Thanks to the COM352 students for contributing a bunch of new pages! I'll be moving these pages into the main area of the wiki soon.

From UMassWiki

Activities: March 8

Please bring your Penguin Handbooks and papers just in case you have time to work on earning some of those mechanical/grammar points back.

ALSO, bring a flashdrive or disk with extra credit work if you weren't able to figure out how to add your homework in the proper places and you want to do so.

This will be nuts-n-bolts learn-the-wiki day. If you are still trying to figure out how to move around and DO THINGS with this software - BE HERE! If you know it all (and I doubt it) - COME ANYWAY because we will make important decisions that will effect the rest of your semester in this class.

• What is the conversation we are having together (students and teacher) concerning the progress of this class?

A test of analytical skill.

• Who needs help uploading your paper for extra credit?

A test of your ability to learn (who? Doing what?.) {Steph, don't forget to continue with "Introducing..." and "why belief evolved."

• Speaking (and writing) of conversations...where are we with Kothari and Anzaldua? (CoronaPants - are you logged in yet? DO IT. Anyone else without a subheading on my User talk page needs to get there and make one! Get help with logging in and/or navigating if necessary. Now!

A test of analytical skill, particularly in the application of several concepts: the rhetorical situation (we have two, right?), author (purpose, context), audience (demographics, ideology...), topic(s) and/or subject(s); three different rhetorical strategies (ethos, logos, pathos); and three types of statements - summarizing, skimming, and asserting claims.

• Who needs help uploading your paper for extra credit? (Please do not be shy. Time, practice, and repetition are necessary to learn these maneuvers!

Tour

• For this tour of College Writing Section 71, we will begin on Steph's User talk page.

• Notice changes to the subheadings so that each of you has a clear label (see "Gnarly" says the IceCreamMan.
• Do I expect you to read my mind? (those bloody links) If you ask a question (as Gnarly did, Posting: on feedback), check for the answer then follow through! {There is a logic, but you might have to think to figure it out.}
• IceCreamMan isn't the only one asking questions. I moved several from the bottom to "your" area, to wit: question: The Jacket, March 6 Homework question, and bronchitis.

• Are we special? We gotta decide and apply. The magazine from the fall cost $7/copy. Consider if you want to be an editor of the class magazine instead of writing a fourth paper! Work on the magazine will begin soon. Step One is deciding what we want and applying for funding.

Interruption: Magazine and Wiki

Everyone is required to have at least one piece published in the class magazine. Everything published in the class magazine will be uploaded to the course wiki site by the wiki editorial team. See Wiki World for an example from last fall's class (Section 68).

I would like to use the wiki as much as possible for upcoming work. In particular, I find the Reflection Letters powerful and ask you to consider posting them from your own UserPage. If you are willing to post drafts for feedback in the wiki, then we can eliminate some paper, printing and photocopying costs and usage. I hope everyone will feel comfortable posting your final drafts of each Unit from your own UserPage. At the end of the term, you'll earn some extra credit for the care you take with your own UserPage. It can be clean and simple, like Nikki's UserPage or elaborate, like these junior Communication majors: Chrisismadgoodatwriting and Rshall. You can peruse more of the juniors' work at Who Are We? and the range of freshperson's userpages at Class members.

Students who elect to be editors of either the Class Magazine or the Section 71 Wiki will not have to write the final paper (Unit 4). However, you will be required to work closely with Steph and your respective Editorial Team throughout the semester.

Tour, resumed

• There is a difference between the User Page and the Usertalk Page. Let's pick on TheFlyingScotsman. EVERYONE needs to fix this if you made this error!
• I also thought I would show you how to figure out who made an unsigned post. This is also how you can track changes made to any page in the wiki, by using the history tab.
• Respecting and protecting each other's identity. We need to establish some groundrules. First names only? Do not give away an anonymous username if you figure out who it is? Always use the wikiusername? Let's talk.
• Have you read and clicked through on the links in the Welcome Info? DO SO!
• Unit Four, the final project. You will have a choice:

course wiki editorial team (3-4 persons)

course magazine editorial team (3-4 persons)

another paper.

If you are interested in being on the wiki team, please apply. If you are interested in being on the magazine team, apply here. If you do not demonstrate interest in the wiki team or the magazine team that is fine. More writing is good! :-)

Homework: due 13 March

Please spend the weekend either re-writing your Identity paper or getting a serious start on the Unit Two paper. If you follow the first link it will link you through to a general description of this assignment. More specific details are available on possible ways of responding to any text.

If you are not rewriting, your Reflection Letter on the first Unit is due.

Remember, we will be observed by Steph's supervising teacher on Thursday, March 15th. (He only cares about what I do; he will not be judging you!) It will be a normal day. steph (COM) 14:22, 4 March 2007 (EST)

Note for Steph: we did not finish the in-class work on "Conversation on Censorship and Youth Culture" back on Day 10 (March 1).

Extra Credit

The BEST way to earn back those grammar and mechanics "baseline" points is to do the Penguin Handbook Activity. You can, however, read and critique my second serious draft of an Identity paper. Click through and follow the directions! steph (COM) 01:16, 8 March 2007 (EST)

Penguin Points

The criteria for earning the grammar and mechanics points back are posted on the course homepage.