Class #22 & 23: Final Skube Do's (and Don'ts) SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!

Class Discussion: Important Dates for Final Paper, Family Conference schedule (For Wednesday, April 23rd), Final Paper Literature Review  Lit Review/Research Proposal Questions, Reflective Essay Discussion & Thesis Writing Presentation 

IMPORTANT...please rate the class!!! and please do it soon so you do not forget. 

Monday, April 21: Reflective Essay Review/Continue discussion and preparation for final paper

Wednesday, April 23: Family Conferences

Monday, April 28th: Final Full Class meeting -- Reflective Papers Due

Wednesday, April 30th: Optional Class Meeting -- Final Family Edits

Lit Review & Research Proposal: Due April 23rd

Reflective Essay (for Stockton, do it right, get an "A") Due April 28th (hard copies only)

Final Paper & Journals Due 11:59pm April 30th

In-Class Assignment: 

Using the following assertions, we will do a family activity designed to help us see both the importance of connecting our research back to our arguments AND seeing the basic skeletal approach to argumentation in composition. 

The entire family will construct one of two short pieces for the class: "You Betcha" or "Not So Fast, My Friend!"

The PROCESS: Each family will choose one of the following commonly believed (or disputed assertions): 

1. Eating carrots improves your eyesight. 

2. Sitting in the sun ruins your skin. 

3. Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis. 

4. Reading in the dark damages your eyes. 

5. The temperature on Earth is getting warmer. 

6. There are more frequent and deadlier storms now than 20 years ago. 

7. The sea level is steadily rising. 

You will choose one of the seven assertions listed above. Then, as a family...you will go off and research IN ORDER to determine whether the assertion is true or not. YOU MUST REACH CONSENSUS! AND...you must return to class with ONLY 3 of the best, most credible sources that back your argument that the assertion is either true or false. 

Reading Assignment 1: Read the following information, once again courtesy of the writing center at the University of North Carolina: 

Does evidence speak for itself?

Absolutely not. After you introduce evidence into your writing, you must say why and how this evidence supports your argument. In other words, you have to explain the significance of the evidence and its function in your paper. What turns a fact or piece of information into evidence is the connection it has with a larger claim or argument: evidence is always evidence for or against something, and you have to make that link clear.

As writers, we sometimes assume that our readers already know what we are talking about; we may be wary of elaborating too much because we think the point is obvious. But readers can’t read our minds: although they may be familiar with many of the ideas we are discussing, they don’t know what we are trying to do with those ideas unless we indicate it through explanations, organization, transitions, and so forth. Try to spell out the connections that you were making in your mind when you chose your evidence, decided where to place it in your paper, and drew conclusions based on it. Remember, you can always cut prose from your paper later if you decide that you are stating the obvious.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself about a particular bit of evidence. Answering them may help you explain how your evidence is related to your overall argument:

1. O.k., I’ve just stated this point, but so what? Why is it interesting? Why should anyone care?
2. What does this information imply?
3. What are the consequences of thinking this way or looking at a problem this way?
4. I’ve just described what something is like or how I see it, but why is it like that?
5. I’ve just said that something happens-so how does it happen? How does it come to be the way it is?
6. Why is this information important? Why does it matter?
7. How is this idea related to my thesis? What connections exist between them? Does it support my thesis? If so, how does it do that?
8. Can I give an example to illustrate this point?

Reading Assignment #2: Also from UNC Writing will be given to you in hand-out form. 

Remember that a final copy of your Skube paper is due to me Monday, April 21