Thurs- Seminar Reflection + Writing Goals

DUE DATES- ON TIME​

1. Seminar Reflection + Writing Goals. DUE: Tuesday, 9/27, MIDNIGHT.
2. Seminar Reflection Revision/Resubmissions. DUE: Sunday, 9/25, MIDNIGHT.  Please note that to be re-assessed, you must highlight and comment the revisions you made so I can easily find them!

DUE DATES- LATE (-10%)

1. DW2 Inferences and Generalizations. LAST DAY TO TURN IN: Friday, 9/23, End of Class
2. A Touchy Subject Annotations. LAST DAY TO TURN IN: Tuesday, 9/27, Start of Class
3. Class Narrative Notes. LAST DAY TO TURN IN: Thursday, 9/29, Start of Class
4. Senior Thesis Notes. LAST DAY TO TURN IN: Thursday, 9/29, Start of Class
   

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ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. Honors meeting FRIDAY at lunch.  Make sure you're keeping up with your reading and annotations!
2. Starter Self Assessment TOMORROW.  Now is a good time to catch up on your starters if you have missed any. 

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Seminar Reflection Part 1: Writing Goals
Look at the Writing Rubric (or Honors Rubric), both on the RESOURCES page of my DP. You may also want to reference your Senior Thesis Notes, and my specific feedback on your first seminar reflection (check your email!)

1. Develop two specific writing goals for yourself as a writer based on these documents and my feedback.  We're going to be using these goals for the rest of the semester to gauge your growth as a writer, and will use your end of semester writing reflection as a springboard for your senior project paper.  As you feel like you achieve your goals, we'll develop new ones!  Please try to keep the grammar/punctuation goals to only one of your goals.  It’s fine to have one goal of this type, but the others should be broader in scope. 
2. Write 2 Goal Paragraphs:  For each of those three goals, write a paragraph.  That paragraph should include:
   1. What your goal is 
   2. An example from your in-class essay, your college essay, or some other piece of writing that shows the need for that goal
   3. Some ideas about how you can work towards improving this skill for your next piece of writing (if you’re stuck on this piece, try Google or talking to me!)

GOAL EXAMPLES:

1. Example:  Goal 1- Understanding the Text.  I will make sure that I thoroughly understand the text I am using in my writing before I use it as evidence.  In my "Habits of Highly Cynical People" writing, I used a quote that said "..........."  In my essay, I said that this quote meant "....quote from essay....." However, I misunderstood this quote because I didn't put it in the larger context of the argument Solnit was making.  In fact, the quote means (tell real meaning of quote here).  To improve this in future writings, I think I need to summarize the meaning of every paragraph of the reading in my annotations, and I need to ask questions more actively during seminar coaching.  If I'm reading it independently, I need to make sure I completely understand one paragraph before moving on to the next paragraph, rather than just continuing to read on.

 

1. Example: Goal 2- Logical Flow.  I will  make sure that all my paragraphs logically flow from one idea to the next.  In my seminar reflection, my first paragraph was about how both the presidential campaigns oversimplify what the other one is saying, and my second paragraph was about how naive cynicism is bad.  I didn't connect these two ideas at all, so it was confusing for the reader to make that jump.  In future writing, I could do a number of things to improve this.  Early in my writing process, I could make sure that I have an outline, so that I've clearly thought through the logical flow of my paper.  I can also use transition sentences to show the reader the links between ideas.  Finally, I can reference terms and ideas from the previous paragraph in the one after it to show the reader how the ideas from the preceding paragraph connect to the ideas in the next paragraph.

Seminar Reflection Part 2: Analytical Writing
For this part of your seminar reflection, you will be focusing on developing your analytical writing skills.  You will respond to one of the prompts below with a thesis statement, and two paragraphs that support that thesis statement.  Honors Students- you are required to use two pieces of evidence per paragraph, and are strongly encouraged to add an introduction paragraph.

1. What connections are there between the class narratives you read and the arguments made in “A Touchy Subject?”
2. Why is it difficult for Americans to talk about class?  Draw upon both “A Touchy Subject” and the class narratives you read.
3. What makes class distinctions murky in the United States?  Draw upon both “A Touchy Subject” and the class narratives you read.

Flipping the Question → Thesis
Everyone complete this as we walk through this, and you should end up with a solid thesis statement. Use this to structure your analytical response (you will have time tomorrow to keep working on this).

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