In your wave, rewrite your introduction using the following instructions:
1. Begin with an interesting fact about your topic that your audience won’t already know. State this fact in a simple sentence (it should probably follow this pattern: subject / verb / indirect object / direct object) built around a simple (i.e. one word), active verb (i.e. no forms of “to be”).
2. Segue, as concisely as possible, into a simple and direct statement of your essay’s argument.
3. Give a brief indication of your paper’s trajectory or logical structure.
4. Throughout the paragraph avoid using “to be” verbs, prepositional phrases, and unnecessary adjectives and adverbs.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Draft Workshop 2: February 9
1. Glance at the Nature piece; has the author adequately paraphrased the author’s main thesis? Is the entire article devoted to proving this argument? If not, help the author to identify the article’s main thesis and paraphrase it.
2. What would be the thesis statement for an article arguing against the author’s point? In other words, what is the thesis’s antithesis?
3. How many pages do you think it will take the author to prove this thesis adequately?
4. Would you describe the thesis as very general, general, specific, or very specific? Why?
5. Based only on the paraphrase of the thesis statement, what evidence will the author use to support his or her argument? How do you know?
6. In what order will this evidence be presented? How do you know?
7. Why does this argument matter to Nature’s readers?
2. What would be the thesis statement for an article arguing against the author’s point? In other words, what is the thesis’s antithesis?
3. How many pages do you think it will take the author to prove this thesis adequately?
4. Would you describe the thesis as very general, general, specific, or very specific? Why?
5. Based only on the paraphrase of the thesis statement, what evidence will the author use to support his or her argument? How do you know?
6. In what order will this evidence be presented? How do you know?
7. Why does this argument matter to Nature’s readers?
Draft Workshop 1: February 9
Read over the latest draft of your 1.2 with the frame written by your group member. Answer the following questions about the draft in its current state:
1. What is your immediate reaction to the draft? Do you like it? Does it sound like your voice?
2. Note 3 words or phrases that probably wouldn’t have been in the draft if you had written the entire thing.
3. How has the author attempted to make the scientific material meaningful to your blog’s audience? Explain the similarities or differences to how you would have done things.
4. Create a plan for what needs to be done to take this draft to “ready to post” status by Thursday.
1. What is your immediate reaction to the draft? Do you like it? Does it sound like your voice?
2. Note 3 words or phrases that probably wouldn’t have been in the draft if you had written the entire thing.
3. How has the author attempted to make the scientific material meaningful to your blog’s audience? Explain the similarities or differences to how you would have done things.
4. Create a plan for what needs to be done to take this draft to “ready to post” status by Thursday.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Draft Workshop: February 2
1. Find the article on which the summary is based and look through it. Glance through the article and then visit the journal's web page (you should be able to find this by typing the name of the journal and its publisher into google). Is it a “current academic journal” article as stipulated by the demands of the assignment? If so, how does the original source signal that it is an academic journal rather than a professional or popular one? If not, how do you know it’s not?
2. Is the summary accurate? Does it include the article’s most important information? Does it give an accurate representation of the original article’s contents?
3. Do you think your audience will find the content of this article interesting (putting aside, of course, that they would likely be turned off by the style of writing)? Explain your answer in at least 3 or 4 sentences.
2. Is the summary accurate? Does it include the article’s most important information? Does it give an accurate representation of the original article’s contents?
3. Do you think your audience will find the content of this article interesting (putting aside, of course, that they would likely be turned off by the style of writing)? Explain your answer in at least 3 or 4 sentences.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Draft Workshop 2: January 28
1. The assignment for this piece was to make an argument about how two other authors’ arguments fit together. Paraphrase this author’s thesis statement as it fulfills the demands of the assignment. Begin your statement “[author’s name] argues that…”
2. Does the author explicitly state his or her opinion about which of the two articles is correct? If so, how does s/he support this contention? If not, does the draft seem to privilege one source article over the other? Explain your answer.
3. Consult one of the sources that the article is based on. After reading the source, insert a new paragraph into the draft anywhere you please. In this new paragraph, do your best to replicate the tone and voice of the draft’s original author, but attempt to add substantively to the draft’s content.
2. Does the author explicitly state his or her opinion about which of the two articles is correct? If so, how does s/he support this contention? If not, does the draft seem to privilege one source article over the other? Explain your answer.
3. Consult one of the sources that the article is based on. After reading the source, insert a new paragraph into the draft anywhere you please. In this new paragraph, do your best to replicate the tone and voice of the draft’s original author, but attempt to add substantively to the draft’s content.
Draft Workshop 1: January 28
1. Read through the document , taking time to make any changes in spelling, grammar, syntax that you think are required. Think of yourself as the editor of a magazine—it’s your job to make these changes, so don’t hesitate!
2. What kind of hook has the author used to draw in the audience? Explain why or why not this hook is appropriate to your blog’s target audience. Does it match their education levels and interests?
3. What knowledge does the author assume that the reader knows already? What does the author assume the reader does not know? Is the background information presented in a way that is credible (i.e. citing external sources, written in a confident voice, etc.)?
4. Based on the tone of the draft (rather than the content), if this piece were to be published in a magazine, which magazine would it be and why?
2. What kind of hook has the author used to draw in the audience? Explain why or why not this hook is appropriate to your blog’s target audience. Does it match their education levels and interests?
3. What knowledge does the author assume that the reader knows already? What does the author assume the reader does not know? Is the background information presented in a way that is credible (i.e. citing external sources, written in a confident voice, etc.)?
4. Based on the tone of the draft (rather than the content), if this piece were to be published in a magazine, which magazine would it be and why?
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