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ENGLISH 2 (010) / RESEARCH WRITING Spring 2006 (SECOND
half-semester
course: March 20-May 1)
Week
1
The
art and craft of library research 1: selecting
a
topic with
an audience and purpose. Broad topics,
specific topics, audience, and purpose.
Homework: Write a list of at least five topics you could imagine writing about in this class. Identify an audience that might be interested in the topic and tell me why you think that this topic would matter to your selected audience? Due in class Wednesday. Week
2
Mar. 27 (Mon): MEET IN THE
LIBRARY & Bring your computer!! Working research
proposal(s)
due. Mar. 29 (Wed): MEET BACK
IN BC 18!! Working
bibliography due (10 possible
sources). Week
3
SIGN UP FOR INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS TO DISCUSS
YOUR RESEARCH
PROJECT
Homework: Write a draft
of a paper
in which you compare the 4 sources you found. Which might be useful?
Which
might not? Why? What major differences do you notice? What does that
reveal?
[For guidelines on college-level comparison see: www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/resources/Comparison.html] Apr 5 (Wed): Draft of
comparison paper due.
Homework: Work on those
paragraphs,
due Monday. CONTINUE RESEARCHING. Annotations of four more sources due
on
Monday. This time select sources you might want to use in your paper.
Pay
attention to sources that everyone seems to be citing because you'll
need to
cite them as well to show you have done your research!
Week
4
The
art and craft of Research writing 2:
purpose: Brief
conversation about
your progress on your research. Discussion of the use of focused
research
questions. Students will generate at least five focused research
questions for
their topic and then answer any of those questions that they can
already
answer. Answering those questions is your purpose for writing the
paper. We
will discuss turning the answers into a thesis and how your
perspectives on
your topic can help you to develop a thesis that positions your
response within
those you have found. We will also
discuss potential problems and frustrations you are experiencing.
Homework: Think about how
your research
questions and the provisional answers you have found could lead to a
thesis,
and write a possible thesis for Wednesday (post the thesis to the
K:drive
and/or send it to me via email by 1:00PM Wednesday).
CONTINUE RESEARCHING. Annotations of four more sources due
on Wednesday. Again, look at who everyone else is citing and make sure
you have
read those sources as well. Apr.
12 (Wed):
Possible
thesis due in the K:drive folder named "thesis." Four
more annotations due. The
art and craft of Research writing 3: focus
and
developing a thesis. The
key is the thesis! We
will discuss your theses for the research papers focusing on the theses
you
turned in. We will analyze what makes a thesis appropriate for an
extended
research paper, and explore how a thesis can help to shape a draft. We will discuss how a
fabulous
thesis
inevitably creates an even better paper. Write one paragraph explaining
your
perspective on your topic, and then write a revised thesis below it
that
positions your response within those you have found.
Revise your paragraph to include your thesis. Students
begin
to make an outline/plan/diagram /road map of the paper.
Homework:
Continue working on your annotated bibliography for your
research paper. Annotate all other sources that seem useful (at least
ten, but
aim for fifteen). CONTINUE RESEARCHING. Complete annotated bibliography
due
Monday. Begin to draft, outline, plan, or brainstorm for your paper.
Try
listing the topics you will cover and then organizing them into a
working plan. Week
5
Apr.
17 (Mon): Final
annotated bibliography due (10-15 sources). Possible working
plan/outline/skeleton for the paper due. The
art and
craft of
research writing 4: the plan (a.k.a. organization). The
working
outline, the
formal outline, note cards, "stickies." Overcoming writers block!
Practice at
least one method as you develop your research paper. As you work on
turning
your plan into a draft, remember that the first draft is written for
you, so
you can work out what you think and want to say; then you translate it
for
others so they can understand you. DO NOT worry about surface-level
error in
drafts!!! SIGN UP FOR INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS TO DISCUSS
YOUR RESEARCH
PROJECT Homework: Continue
developing your
paper. A very rough draft of which is due next Monday (24th)--but you
should
have
something done by the time you meet with me. Apr.
19 (Wed): The ePortfolio, presentations, and the technology of the
final
project--PowerPoint, webpages, publisher, and all that good
stuff!!
Homework: Continue developing your
paper. A very rough draft of which is due on Monday (this does not need
to be
perfect--but it does need to cite sources carefully). Apr.
19-21:
INDIVIDUAL MEETINGS WITH THE PROFESSOR (Check the
sign-up list if you forget when you are supposed to come!) Apr.
21
(Fri): last day to drop this class with a W (I hope you won't!!) Week
6
The
art and
craft of Research writing 4: rules and
conventions (a.k.a. avoiding
plagiarism!). Students
read over their drafts and check source use before handing them in. Refocusing the paper for
another
audience. Identify audience and purpose and think about how to deliver
the
information most effectively.Discuss the final project of the course:
the
refocused paper. Students work on their papers or on their refocused
projects
in class. Homework: Continue
developing your
paper. A very good draft of which is due on Wednesday (it is still a
draft.
Translate the content for an academic audience but do not fret about
editing
yet.) Apr.
26 (Wed). Very
good draft of paper due (translated for an academic audience).
Discussion of the final portfolio, the ePortfolio, the
meta-analytic essay, and presentations for the final class. The
art and
craft of
Style 4: Revision and editing. Introduction to
the ten steps for editing and
revision.
[See: http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/12stepediting.htm]. Week
7
May.
1 (Wed). Presentations of the research and final project. Each
student will make a three-five minutes presentation of his or her final
project to the rest of the class. Brochures may be handed
out and discussed, posters observed, websites and PowerPoints viewed,
etc. Please let me know what technology you will need in advance! May.
3 (Wed). LAST CLASS. Finish up presentations to your fellow
students.
Evaluations
of
the class
and final discussion about the final portfolio, the ePortfolio, and the
meta-analytic essay. Week
8
May.
9-10 Reading days --use this time wisely! May 10 (Wed)
Final paper, annotated
bibliography, meta-cognitive introduction, and EVERYTHING ELSE YOU HAVE
WRITTEN IN THIS COURSE
THIS SEMESTER
due in a folder outside my office by noon and/or in your folder on the
k:drive (See guidelines for portfolio
production)
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| Contact: sjamieso@drew.edu | Drew University | Composition Program | English Dept | Drew Library | |