Critiquing a Professional Model Text

Up this point we've mostly looked at other students' writing, but from time to time it's helpful to remember that professionals still rely on the same fundamental writing skills that we learn about in this class. For this assignment, each group will read the assigned editorial from the New York Times:

Group 1: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/opinion/26kristof.html?ref=opinion

Group 2: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/opinion/26friedman.html?ref=opinion

Group 3: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/10/opinion/10krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Group 4: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/03/opinion/03brooks.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Within your groups, discuss your answers to the following questions and record your answers in a Google Doc. Each group need only create one document.

1. What is the article's thesis statement? Where does it appear? Does the thesis statement do the three things that we said all thesis statements should do? Explain your answer fully, noting in detail how the author fulfills each of these requirements. If you think s/he does not fulfill these requirements in the thesis statement, speculate as to why this is the case.

2. What kinds of appeals does the author make to his or her audience? Identify at least two specific appeals. Do you think the audience find these appeals convincing? Why or why not?

3. What kinds of research does the author employ to support his or her claim? Does this research come from popular, professional, or scholarly sources? If the author does not rely on research, how does s/he establish authorial credibility within the article?

4. Does the author employ strong paragraphing skills? Does each paragraph contain a topic sentences that expresses a single idea? Do all sentences in the paragraph explain that idea (and that idea only) fully and completely?

5. How does the author grab the reader's attention in the introduction? Can you categorize the introduction into one of the types we talked about in class?

6. Does the author employ a variety of different sentence types? Does the writing seem dynamic and powerful to you? Support your answer with specific details from the text.

At the end of the period I will ask each group to summarize their answers briefly for the rest of the class.

Grading Process

https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1iTufSlY8csTrFkvZpRLbJiJhdDjSlj_R4kUS1FDjpM0&hl=en&authkey=CLHswZYN

This sheet will be updated with new assignments, workshops, and skills as they are assigned. Note: homework assignments and draft workshops are due 24 hours after the end of class unless I state otherwise. In order to receive full credit for a draft workshop, you must both submit the required draft on time and complete all of the workshop form questions for one of your groupmates' drafts.

Unit 1 Project Group Assessment

Read each of your group members' drafts. Once you have read everyone's draft, decide on which stage of the revision process each one of your groupmates should focus his or her attention in the next few days. Write a paragraph in your groupmates' Google Doc supporting your answer with specific reference to the draft (i.e. "paragraphs 3 and 4 seem off-topic, so Student X should focus on ensuring each paragraph's topic sentence relates directly to the thesis statement").

Homework: Continue working on your Unit 1 Project; you should bring a substantially revised draft to class next Tuesday. Try employing multiple revision sessions in order to deal with several different concerns relating to your draft.

Unit 1 Project Self-Assessment

We just finished learning about three stages of revision: conceptual concerns, organizational concerns, and surface-level concerns. Which of these stages is your primary concern for your Unit 1 Project at this moment? Post a comment here explaining where you will focus your attention during your next round of revisions, noting which specific questions you will focus on and why you believe dealing with these questions will be the most efficient use of your time.

Activity: Critiquing Paragraphing Strategies

Together with your group, examine each paragraph in the model draft for its relationship to the thesis, unity, coherence, and adequate development of the paragraph's main idea.

https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1cX0h_H4W-2YeE93VTdUAlYPT3gC1IhHtayokb49FUu8&hl=en&authkey=CKafxrUF

Create a new Google Doc in which you explain briefly how each paragraph might be improved. You can be as brief as possible, but more complex problems might require a bit more explanation. Each group need only create one document.

Activity: Composing a Working Thesis Statement

If you haven't done so already, composing a working thesis statement for your Unit 1 Project. Don't worry if you don't feel ready; thesis statements always change--sometimes drastically--before the final draft. If you're having trouble getting started, identify the 3 or 4 pieces of most interesting or compelling information you have found during your research and think about what kind of claim that might lead you to make about your topic. You might also ask your groupmates for help.

Remember, your thesis statement should make a claim about your topic, it should give a road map to how your argument will unfold, and it should explain why your argument matters to your audience. You may not have made up your mind about all of these things yet, but do your best to provide this information anyway. If you change your mind you can simply update your thesis statement later.

After everyone in your group has a working thesis, have each person read the thesis statement aloud twice, speaking slowly and clearly. As your groupmates read their statements, jot down your reaction in simple words or phrases. You might use words like "interesting," "complicated," "disorienting," etc. Try to give the author a sense of the audience's immediate reaction to the topic and/or argument. Once everyone has read their thesis statements relay your reactions to their respective authors. Add the reactions about your thesis statement to your Google Doc.

Activity: Adapting to Your Audience

In the Google Document where you've been collecting your research, respond briefly to each of the following questions.

• Who is your audience?
• What does your audience need? What do they want? What do they value?
• What aspects of your topic are most important to them?
• What aspects of your topic are they least likely to care about?
• What kind of organization would best help your audience understand and appreciate your argument?
• What do you have to say (or what are you doing in your research) that might surprise your audience?
• What do you want your audience to think, learn, or assume about you? What impression do you want your writing or your research to convey?