Mendez, Fall 2014Descriptions of Composition ProjectsYou will be writing weekly and towards the goal of understanding better the topics discussed in class, understanding your own writing process, and of course, meeting the First-Year Writing Program/course requirements. Be aware that the assignments difficulty increases as the quarter progresses. You will receive feedback from myself and/or your classmates throughout the quarter, and these comments should be used to help you make decisions about your next assignment and the writing process overall.

One thing very important to remember is that assignments, regardless of their nature/purpose/goal, need to be understood in the context of what is happening in the classroom. That is, assignments do not happen in a vacuum or in an isolated manner; they have a purpose that is best understood when you look at them in a holistic way: in light of the assigned readings, in-class discussions, online work, and assignment description itself, among others. So, think twice before approaching courses tasks as unrelated, fortuitous events, for they are not. In the past, students inability to understand how assignments address, illustrate and enhance what happens in the classroom led them to misunderstand the task at hand, and consequently, it affected their performance.

This document includes information pertaining the following assignments or class components: Composition Project 1 Composition Project 2 Composition Project 3 Informal Writing Peer Review Individual Conferences Class Participation Quizzes

Composition Project 1: Describing and Evaluating Objectives: Reflect on your relationship to writing by analyzing a writing situation. Develop your sense of audience and your sense of what to include and exclude about your experiences. Respond to your classmates writing as if you were in a conversation with the writer about his or her writing experiences.

Task: Describing Differences in Writing SituationsFor this assignment, I would like to have you describe some instances in which you have been engaged and some instances when you have been disengaged in your writing. It would be helpful if you could be specific about these writing situations. Who were you writing to and why? What were you hoping to do with your writingwhat were you hoping would be the effect? What were the readers responsesthat is, how well did the writing work? As you think back on these different writing situations, what did they make you think about yourself as a writer and about writing? What kind of conclusions can you draw about the role of writing in our culture and in school situations?

Im interested in hearing about your writing experiences and as you reflect on them in light of the distinctions we are making, what you might think about the part writing plays in your life, in school, and in culture.

Specifications: 900-1,200 words Reflective Letter: Since you will have the opportunity to revise this assignment, you must attach a reflective letter to the front of your Composition Project 1 final draft. This is a single-spaced, 1 page (max) letter in which you explain in detail your revision process for the final draft. Letter should be addressed to your instructor.MLA format documentation (see Humanities Research and Documentation at http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/resdoc5e/RES5e_ch08_o.html or The Purdue OWL at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

As you draft and revise, use peer review feedback, office hours, and The Drexel Writing Center.

Composition Project 2: Synthesizing and Generalizing from ExperiencesObjectives: Research formal and informal sources. Evaluate your information. Integrate information and quotations from other sources (your classmates, your family and friends, print or web-based sources) into your own writing. Synthesize and generalize from different experiences about a subject.

Task: Generalizing about Differences in Engaged and Disengaged WritingWrite an essay for others in the class in which you try to come to some conclusions about the differences in authentic/engaged and inauthentic/disengaged writing and their effects on the writers. Think of your own writing experiences but compare them to what you have read and learned from your classmates essays and in your research.

From reading your classmates works, can you describe some general differences in these two kinds of writingthe writers tone or voice, the style, perhaps even such things as word choice, sentence length, and the lengths of the paragraphs? Can you tell the differences in the writers connection or commitment to what he or she wrote in these different kinds of experiences? What might you conclude about the kinds of writing that generally seem to occur in school settings as opposed to those that occur outside the school setting? What seems to be the purpose or purposes of writing done in the school setting as opposed to those done outside the school setting? These are just some general ideas you might explore in your essay as you try to explore with your classmates the implications and consequences of these different kinds of writing.

Specifications: Research: Your composition should include: 3 classmates postings 2 scholarly sources (print or web based) 1 other source (primary or secondary; scholarly, trade or popular)900-1,200 words Reflective Letter: Since you will have the opportunity to revise this assignment, you must attach a reflective letter to the front of your Composition Project 1 final draft. This is a single-spaced, 1 page (max) letter in which you explain in detail your revision process for the final draft. Letter should be addressed to your instructor.MLA format documentation

As you draft and revise, use peer review feedback, office hours, and The DWC.

Composition Project 3: Reflection about Writing and LearningObjectives: Reflect on writing experiences and attitudes toward writing. Be aware of your audience. Integrate sources into your writing.

Task: In this assignment you are to write a reflective analysis that addresses:1) What you have learned about writing in Engl 101, with samples drawn from your own and from classmates writing.2) Your attitude towards writing now with some speculation on the link between attitude and learning a skill such as writing.

Specifications: Your composition should include evidence from your own as well as some classmates Engl 101 writing700-1,000 words MLA format documentation

Citing Your Own Writing:In your reflective analysis you should provide proper in-text citation of your own sources, just as you would with any other source in a composition. For sources that are your own, follow the example below:

In my second project for English 101, I discuss the impact of drafting on my writing development: I have always drafted because I have been required to. But I really wanted to reflect analytically on how the process of drafting actually impacted my overall writing development. Was I becoming a better writer? (Drafting and Development 1).

Additionally, you should include full citations in a Works Cited. Heres how:

Works Cited

Last name, First name. Title of Project. Course Title. Professor ______ _______. Department,Institution. Date project was submitted. Form of Media (Print, Web, etc.).---. Title of Project. Course Title. Professor ______ _______. Department,Institution. Date project was submitted. Form of Media (Print, Web, etc.).

And so on

As you draft and revise, use peer review feedback, office hours, and The DWC.

Informal Writing, Peer Review, Individual Conferences, Class Participation & Quizzes

Informal WritingInformal writing assignments are a component of your grade in this course, and each informal writing assignment carries weight towards your final grade. Most weeks you will be required to write in response to readings, instructor questions, conversations with peers, and your ongoing discussion of your projects. Full description of each weekly posting, if applicable, is found on Blackboard Learn (BbL)Discussion Board. There are other informal writing pieces that must be submitted via Message Board. Information about these is found in the Weekly Schedule. The easiest way for you to keep track of what you need to do is to check the Weekly Schedule on a regular basis. All basic information you need to know is listed there.

The informal writing in our class basically happens in two ways: 1. Close-ended postings: You are provided very specific questions that you need to answer in that posting.e.g. some Peer Review assignments.2. Open-ended postings: The instructor provides you with a prompt, and you respond to it in whichever way you prefer. This writing is about synthesizing, critical reflection, discussion, generating ideas, critiquing, reacting to others ideas, etc. Either way, informal writing is not about summarizing the readings or class discussions for the instructoralthough sometimes you might have to summarize a bit in order to complete the posting.

Weekly writing should be posted online in the corresponding folder on the Discussion Board Tab or submitted via Message Board, as requiredsee info above. Minimum length, if required, is included in the assignment description. Deadline for postings is found on the Weekly Schedule document. If the weekly assignment is about responding to classmates writing, then reply to that students own posting. This way both the original text and your response to it can be read back-to-back.

In addition, do not attach your work, unless specifically instructed to do so. Attachments dont work for threaded conversations, and those are going to happen throughout the quarter. Please copy and paste your assignment into the message boxit is okay for the document format to get a bit ruined. If required to attach your work, your work must be submitted in one of the following formats: .doc, .docx, .pdf, or .rtf.

It is very likely that the instructor will not respond to your postings. The instructor may participate in whatever online discussion that is happening on a given week, but on a regular basis, the postings are a space for you to foster an online community. The instructor will read and grade your informal writing based on its quality and adherence to purpose/guidelines.

Last, there is a folder for you to post questions/concerns/thoughts/stories, etc. It is titled Ask a Classmate. So feel free to post there anything you think may be relevant to the whole class. Ideally, you will keep an eye on this folder, and will reply to some of your classmates comments if you will. There is no grade attached to this folder.

Peer ReviewSince giving and receiving feedback depend on each students work and timeliness with his/her posting, it is very important to meet the deadlines on peer review days. Your lack of (timely) work affects other students, and definitely affects your grade. Peer review questions are a collaborative effort between the instructor and the students.

Before peer reviewing/responding to a classmates paper, read the guidelines for the task (see assigned readings), you are expected to follow them. Also, reply to that students own posting; dont start a new thread.

Be aware that if you have no paper to submit for peer review, you wont be eligible to do peer review for credit. If interested, you can always visit the Writing Center and peer review your paper there with a peer writing consultant.

About First Drafts: In order to take full advantage of the peer review sessions, as planned in this course, any first draft submitted needs to be a fully developed document (with all elements/sections included) even if it still is a work-in-progress. Mostly incomplete and barely-put-together documents hardly help any student develop and/or improve his/her critical thinking, reading and writing skills.

Individual ConferencesIndividual conferences are an opportunity for you to discuss your writing efforts one-on-one with the instructor. For your conference you must: Bring 2 copies of the assignment (one for the instructor and one for you to read aloud from). Put together 4-5 questions that you want the instructor to give you feedback on. Include these questions at the end of your draft. Be on timedue to time constraints and number of students, it is very challenging to reschedule the conference.

Class ParticipationAs stated in the syllabus, in-class participation and quizzes account for 20% of your final grade. Every week there will be opportunities for you to participate in in-class related activities. In-class participation points are easy points to get, at least easier than written assignment points. They require however that you come prepared to class (having read all assigned materials/ completed all work required), and that you are willing to fully take part in whatever class activity/discussion scheduled for the day. The instructor is not expecting you to be an expert on the topic at hand, yet the instructor expects critical, thoughtful, meaningful contributions to in-class discussions/work.

Last, in an effort to keep you informed of your progress on this rubric, every three weeks or so the instructor will report to you how you are doing regarding class participation.

QuizzesQuizzes will happen on a regular basis at some point during class time, and will be based on assigned readings and/or discussed material. Like any other in-class activity, they cannot be made up. Each quiz will count towards your class participation grade. Quizzes weight will depend on their level of difficulty.

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