final deadlines for Spring 2018 - Adv. Comp.

Yikes! ... Like yikes, yikes ... we only have 13 school days left in 2017 - 2018!

Here's what we will do:

• The "turnitin mark-up quizzes will be Tue., May 1, Thurs., May 3, & Tue. May 8.
• I'm going to waive the Portfolio on the summative level (I'll explain in class.)
• The final, final thesis for the AoF will be due on Mon., April 30.
• The final outline for the AoF will be due on Fri., May 4.
• The introduction to the AoF (1-2 para.) will be due on Mon., May 7.
• I will check "progress on the body" of the AoF April 8 - 10.
• You will submit/upload your annotated bibliography in class on Thur., May 10. (Like the AoF, I will not/cannot take this late.)
• The AoF will be due at 11:59 PM on Friday, May 11. I will not (actually cannot) accept a late paper for this assignment.
• I'm amending the final to allow for choice between (1) finishing/polishing a portfolio OR (2) giving a presentation. (I'll explain in class.)

Notes at the End of Q1 for Adv. Comp.

I wanted to post these notes on the eve of your five day weekend -- I know it's like a mini-fall break! Here's what you should be working on, broken down by assessment ...

• COLLEGE APP ESSAY - take a look at the color-coded, .pdf for your due date. Remember, Group 1 = Tues., Oct. 10; Group 2 = Wed., Oct. 11; Group 3 = Thurs., Oct. 12.

• OBSERVATION ESSAY - review all of the links on the Slides show (esp. the rubric and the "optic" exercise) ... I've heard from Mrs. G in the Writing Center that there is some confusion about what a "visual rhetorical strategy is" - this is a strategy, from the "optic" system, to create meaning ... so something like "angle" or "framing" or "focus" is a "visual rhetorical strategy" ... just like use of "ethos" or use of "binaries" is a (written) rhetorical strategy ... [due Friday, Oct. 13 @ 11:59 PM]

• RHETORICAL ANALYSIS - at this point you should have highlighted BOTH Article A and Article B AND written your thesis statement (at least)... you should have completed your pre-writing question set ... moving forward you should review the Ateya and the Kolb examples, as well as the relevant slides from the Slides presentation ... Also, if you want to get started writing, I will remind you that this handout from the Texas A&M Writing Center is an excellent description of the assignment at the college level ... [rough draft due in class Wed., Oct. 18]

• EXPERTISE BOOK - As of this posting, you have 21 days to finish your "expertise book" ... flip to the last page, record the page #, and, simply, subtract that # from the # of the page you are currently on ... then divide by 21 - this # will be the # of pages you need to read daily to keep on pace ... ["expertise book" finished by Friday, Oct. 27]

Adv. Comp. - tips for your nightly homework until the end of the Q.

Thanks to the students in 8th hour for assisting with this list. Here's a .png copy of a Whiteboard photo; these are the four things you should be working on nightly until Oct. 13, 2017!

whiteboard notes from 9/26/17

A Film Review for Journalism

To:   JOURNALISM STUDENTS
Re:   THE FILM REVIEW

For your final written assignment before the final exam you will compose a 2 - 3 pp. film review of an Academy Award winning film, released in the 21st c. Specific requirements and directions for a successful review will be distributed in class, and we will, of course, discuss the assignment at length before the due date. First, we will watch Errol Morris's masterpiece The Thin Blue Line and do some reading about his film. Copious details to follow ...

For now, I wanted to publish a list of the films you can choose from for your review. These are all 21st c. movies. You may choose one of these:

• MOONLIGHT
• SPOTLIGHT
• BIRDMAN
• 12 YEARS A SLAVE
• ARGO
• THE KING'S SPEECH
• THE HURT LOCKER
• SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
• NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
• THE DEPARTED
• CRASH
• MILLION DOLLAR BABY

That's 12 total to choose from. If you want to select an older film, let's discuss it ...

Final AoF Deadline Set

Here is a list of all the upcoming due dates for the required steps to complete the AoF essay. Failure to meet these "progress checks" will affect your final grade on the AoF essay.

1. Final Thesis - Tue., April 25
2. Seven Sentence Outline - Fri., April 28
3. All Sources (for Noodletools Notebook) - Tue., May 2
3. Draft Progress Check 1 (2.5 - 3.5 pp.) - Tue., May 2
4. Draft Progress Check 2 (at least 5 pp.) - Fri., May 5
5. Final Rough Draft Due (8 - 10 pp.) - Mon., May 8
6. Final Final Draft Due (8 - 10 pp.) - Fri., May 12 @ 11:59 PM

Please, see Dr. Jones if you have any questions ...

late Nov. - early Dec. due dates for Adv. Comp.

This is the second in a recent series of posts to help you "sort out" the many upcoming due dates in Adv. Comp. These assessments and other requirements are due between the final progress report deadline yesterday (11/15/16) and the end of the first full week in December ...

Monday, Nov. 21

• blog - formative check
• turnitin.com markup quiz 1

Tuesday, Nov. 22

• AoF outline

Monday, Nov. 28

• turnitin.com markup quiz 2

Tuesday, Nov. 29

• first few pages (2.5 - 3.5) of AoF essay in draft due

Thursday, Dec. 1

• ALL sources due in Noodletools (16 notecards)

Friday, Dec. 2

• turnitin.com markup quiz 3

Tuesday, Dec. 6

• FULL version of AoF draft due for peer-critiquing

Sunday, Dec. 11

• AoF essay due at 11:59 PM

information regarding redos and retakes for all of my classes

updated - Oct. 17, 2017

Students,

Now that the end of the quarter is upon us, I want to share some information regarding redos and retakes for all of my classes and all of my sections.

As with my colleagues in the English Dept., I will (of course) honor the redo/retake policy as articulated by our Dept., which is included in all of my syllabi as well as available here.

Once you have reviewed the policy you will notice I expect you to notify me of your intent to redo or retake within two days of your score posting in Aspen. Just to be clear, I do not expect you to notify me within two days of the due date of the summative assessment but, rather, within two days of seeing your grade in the portal. Once you have notified me, you will have ten days to redo or retake and this timeframe includes any out-of-class redo/retake steps, including but not limited to meeting with me during a mutual free period.

Furthermore, I ask that you notify me of your intentions to redo/retake in writing via email. We will discuss the particulars of these emails in class, but I do expect you to include an appropriate subject line, your name, your class, and your section. Stay tuned for more details!

a busy end to a busy quarter in adv. comp.!

I want to share some clarifying details regarding the end of the quarter push for due dates and such. Here are the relevant dates (in bulleted form), and these dates are also accurately reflected in Aspen as well.

• deadline to post college admissions essay to turnitin.com - Sunday, Oct. 16 @ 11:59 PM
• deadline to post final draft of the Rhetorical Analysis Essay - Sunday, Oct. 23 @ 11:59 PM
• additionally here are the dates "along the way" for the RA assignment
• BOTH Article A and Article B (from Arts & Letters Daily)  - Wed., Oct. 5 @ class
• pre-writing question set - Tue., Oct. 11 @ class
• rough draft (a complete draft) - Tue., Oct. 11 @ class
• deadline to finish reading your "expertise book" - Fri., Nov. 11 @ end-of-class

Think of a Great URL for Your Blog

You will begin blogging soon, and, so, you need to think of a clever URL for your blog. We will use the Google blogging platform Blogger, and your URL will be _____ .blogspot.com. Like mine is drjonessclassnotes.blogspot.com.

So ... come up with something creative, something that express you for those first several letters of your own URL. I'll give you three examples.

First, one of America's most influential bloggers is a guy named Andrew Sullivan (you can google him), and he made a name for himself when he wrote for The Daily Beast. In fact, he became so influential that he started his own blog called The Dish. Now, I'm sure you get the reference, right? The Urban Dictionary defines "the dish" as "the scoop only bigger." Mr. Sullivan is a clever guy! (Unfortunately, The Dish ended continuous publication last June.)

Second, former Houston Chronicle reporter Jenny Lawson runs a blog she's dubbed The Bloggess. She's not a "goddess" she's the "bloggess" -- cha-ching! Oh, and she wins lots and lots of awards too for her scathing, sarcastic humor.

Third, two years ago I had a student named Melanie, and she named her blog "Peanut Butter and Melly." Her URL reflected this accordingly.

Hopefully, these examples illustrate and, well, inspire. Pick a strong name as it will "brand" your blog.

Spruce Up Your Blog!

As you are sprucing up your blogs for my final evaluation, make certain to review my feedback on your "formative" evals. 

Also, do not overlook the advice I gave in class. I've added a pic of these notes from the whiteboard in class. From this list - I am most impressed by those students who "write like they mean it!"