Wednesday's Work (8/10/11) & Homework for Thursday

By Wednesday morning, you should have already uploaded your drafts of your "thing" to the Researched Projects Drafts folder in Google Docs (you all now have editing access, so there shouldn't be any problem there). Please name your file Your First Name_Thing_Draft 1 so we can keep track of them. So, Part I of Wednesday's work will be for you to give each other feedback on your "thing." Here are the questions I want you to answer as you read:

1. What do you think this writer is trying to claim in his/her "thing"? In other words, what's the claim s/he is making? If there's any confusion, explain what exactly is leading you to be confused. What suggestions do you have to help the writer make his/her claim more clear and/or persuasive?
2. Who do you think the audience for this thing is? How can you tell? Be as specific as you can be with this.
3. How appropriate is this genre for the audience and/or claim? In other words, has this writer written a brochure when a T-shirt might have been more appropriate? What suggestions might you have for choosing a more apt genre?

Once you've given your feedback, read through the feedback your partners and I have left for you and make notes about what you'd like to revise. Were you trying to communicate one thing, but your partners thought you were saying something different? Is your choice of genre working out or not? How might you make productive changes (even completely re-thinking, if necessary, what you're doing)?

Then, Part II of Wednesday's work is to get started on your reflective essay (see the assignment sheet again for details--this is the part that looks most like a research paper, though with significant additions where you write about your rhetorical choices in designing your "thing"). You need to have a draft of that ready for feedback on Thursday afternoon (Save it as Your First Name_ReflectiveEssay_Draft1 and put it in the Researched Project Drafts folder in Google Docs). We're moving quickly, but think of this as one step at a time, and you won't be overwhelmed:). Only a few days left, and Summer II will be done! Again, email if you have any questions (jcharlton@utpa.edu).