English 102

Wakana has a thoughtful reflective draft.

Bao has clearly addressed the public concern about nuclear safety through his discussion (check out page 2 and 7) AND his range of sources.

Mustafa is doing a nice job briefly introducing his sources for some contextual, background information.

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You are all doing great work — keep it up! Keep trying to address the feedback you’ve received from me and in class; fulfill the course goals; and connect your concerns with the research you’re discussing. 

Also, remember you can see everyone’s work AND my feedback in your dropbox folders. Check out the “sample text” section on the right side of this blog to see more work from last semester’s students.

Hi everyone, 

I am concerned (again). 

This time, only 36% of the class submitted their drafts on time. Remember that if your submission is late, no one — including me — is required to provide feedback. 

I create the specific deadlines so everyone in the class has enough time to read and respond to everyone’s essay. I have to read and take notes on 11 drafts for this class — if I don’t have at least a day to do it, I won’t be able to read everyone’s (especially since I teach another class and have to read, comment, and meet with those students, too). Consider your peers: is it fair to give them less than a day to read and write a thoughtful response to you? 

I have also clearly written and explained the submission requirements. Your drafts are due in your conference folder — if they’re not there by the deadline, your group will think you haven’t done the work. It is not their responsibility to search for your draft. 

Finally, my other concern relates to your projects. Portfolios are due in 5 weeks (May 8). I’ve asked you to work on your second draft for this conference, so you can get good feedback, revise once more, and have a pretty solid essay after next week. We’ll need time to work on your reflective essays, and to polish or perfect your draft. Now is NOT the time to change questions, look for many more sources, find more quotes to “prove” your point, etc. 

I have asked you all semester to focus on close, careful reading that leads to deep analysis of your five sources. I don’t want many more than that because the goal is for you to really examine these five sources and participate in a conversation with them. The goal is not to have a multi-page bibliography of sources you looked at one paragraph of. 

I know this is a long, frustrating, confusing, difficult process. I know that because I participate in it every time I write an essay (and I’ve been in higher ed for 9 years). I’m asking you to do the things I’ve outlined because I think it will lead to your best work. 

If you don’t follow these guidelines, you will likely fail the course. 

Korean Wave: sample

Main idea: Korean culture and how it’s increasing its popularity throughout the globe; the status of Korean culture worldwide

1. Friend is interested in Korean culture
2. Europe becomes more interested in Korean culture
3. Korean soap opera popular in China. Chinese people are being affected by Korean drama.
4. Example of popular movie that audience can connect to through its love story.
5. Another drama popular because it’s about love that some women desire. Satisfies audiences and makes Korean culture more popular.
6. Women’s roles are changing in Korean culture to resemble other modernized Western societies

Read More

After reading your annotations and draft plans carefully, I’ve noticed a particularly troubling idea: that your research is “done” and your research question is “answered” already. 

This is a class on critical inquiry — where we investigate a question we’re interested in, read what other people have to say about it, analyze their ideas, and come to some new questions on our own (refer to the del Toro text about continuing to ask questions). 

If you’ve found all the answers to your question, you’re asking the wrong question. Everyone in our class, however, has good, thoughtful, complicated questions! So that’s not the problem. 

As we continue into the second half of the semester, I’d like everyone to focus more on investigating and evaluating ideas — not trying to find THE ANSWER. You’re all working on projects that don’t have easy answers! If we could find a simple solution to ending poverty in America (go get educated) or the effects of refugees on other countries (they contribute to the economy), for example, these would not be world problems that inspire debates and theories. 

So, please try to focus on analyzing your sources in great detail. Remember, you’re not using them to prove a point. You’re using them to deepen your understanding of the issue you’re concerned about. And — the research process has really just begun.