Syllabus
MLA
Essays
Blogs
Argument/Good Writing
100

When is the final for this class?

8:00 -- Friday at 8:00 AM

9:00 -- Wednesday at 8:00 AM

10:00 -- Friday at 10:15 AM

100

What font, font-size, and line spacing does MLA call for?

Times New Roman, 12 pt font, double spaced

100

Name the three major essays we wrote for this class

Children's book analysis, fairy tale analysis, Wikipedia project

100

Who wrote "A Modest Proposal," and what does the author propose?

Author: Jonathan Swift

Swift satirically proposes eating the babies of Ireland to combat poverty

100

What's one tip for writing concisely? What's one tip for writing descriptively?

Get rid of redundancy, Remove passive verbs, and Remove vague words

Use all of the senses, include vivid similes and metaphors

200

How many points is the final exam (portfolio and final quiz) worth?

100 pts (10% of total grade)

200

What order should a Works Cited be in?

Alphabetical order

200

Name 2 lenses you could have used for your fairy tale analysis, and explain what they do.

New-Historicist: Examines context of a work

Marxist: Examines power-dynamics in a work, especially in the context of capitalism

Feminist: Examines the gender roles and dynamics in a work

Psychoanalytic: Examines the unspoken/subconscious desires and fears within a work, esp. in relation to sexual development

Archetypal: Examines the recurrent types of characters in a work


200

Define Satire

Satire: "the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues"

200

What's one thing I tell you to exclude in your writing?

The use of "you"

Vague nouns (it, them, they, that)

Passive verbs (am, is, are, was, were, has, has been)

300

What's my name, and what classroom are you in right now?

Jane Blakeley

8:00 HU 104

9:00 HU 212

10:00 HU 202

300

What is the purpose of a literature review? What, broadly, is included in a literature review?

A literature review organizes the existing research (and helps identify holes in the research), serves as a quick refresh for the author, background knowledge for the reader, and provides the author with the necessary ethos. 

Generally, a literature review should have an intro (which outlines the organization of the review, highlighting broad trends), a body (which reviews the existing literature on a particular subject), and a conclusion (which reminds the reader of the trends in the literature and identifies the path forward). 

300

Name three elements you could have examined in your children's book analysis

Audience, Kairos, Intertextuality, Ethos (credibility), Pathos (emotion), Logos (logic/evidence), color, imagery, representation, etc. 

300

Write down the format for a complaint letter on the board

Addressee

Addressee Title

Addressee Address

Address 2


Date


Dear Addressee:


Problem paragraph

Buttering up paragraph

What you want done paragraph

Sincerely,

   Signer


P.S. Small, believable threat that reiterates what you want done

300

Why should you not use "you" in your writing?

It makes assumptions about your reader (i.e. "You should stop smoking because smoking causes lung cancer.")

400

What percentage of each major essay grade is based on peer review?

15%

400

Using the citation and info below, create a correct in-text citation

In the beginning (1st paragraph) of the story, the young protagonist, Little Red Riding Hood, is presented as a “little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever seen” who is doted on by her mother and grandmother.

Perrault, Charles. “Little Red Riding Hood.” Little Red Riding Hood and Other Tales of Aarne-Thompson-Uther, edited by D.L. Ashliman, 2015, http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/type0333.html.

In the beginning of the story, the young protagonist, Little Red Riding Hood, is presented as a “little country girl, the prettiest creature who was ever seen” who is doted on by her mother and grandmother (Perrault par. 1).

400

Name 2 tips for making Wikipedia edits

Write clearly, informatively, and without unnecessary jargon

Be concise

Avoid writing in first or second person (avoid the perception of a perspective)

Provide necessary context (state the obvious)

Avoid peacock and weasel terms

400

According to the reading we did in class, what is the least effective mode/format to complain and get what you want?

What are two mistakes people often make when complaining? (What are the two extremes?)

By phone is the least effective mode

Asking meekly and apologizing; being overly rude and loud. Alternately, not knowing what you want, not being clear about how you've been wronged. 

400

Define ethos, pathos, and logos. Provide examples of each

Ethos: Appeals to credibility

Pathos: Appeals to emotion

Logos: Appeals to logic/evidence

Examples will vary

500

Name all of the things that should be included in your portfolio (name each)

Cover letter, table of contents*, Am Not! Are Too! Blog, Modest Proposal Blog, Complaint Letter Blog, Children's Book Analysis, Fairy Tale Analysis, and Wikipedia Project Essay

500

Use the info below to create a citation for a chapter in a book:

Title: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Author: J. K. Rowling

Chapter Title: "The Boy Who Lived"

Pages where chapter appears: 2-14

Date Published: 2001

Publisher: Scholastic

Rowling, J. K. "The Boy Who Lived." Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Scholastic, 2001, pp. 2-14.

500

Where can you find out who made which edits when on a Wikipedia page?

How many sources (and of what type) did you need for the Wikipedia essay?


Under the "Page History" tab

You needed 7 total sources: 3 academic/library, 3 popular, and 1 Wikipedia page

500

Name the subject of one of your peer's blog posts who is not in your group

Answers will vary

500

Name three fallacies and come up with an example for each

Emotion: Scare tactics, either/or choices, slippery slope, bandwagon, sentimental

Credibility/Authority: False Authority, Dogmatism, Ad hominem, Stack the Deck

Evidence/Logic: Hasty Generalizations, Faulty causality (post hoc, ergo propter hoc and correlation = causation), Begging the question (circular argumentation), Equivocations, Non sequitur, Straw Man, Red Herring, Faulty Analogy

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