still some uses, but only if you’re a dedicated baker); the mandoline (which, to me, remains a fine alternative to the food processor for small quantities); the mortar and pestle, which, no matter how lovely, quaint and authentic, is perhaps the most labor-intensive, primitive and damnable set of tools in the kitchen; and, perhaps most importantly, the grater.

Weekly Post #8: Getting involved

This week try to focus on how the writer involves the reader. Good narrative pieces (this is not to say all of your readings are narrative pieces) engage the reader on some level. How do your writers do it? Is it the topic? The language? Something about the style?

Day 19, 20, 21: Writing workshops

Day 18: Subject to Interpretation, Anchor Baby, Border on our Backs

Discussion --> Groups of 3

Essay 1: P&A 2, L4
Essay 2: M1, M&S 1&3
Essay 3: P&A 2, M&S 3

[small groups for 5 mins // large group for 5 mins] x 3

Writing
Next essay is an argumentative/persuasive essay taking on one of the many state-wide ballot initiatives. You will need to do research and include at least four outside sources (properly cited, MLA format).

Weekly Post #7: Sentence patterns

Find three sentences that you love or hate in the latest reading from your writer. Share the sentences in your comment and tell me why you love them/hate them.

***It's come to my attention that the comment section is being a pain in the rear. Just email
Me your post by the deadline and you're all good. Thanks. Mary

Day #17: Sixteen & Privacy

Writing
Proposition 62 vs Proposition 66: these are not compatible intitiatives, meaning both can get a YES vote, but the one with more YESes will go into effect.

62 --> repeal the death penalty; life without parole is max penalty
66 --> Changes death penalty procedures to speed up appeals, establishes time frame for case review, requires appointed attorneys to work on cases.

Discuss
Sixteen:

1. Homework questions
2. Spence tells readers that he is serving a life sentence, but he doesn't say what crime he committed. Does it matter? Why or why not?
3. What is the purpose of the personal story with which Spence opens his essay? How did it affect you?
4. How would you rate Spence's ethos (ethical appeal)? What strategies does he use to overcome readers' potential doubts about his objectivity?

Privacy

1. Homework questions
2. What does the author accomplish by opening with examples of the political good that has been done by the internet?
3. As a whole is this essay an example of appeal to emotion or reasoned argument or both? Give evidence.
4. What is a "panopticon"? Why does the metaphor trouble Turkle?