Week 3

RHET 1311.991 & 992 Comp I

Fall 2017

(Week 3 begins September 5 and closes September 10, 2017.)

Weekly
Checklist

Reading & Resources & Projects & Reflective Critical

response Practice Portfolio Journals Discussions

1
 Week 3 Checklist
All assignments are due no later than 11:30 p.m.,
Weekly
September 10, 2017.
Checklist

! Reading topic: What is academic writing? p. 3 of Writing Spaces

Volume 1
! Composition response: Compose an extended annotation over the
assigned reading entitled What is academic writing?
! Resources
o Punctuation overview
o ProQuest Module 1
! Portfolio: Assigning permissions and uploading your Who I am story
! Reflective journal: Ethical uses of sources
! Critical discussions WPA outcomesrhetorical knowledge

2
I hope everyones doing well as we move into week 3. If you have any concerns
or questions, please message me asap. I know Ive said this a lot, but I depend
upon you to help me know whats unclear or difficult to navigate, and I really
appreciate your questions!

Your reading assignment this week is What is academic

writing? It begins on page 3 of Writing Spaces Volume 1.
As you read this piece, your composition response is an
Reading & extended annotation just like we did for our reading
response response in week 1. Be sure to review those instructions
before you begin reading. The instructions are copied and
pasted here for your convenience:

Extended Annotations1
Your annotation should contain all of the following elements:

In the header area of your document, include your last name and the page number
o To access this area in Word, in the upper toolbar click View Header and Footer
o Tab twice to the right of the page and type your name
o Space once more and in the upper toolbar click on Insert Page Numbers
o In the pop-up window, click OK
o Close out of the header/footer area
Double space all text (set double spacing in the upper toolbar with Format Paragraph
Line spacing Double)
In the upper left-hand corner of the first page, list your name, my name, the course, and
the date (on separate, double-spaced lines)
Center your document title
Begin your composition by Introducing the author(s) and providing a 1-3 sentence
overview of the entire article
Within your composition:
o Identify the main argument (claim) clearly state this: [So-and-Sos] main
argument is [FILL IN THE BLANK].
o Outline all of the support for the main argument clearly identify these: [So-and-
So] supports his/her claim by stating [Mini-Claim or Evidence A], [Mini-Claim or
Evidence B], and [Mini-Claim or Evidence C as many as you need to include].
o Identify any conclusions made by the author(s) i.e., as you read, youre
following the authors train of thought and how he or she arrives at this
conclusion, so share what it is. It may be a restatement of the main argument, or
it may be some other claims that follow.
o As you do these things, include specific quotes/paraphrases with in-text citations
(page numbers or paragraph numbers)
Your annotation must be over 400 words

1 Note: This assignment is adapted and revised from The World of Research Writing, a representative assignment
by Jan Roser for the Postsecondary Framework: http://wpacouncil.org/framework. This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/.

3
 Provide the full bibliographic citation in MLA on a Works Cited page that begins on a
new page (to move to a new page in Word, in the upper toolbar choose Insert Break
Page Break)

Punctuation. For some people punctuation comes easily, but

for others its quite a mystery. To be honest, learning the
rules may be simply a memorization project, but applying
Resources & those rules requires higher order thinking, as the application
Practice of those rules shifts and varies all of the time. Nevertheless,
good punctuation is essential to help your reader
understand your message. As youve probably been taught
previously, punctuation is intended to capture our speaking
rhythm, pauses, expression, etc. It provides the notation that tells a reader how
the author intends the message to be heard. As a matter of fact, reading your
work aloud can be helpful in placing punctuation; it can really help you
understand what others may hear as they read your work silently.

All of this means that writers need to value the advantage of punctuation and
strive to apply punctuation rules accurately. It takes work, but once learned,
punctuation is a powerful element in your rhetoric toolbox. Well carry out some
practice exercises in order to refresh our knowledge of some punctuation rules,
but itll be up to you to work diligently to master correct punctuation (or to
willingly research when new applications arise).

For this weeks punctuation review, study the sites listed below at the OWL at
Purdues website:
Sentence punctuation patterns:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/604/1/
Independent and dependent clauses:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/1/
Run-on sentences: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/598/02/

Once youve carefully reviewed that information, carry out the short exercises at
the locations below:
Identifying independent and dependent clauses:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/5/25/6/
Identifying run-ons, comma splices, and fused sentences:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/5/26/5/

Youll notice that the answers are available by clicking at the bottom of each
page, so this is an honors system exercise. In your own self-interest, I urge you to
conduct the exercise before looking at the answers then go to the answers and
grade your work. Rest and repeat until you get it right. If you really struggle to

4
understand the material and just cant seem to score well, compose your own
practice sentences, then shoot them to me for review (being sure to let me
know which topic youre studying so I can address the right issue). This is an
opportunity for you to own your education (or not)there are no thought
police checking you out on this particular exercise. Just know that if you dont
master this material, it will certainly reflect within your writing this semester, so
dont miss this important information.

If you already knew this information, in focusing upon the idea of mastery, Ill
throw some practice and mastery points up for grabs. Once youve
A. Proven to yourself your own mastery (by scoring an honest 100% on the
exercises) OR
B. Carried out the exercises (even if you dont feel you mastered the
material, youve practiced it several times and have a resource to return
to as needed),
once youve done either of those two things, shoot me a message to that
effect, and Ill award five participation points.

Again, this is the honor system, so be honorable. If you dont master (or work
hard to master) the exercise, dont claim the points. You can choose to lie
about it, and youll obviously get the points anywayIm not going to police it
or take up homework on this. But a lie now will cost an ultimate loss of points in
future compositions. And youll be a liar. Thats a worse predicament than not
scoring the points either now or later.

Research writing skills. As we develop research writing skills and learn

the process of rhetorical problem solving, we need an understanding
of terms, scholarly sources, library tools, etc. To enable us with these
tools, were going to study a video resource from ProQuest. ProQuest
is an information technology company that offers databases of academic
journals among many other things. Theyve published some excellent videos to
take students through many facets of research writing. The videos arent long,
but there are quite a few of them, so be sure to watch them as assigned and
take notes each time. Whenever pertinent, Ill also add specific information
about accessing, searching, and citing with Ottenheimers online tools.

This week, youll see the first ProQuest module within our content area. There are
four short videos to watch in this module. After you view one video, click on the
list tool in the upper right corner to
re-open the entire list and move to
the next video. The first video is
Feeling overwhelmed? second is
Ten basic terms, then Scholarly
arguments, and finally, Pep talk.

5
 Portfolio information: If you have a Google Sites portfolio, this
week you need to learn about setting permissions within
your Google Drive and within Google Sites. Take a moment
Projects & to study the handout in this weeks content area entitled,
Portfolio Setting Google Permissions.

Once youve studied it, upload your biography from week 2

into Google Drive and add it to your portfolio site on the About
me page. Run through all of the permission-setting instructions, and check to
see that all permissions are correctly set. Next week, Ill check everyones bio
within your portfolio site and award some participation points for correct
uploads. If the permissions are wrong or there are any other problems, Ill let you
know, and give you time to correct it. This will be our first upload to the portfolios,
so it will be a good practice run to get everything working well.

If youre not working with Google Sites, you can ignore this permissions
information but you still need to add your bio to your portfolio site accordingly.
You, too, will earn participation points for a timely and correct upload.

Department of
Rhetoric and
Reflective Writing
Journals Ethical Uses of Sources

For a reflective journal this

week, well complete a
learning module entitled Ethical
Use of Sources. This assignment document is
located in this weeks content area and has been
historically required by the UALR Department of
Rhetoric & Writing. For your convenience, Ive
included both a PDF version (available to
download or within Bb) and a Word version in the
content area.

Carefully note that now that this unit is assigned, By Durova (Wikimedia Commons)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia
youll be held personally responsible and liable for Commons
your actions in regard to cheating, plagiarism,
collusion, or duplicity. These are very serious offenses, so take time to study this
material, think deeply about it, and respond thoroughly.

6
After completing the Ethical uses of sources module, be sure to submit your
final response as a PDF document within the Bb drop box entitled Week 3:
Ethical Uses no later than 11:30 p.m., September 10, 2017. If you dont have a
signature option on your computer, feel free to print the signature page of your
document, fill it out then take a picture of that printed, signed page and submit
it as an attachment in the drop box. This action and your ethical uses of
sources assignment response is required prior to submitting any major projects
for this course. This means that if you complete future projects but havent
completed the ethical uses module, you wont receive credit for the project
until the ethical uses is submitted; furthermore, late penalties will apply for the
major project for every day the ethical uses module is late thereafter.

In this weeks content, Ive uploaded a specifically focused,

definitional handout over the WPA outcomes category of
rhetorical knowledge. Im going to provide you with these
Critical handouts for each of the four WPA outcome categories
Discussions over the course of this week and the ensuing three weeks.
Each week Ill ask you to read a handout then
respond to a few questions about the outcomes
statement itself (asked within this lesson document
but to be answered/discussed on the discussion board).

So this week read the WPA handout on rhetorical knowledge then post a
thoughtful response to at least one of the questions below and a couple of your
peers responses within the discussion area entitled WPA outcomes discussions:
Rhetorical knowledge. Please copy/paste the question that youre addressing
directly into the discussion area; then write your answer just below the question.
That way everyone knows exactly whats being discussed.

Since there are just 5-8 questions for each week, well divide into small groups, so
everyone gets an opportunity to discuss. The goal is for your group as a whole to
answer all the questions listed belowin other words, everyone shouldnt answer
the same question individually, nor should any one person answer all of the
questions. Depending upon how the groups shape up, things may not play out
perfectly, but whatever the case, write at least one substantial post and
thoughtfully respond to a minimum of two peer posts in order to earn the
maximum of 10 points possible (5 points for your substantial post and 5 points for
substantially responding to two peers).

Its especially difficult to assign groups this early in the semester because, believe
it or not, the roster is still in flux. Some folks will come, and others will go, and
some are even on the roster but not really enrolled in this course. Nevertheless,
well do our bestIll assign every name I have, but let me know if you dont see
your name. As a matter of fact, if your name isnt there, feel free to join a group,

7
and just message me which group youre joining, so I can add your name to
that list. Also dont stress if you end up alone and things fall apart. Ill do my best
to balance things out, and Ill guarantee not to allow anyone to suffer a point
deficit due to someone elses participation or lack of participation.

If you dont understand a question or dont know an answer, review this weeks
handout or refer to the resources from the OWL at Purdue that we studied in
orientation week (in that orientation content area in a file folder entitled
Resources on Rhetoric). The information in either of the Purdue OWL videos or
the OWL PowerPoint on the topic of rhetorical situation will be very helpful in
responding to the questions below, so look back to the week 0 assignment, grab
the URLs or PowerPoint content, and watch these materials, take notes, and
process this important information. Well be addressing these concepts within
our writing throughout the semester, and youll see these outcomes firsthand in
your own work.

Within your groups, answer and discuss the following questions:

1. What is meant by the rhetorical situation? What are some key rhetorical
concepts?
2. What does it mean to negotiate purpose, audience, context, and
conventions as you compose?
3. What is meant by a variety of situations and contexts you may
encounter in composition?
4. What is meant by purposeful shifts in voice, tone, level of formality,
design, medium, and/or structure?
5. What is meant by purposeful shifts in design, medium, and/or structure?
6. What comes to mind when you think of a variety of technologies? How
can using a variety of technologies be important in addressing a range of
audiences? Elaborate on what is meant by matching the capacities of
different environments (e.g., print and electronic) to varying rhetorical
situations?

Course goals in context. One final word about our course goals and the WPA
outcomes: As you read in our syllabus, we have a list of specific goals, and these
goals spring directly from the WPA outcomes. Therefore, achieving the goals
helps you meet the outcomes simultaneously. To help put this into context, Im
going to re-list the goals below and mention what youll be assigned that will
help you attain these goals:

A. Demonstrate basic rhetorical ability by completing texts for at least 3 different

rhetorical situations, with each one written appropriately for that context. (E.g.,
personal essay, literacy narrative, exploratory source-based paper.)

8
 To work toward this goal, youll be assigned several projects that deal with different
rhetorical situations. For example, your literacy narrative is an autobiographical story;
the presentation assignment is a public composition for a limited audience and
presents a non-essay argument; the researched essay is a formal academic essay.
Composing these assignments successfully and correctly can demonstrate
rhetorical ability and a thorough understanding of the rhetorical situation.

B. Demonstrate awareness of basic proofreading and editing skills by completing

finished drafts that follow appropriate conventions of grammar punctuation, usage,
and spelling.

Everything you write in this course should strive to meet conventions of

compositionthis is not always as meaningful as content but is just as important in
order to convey clear meaning.

C. Revise and reflect on all major projects [at least 3] effectively, based on instructor
feedback, peer review, and self-assessment. (E.g., evidence of improvement on
global & local issues plus a substantial reflection essay.)

Every project we do will involve several drafts, and your own self-assessment will be
important as you move from draft to draft. Also each project will receive peer or
instructor feedback with opportunity for further revision. Following revisions for each
project, you will engage in metacognitive reflection of the revision process.

D. Produce at least one final draft that effectively integrates electronic and print
sources into the writer's own text and documents them effectively. (E.g., exploratory
paper that uses primary and secondary sources located through library databases
to pose and answer a question.)

Successful presentations and researched essay compositions can help you meet this
goal.

E. Effectively use different software programs and applications to compose and revise
documents in different modes and mediums. (E.g., an e-portfolio site or blog with
working links that is eye-friendly, readable, and navigable.)

A successful online portfolio can help you meet this goal.

F. Demonstrate awareness of multiple genres by producing at least one effective text

in a professional, public, and non-essay genre. (E.g., portfolio contains a press
release, an opinion-editorial essay, and a design for a billboard ad or PSA.)

Successfully composing your presentation and the ensuing letter to the editor will
help you meet this goal.

Thats it for nowdont hesitate to message with ANY questions!

9
Remember all assignments are due no later than 11:30 p.m. September 10, 2017.

Return to the
weekly
checklist

10