Tag: project

Class, Fri, 11/15

Workshop Groups

  • Amanda C, Anthony, Winston
  • Ashley, Bridget, John
  • Kate, Jennifer, Sara
  • Kyle, Michael, Sam

Workshop Questions

Please begin by reading silently through your group members’ essays (or through the sections they have marked). As you do, highlight the places in the text where the writer addresses these four issues:

  1. Project: Where does the writer articulate their project, what they’re trying to accomplish in their piece? (This usually, although not always, takes the form of a couple of sentences that begin with something like: “In this essay, I look at . . .”)
  2. Map: Where does the writer offer you a sense of how their essay will unfold? What do they tell you about how they will move from one section to the next of their piece? How do they describe the materials they will be working with? How do they describe their own method or approach?
  3. Engaging With Others: Tara Westover argues that engaging with others who are different from us is the central task of education. Where in their piece does the writer do this work? How generously and accurately do they represent other views or experiences?
  4. So What? Where does the writer answer this question? What do they add to the conversation about their subject?

After you’ve read and annotated your drafts, have a conversation about them. What advice can you offer each other about how to add to or clarify these four aspects of their writing?

To Do

  1. Mon, 11/18, class: Bring one print copy of the revised version of your project. I will give this version of your project a “pencil grade”. I will also ask you to annotate it in preparation for your conference with me, and we will also talk about “digitizing” written texts.
  2. Wed, 11/20, and Thurs, 11/21: Conferences.
  3. Mon, 12/02, class: Post the digitized version of your final project to Medium.com. I will give this version a letter grade. Be ready to talk about what changed in your piece as you shifted modalities.
  4. Wed, 12/04, class: Closing thoughts and evaluations.
  5. Mon, 12/09, 5:00 pm: Email me the revised version of your final project (optional).

Class, Wed, 10/30

Grades: Some Questions to Have in Mind when working on Your Project

Project
  • How well does the writer articulate what they are trying to do or accomplish in this piece?
  • How well do they develop their line of thought?
Materials
  • Is this piece well-informed by archival research?
  • How well and fully does the writer represent their own experiences or those of others?
Voice

Is this piece fun or interesting to read? What could the writer do to make it more so?

Workshop

Writers

Given the responses you’ve received to your work so far, what questions do you have? Select a 750-1,000 word passage from your piece that you’d like to read aloud and get more feedback on. Tell your readers what sorts of feedback you’d like to get to this section.

You might also want to think about: Almost by definition, this draft is shorter than your final piece. How are you going to make it longer, develop it?

Readers

Try to add to what you’ve already said in response to the Writer’s Memo—and to what the other readers have said. What more advice can you offer the writer about their piece?

To Do

  1. Friday, 11/01, class: We’ll continue the workshop. I’ll also ask you to send me a post-workshop email in which you: (a) summarize the responses you’ve received so far, (b) describe what you now know you want to do with your piece, and (c) ask me any questions you still have. I will reply to this email. That will be my response to your first draft.
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