March 14

Paper Three Breakdown
As a whole, the class continues to perform not just well, but strongly. This means we will continue flex time, will continue optional essay discussion, and will begin loosening peer revision requirements as well.

Here's how we did:

• A: 1
• B+: 1
• B/B+: 1
• B: 0
• B/C+: 1
• C: 2
• C/NP+: 3
• No Paper: 5

Essentially, everyone is passing, or so near to passing as to be of little concern. Great job guys!

Paper Three Global Comments
Here are some issues I saw in Paper Three that you might want to keep in mind:

• When working with three essays, don't feel required to make connections between all three essays in the space of a single paragraph. It's sometimes possible, but more often it creates overly long paragraphs.
• At the same time, when working with three essays, don't make connection across/between paragraphs by discussing a single author in each paragraph.
• Ideally, you will move flexibly between the essays--discussing a single one when it serves your project, but more often discussing two and then moving into a discussion of a different two--again as it serves your argument.

Working with three essays is always tricky. If you go to the 101 Course Homepage you'll find help for this issue in the Tutorama.

Peer Revision
No one requested specific partners, so here are the groupings:

1. riverranch, sazzu, Lori, JerseyJoe313
2. alstar, Carolina, azhelen
3. Talichka, JLBD1250, LOVABLE984

If you do not see your name, then join in to group 2 or 3. This time, there are no specific directions for peer revision. I would ask that you read the paper of everyone in your group, but I am not requiring peer revision at all. I will say, however, that students who get some kind of peer feedback and revise from that generall do half a letter grade better on the final draft. You've all managed to progress in this class without intensive discussion, and without really effective peer revision, so I am leaving it up to you to make this peer revision work for you.

At this point in the semester, you should have some sense of what I look for when I grade, just by looking at the comments I have put on your papers. Use this as a guideline for the kinds of comments to make on your peer's drafts.

To Do for Next Class:

1. Post drafts by Sunday 7PM. If you cannot see the "Put All Rough Drafts Here" forum, post your draft in the Virtual Classroom and be sure to notify your group that you've done so (get email addresses from the "this is us" thread).
2. Complete (optimally) peer revision for everyone in your group by Friday, 3/22. 7PM. If this presents a problem, OK late peer revisions with the other members of your group.
3. Read Stille. Post threads if you'd like to discuss it (I should be posting the assignment some time after I get back, but the general idea is always the same: examine the issues of this essay in light of the issues of any one of the other essays we have read).