ENGL147 Advanced English Composition
Week 1 Discussion
You Do Have a Voice; You Do Have a Perspective:?Explore a Topic?and Viewpoints
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: pp. 63-91, and review pp. 266-270
Lesson
Play media comment.
Minimum of 1 scholarly, peer-reviewed article from the Chamberlain University Library (Links to an external site.) (in addition to the textbook)
Apply the following writing resources to your assignment:
Link (multimedia presentation):?Citing References in Text?(Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Link (website):?APA Citation and Writing (Links to an external site.)
Part 1: Research, Read, Think, Respond
First, please note the course theme announcement your instructor has posted. Your topic must address the course theme. Then, carefully read this week's Lesson and textbook pages. Once you have completed and considered those readings, with the assigned course theme in mind, you should have some viable starting ideas for a tentative topic.
Next, with a few of your own potential topics related to the course theme in mind, please go to the Chamberlain University Library (Links to an external site.). Please first review the Searching for Scholarly Sources in the Chamberlain University Library tutorial in the bulleted list above under Required Resources (important and helpful), and then spend a good amount of time experimenting with keywords and narrowing techniques.
During this process, the tentative topics you had in mind when you started will narrow, possibly change, perhaps take on different qualities. Your goal for this discussion is to generate possible topics, to research and locate scholarly sources that address those possible topics, and to narrow to a focused topic you will write about for the course.
Instructions for Your Discussion Post:
Referring back to the "But How Do I Choose My Topic" section of the Lesson, share your approaches to each step and which tentative topic and stance you arrived at. In one rich, substantive paragraph, address the following:
During the exploration of topics phase, which of the topic generation methods from this week's lesson worked best for you and why? Please be specific and offer examples. Did you brainstorm and narrow? How?
Describe your use of the questioning process that helped you to narrow your focus, the Who, Where, When, Why, How.
When you spent time thinking about whether your topic is truly debatable, what possibilities arose? Where do you stand? Where might others stand with or in opposition to you?
Finally, review the "What Do I Want to Accomplish" paragraph in the lesson and describe what you wish to accomplish.
Then, for that same topic, share the position and thoughts offered in one article from your library search. In one rich, substantive paragraph, address the following:
Please provide the title and author of the scholarly, peer-reviewed article you chose and offer a brief summary of the author's purpose and points.
Does the author tend to agree with you or not? Please explain.
Do you feel this article may be useful to you in your work on the major argument research paper? Why or why not? Be specific.
Initial Post Citation and Referencing: All sources discussed?must be cited and referenced?in APA format. For pointers on APA citations, please refer to the Chamberlain Library's?Citation and Writing Assistance?website (noted in Required Resources).
Follow-Up Post Instructions
Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Please provide rich, substantive, constructive feedback that will help your fellow students develop their topics by asking questions, pointing to additional research, or providing professional and personal examples. Help your fellow peers to brainstorm potential supporting and opposing points for their topics. Finally, offer some suggestions for how your peers might narrow their topics. A respectful, professional tone is expected.
Note:?If you see that someone has already received feedback from two peers, please choose to help a peer who has yet to obtain feedback. Check back regularly and reply those who have responded to you, including any classmates and/or your instructor
ENGL147 Advanced English Composition
Week 2 Discussion
Humble yet Assertive? Agreeing with Opponents? Concession and Refutation, and Workshopping toward Your Week 2 Assignment
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: Chapter 3 and pp. 94-107, 295-297, and 306, 337-356
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Apply the following writing resources to your assignment:
Link (multimedia presentation):?Citing References in Text?(Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Link (website):?APA Citation and Writing (Links to an external site.)
Part 1: Research & Review
With your specific argument stance (thesis/claim) in mind, locate one scholarly source with opinions that do not agree with your own stance. Using Toulmin's model, demonstrate source evaluation and the use of concession and refutation to rebut an opposing viewpoint, keeping in mind the importance of a humble yet assertive tone.
First, in 1-2 rich paragraphs, examine the author's application of the Toulmin Model. First, note your source's author, title, and year, and answer all of the following as related to the author's use of argument:
Claim: What is the article's main point and purpose? Who is the author's audience?
Grounds: Provide at least one example of support the author uses for this claim. Be sure to use proper quotation or paraphrasing methods with correct APA in-text citation.
Warrants: How does the author successfully connect this evidence to the article's main point?
Backing: Evaluate the author's sources for currency, credibility, and relevance.
Qualifiers: Note some specific absolutes (all, every, each) and some specific limiters (some, several, many) in the author's stance and points. How do they add or subtract from the argument?
Then in 1-2 rich paragraphs, also in your main post, answer the following as related to your stance for your argument essay:
Locate a specific opposing point within the article: Note one point in this article that opposes your stance, using proper source integration and citation techniques.
Concession: Although the point is in opposition to your own stance, describe the merits of the point. What elements of the point do you see as valid? Who in your own audience might agree with this opposing source and why?
Refutation: Although you are able to find merits to the point and to see that some readers may agree with this opposing viewpoint, how will you refute the point? What might you say and do to convince readers that despite holding some merit, the viewpoint is not as valid or useful as your own stance on the issue? How will your approach to this opposing viewpoint influence your audience's reaction to your essay? Again, remember to use correct quotation or paraphrasing techniques with correct APA in-text citation.
Follow-Up Post Instructions
Respond with depth and substance to at least two peers, thoroughly answering the following:
In reviewing your peer's concession to and refutation of their chosen opposing article, note specific ways in which your peer utilized concession and refutation well.
Then, note specific ways in which your peer might employ concession and refutation in more powerful or different ways.
Remember, the goal here is to find multiple perspectives, but those perspectives should be both professional and respectful. Ask questions to keep the conversation going.
Note: If you see that someone has already received feedback from two peers, please choose to help a peer who has yet to obtain feedback. Check back regularly and reply those who have responded to you, including any classmates and/or your instructor.
ENGL147 Advanced English Composition
Week 3 Discussion
Breaking the Cherry-Picking Habit - Why Write an Annotated Bibliography? Layers of Information and Finding Your Source's "Niche" in Your Argument
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: pp. 2-26, 32-36, and review pages 270-293 & 337-356.
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Apply the following writing resources to your posts:
Link (multimedia presentation): Citing References in Text (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Link (website): APA Citation and Writing (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Initial Post Instructions
Main Post Paragraph 1: Share Your Thoughts on Annotated Bibliographies
Please take the time to reflect and to honestly respond to all of the following (in a single, well-developed paragraph):
When you started this class, did you fully understand the definition of an "annotated bibliography"?
Based on your textbook and lesson readings for this week, what do you now understand an annotated bibliography to be? Have you been guilty of "cherry picking" from the sources you write about? Explain.
In what ways do you anticipate your annotated bibliography being helpful to you in writing a strong, compelling argument research essay?
Also, after reviewing the lesson and the textbook, what remaining questions do you have about the annotated bibliography in general and/or about our assignment this week?
Main Post Paragraph 2: Perform an Initial Source Evaluation
Part of this week's assignment will ask you to richly evaluate your potential sources for your argument research essay. This post will get you started by allowing you to practice with one of those sources. In a single, rich paragraph:
Introduce the source by author, title, and year, and summarize it briefly.
Explain why you chose this source over others.
Briefly run through all five elements of the CRAAP test.
How thoroughly have you read this source and how many times?
How have you benefited from more thorough readings of the source?
Follow-Up Post Instructions
Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Here, we have an opportunity to learn by example and to offer guidance for one another. The purpose of your responses to others is to support success. Provide rich feedback that you feel guides your classmates toward a high-quality annotated bibliography. Try to reply to classmates who have not yet received a useful response.
ENGL147 Advanced English Composition
Week 4 Discussion
How Do the Top Dogs Do It? Learning from Example Toward Effective Drafting
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: pp. 469-494.
Lesson
Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook)
Apply the following writing resources to your posts:
Link (multimedia presentation): Citing References in Text (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Link (website): APA Citation and Writing (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Initial Post Instructions
Main Post Paragraph 1: Evaluate an argumentative point
Choose a reading from the assigned pages in your textbook and note how the author addresses an argumentative point in the body of the article (in other words, not in the introduction paragraph(s) nor in the conclusion paragraph(s). Work to find a body point that demonstrates a range of strategies like logic, refutation, and author's voice.
Then, please take the time to read and re-read the entire piece and your chosen section a few times, jotting down notes to help you, before composing a paragraph that addresses all of the following:
In what ways do you see the author's voice being used? How does the author's own voice (not the sources' voices) drive and frame the argument?
What does the author use for support for the point? (for example, logic created by the author, sources, a combination?) Is this effective, in your view? Why or why not?
Does the author use any logical fallacies? If so, name them and explain why they are fallacies. If not, explain why the author's logic is solid.
Does the form of this reading match the form of the writing we are learning: full essay paragraphs? If so, explain why and how. If not, explain why you think this particular piece of reading does not use academic essay format and what you might do to revise it. In other words, if there are many short paragraphs, could you put some together to form single paragraphs that are still driven by the author's voice?
Main Post Paragraph 2: Practice Using Your Voice in a Full Body Paragraph Toward Your Essay
Referring back to the lesson, please compose and present a single, well-developed draft of one body paragraph for our argument research essay, paying special attention to making your voice the driving force and to using solid logic. Remember the parts of a good body paragraph for an argument essay:
Composing a smooth, clear topic sentence in your voice that provides a transition and that asserts your topic for the paragraph
Using your voice to introduce and present your evidence that supports your topic sentence
Using logic in your voice to tie the evidence to your argumentative point
Avoiding logical fallacies
Using concession and rebuttal if you are presenting opposing viewpoints
Ending strongly with your voice in an extended explanation of how all factors involved in this paragraph drive home your argument in this particular point
Making sure to synthesize throughout, with clear connections between all evidence and all of your logic and assertions
Follow-Up Post Instructions
Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Here, in reading others' posts and replying to them, you will learn a great deal more about approaches to composing good argumentative points. In your follow-up posts, please share your thoughts on your classmates' analysis of the textbook reading and review your classmates' own paragraph drafts, using the best practices studied this week to evaluate how well the student has applied all principles and to offer suggestions for improvement. Please fully explain your evaluations.
ENGL147 Advanced English Composition
Week 5 Discussion
“Drop the Microphone”: Examine Examples toward More Compelling Argument Essay Drafts, and Putting the Spotlight on You - The Person and the Passion Behind the Stance and Topic
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: pp. 402-422.
Lesson
Minimum of 1 source from the textbook
Apply the following writing resources to your posts:
Link (multimedia presentation): Citing References in Text (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Link (website): APA Citation and Writing (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Initial Post Instructions
Main Post: Share "Good to Great" Techniques You Picked up in Your Textbook Readings
To begin, look over the readings (sample essays/articles) of the text. Read as many as you'd like; you do not need to choose just one. You are not evaluating one essay in this discussion (although you may work with just one if you would like). Rather, you are evaluating argument techniques, effective word choice and transitions, the author's voice, and the development of points with evidence. Not everything in these readings will be relevant for you; it is your job to find those powerful gems of wisdom that make you think, "Yes! I can apply this same technique!"
So, as you look through the readings and choose single items and sections to focus on, take your own notes and jot down your own thoughts before writing and posting your formal response to the following:
Quote one exact passage from a reading explaining the technique that appealed to you. This may be a particular use of logic, the way an author puts flair on a synthesis of support and opposition, a transition technique you had not considered, the way an author discusses (concedes and refutes) an opposing viewpoint, how an author drives the writing with voice, or any argument technique that "spoke to you." Next, explain in as much detail as possible how you will use this technique in your own argument research essay. Which portion of your essay and/or with which source? How will you apply it to strengthen your essay?
Example structure:
Quotation: (quote, cite in-text, and include at the end of your post a full reference)
Technique that appealed to you in this quotation and why (being as detailed as possible).
How you will use the technique: Be very specific and detailed, explaining exactly where in your essay you would like to use it, in which section, with sources, for voice, for anything that contributes to the effectiveness of your essay.
Example:
Quotation 1: McCloskey (2016) asserts: "In any case, the problem is poverty, not inequality as such—not how many yachts the L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt has, but whether the average Frenchwoman has enough to eat" (p. 499).
Technique that appeals to me: The technique that appeals to me in this passage is the stark contrast between rich and poor and the very specific example, not just of rich people, but of a specifically named rich person. This appealed to me because seeing an author paint a picture in my own mind helped me to understand that I can easily improve my essay with this simple technique. I also love the transition here and the clarification of the problem. It's a good transition to show a shift to what really matters, and I hadn't thought about defining what the problem "is" and "is not."
How I will use the technique in my draft: I will use this technique in a few places in my essay where I give general examples but could be much more powerful for my reader by offering something precise. One particular point in my essay addresses the problems some people have with no transportation to local clinics. In my essay, I wrote, "Consider, for example, those single mothers who cannot afford a vehicle and whose hands are tied when their children suddenly become very ill." To apply McCloskey's technique, I might instead say, "Consider, for example, the single mother who lives five miles from the nearest local clinic. Her three-month-old baby suddenly spikes a fever of 101 degrees, she has no car, all of her relatives live in other states, and it is below freezing outside." In addition, I looked for places in my essay in which I could use this stronger transition and definition of problem technique. I found in my third paragraph, this: "If a clinic is more than a mile away, walking there with a child is an unreasonable expectation but necessary." I realized that while this is a good argument, I could make it clear that distance is not the central issue, like McCloskey did with inequality. My idea for adding clarity is: "However, precise distance is not the key concern; the real concern is the peace of mind that local access brings to families." I'm still working on the wording of this, but I will definitely apply this technique.
Reference for source used in this example:
McCloskey, D. N. (2016). The formula for a richer world? Equality, liberty, justice and wealth. In S.U. Seyler, & A. Brizzee (Eds.), Read, reason, write: An argument text and reader. (pp. 497-502). McGraw-Hill.
Follow-Up Post Instructions
Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Here, in reading others' posts and replying to them, you will learn a great deal more about approaches to composing good argumentative points and about the passion and the person behind your classmates' stances. In your follow-up posts, please share your thoughts on your classmates' analysis of the textbook reading and respond to their personal reflections with substance.
ENGL147 Advanced English Composition
Week 6 Discussion
Being a True and Dedicated Colleague: Guided Formal Peer Review of Argument Research Essay Drafts
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Required Peer Review SheetPreview the document
Lesson
Initial Post Instructions
Main Post Part 1: Attach Your Draft and Explain Your Goals
After you have thoroughly read and revisited this week's lesson, you will be ready to perform rich, authentic, expansive, useful peer reviews for your classmates. This is one tool of several that you will use during the important process of revision. During revision, you will "re-vision" your writing to find ways to improve argument, focus, support, organization, voice, and all other aspects of an argument research essay; therefore, additional "sets of eyes" are extremely useful. What's more, you, the reviewer, will pick up ways to improve your own paper while reading the approaches others are taking, during your reviews of your classmates' essays.
To that end, this week in our discussion area, we will be sharing our full argument research essay drafts in a class peer review. In order to make this process run smoothly, please be sure to follow these instructions:
Find your name on the peer review assignment list provided by your professor to determine whether you are in Group A, B, C, D, or E.
Once you have located your assigned group (and no later than Wednesday), join that discussion area by attaching your most recently revised draft as your initial post.
This may be the draft you submitted to your instructor in Week 5, or you may have made changes since then and will wish to post your most updated copy (remember the "good" to "great" portion of the Lesson!)
In your post, also compose a good paragraph offering information about your draft in which you address at least three of your major revision goals. Do not list mechanical items like grammar and APA because it is a given that you'll edit and proofread for those items. Instead, note at least three content-related goals, such as stronger support for one point, connecting sources to your logic more powerfully, and unifying your points to align well with your thesis. These are just examples; please write a paragraph that notes your own goals and explains the "why" and "how" of those. Be sure to ask your professor if you have any questions about the peer review process.
Peer Review (Follow-Up Post) Instructions
You must reply to two of the peers in your group with a full review of each of those peers' drafts.
Find the two peers who have posted after you in terms of time.
Read their attached essays and any notes they left to accompany the draft.
Download the Peer Review Sheet. Complete the form separately for each of the two peers whose drafts you will be reviewing.
Return your completed Peer Review Sheet as an attachment in a response post to each of your peers separately. Peer reviews must be completed and posted as replies to your classmates no later than Friday night. The reason your peer reviews are due earlier in the week than other discussion replies is that your classmates must have enough time to utilize your feedback.
Through Sunday: Continue to check into your group Discussion area to reply back to your reviewers with any questions or clarification you have for them and to check for questions and comments from the students you reviewed.
ENGL147 Advanced English Composition
Week 7 Discussion
Ending Toxic Relationships with Revision; Revision Workshopping
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: pp. 303-305.
Lesson
Apply the following writing resources to your posts:
Link (multimedia presentation): Citing References in Text (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Link (website): APA Citation and Writing (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Initial Post Instructions
Main Post Part 1: Share Your Revision Plan
You have now received feedback from your instructor and from your peers, and you have already been applying revision strategies to your draft in the past week.
This week, you will perform final, guided revisions in six levels: global, section, paragraph, sentence, word, and final proofreading. After you have read and studied the lesson and the assigned textbook readings for the week, you will make a plan for addressing these levels of revision.
In one full paragraph, please share how you are approaching revisions now and how you will continue to do so before submitting your final draft. In this paragraph, answer the following questions:
Which days and time slots on your calendar this week have you set aside to fully address each of the six distinct levels of revision as addressed in the lesson? Be very specific.
Why did you choose these days and time slots? Be very specific.
By now, you should have begun working through the stages of revision. Which stage are you in? Please share how you approached the stage(s) you have worked through. What insights have you gained? What changes have you made? Be very specific.
Main Post Part 2: Share Your Rewards Plan
We understand the importance of self-care and of rewarding ourselves for our good efforts. "Revision Week" can be stressful because revision takes hard mental work and time and because you may also be very busy in other classes or with other endeavors. Review the portion of the lesson that suggests ideas for rewarding yourself during your revision stages in order to stay refreshed and motivated.
In one full paragraph, please carefully describe at least three of your unique post-revision level rewards for this week.
What are the rewards?
Where do they occur?
What will they look like?
Who will be there?
How will each reward refresh you?
Be very specific and descriptive; let your classmates truly "see" the creative and rejuvenating choices you are making!
Follow-Up Post Instructions
Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Here, in reading others' posts and replying to them, you will learn a great deal more about approaches to applying levels to revision and to avoiding burn-out through creating incentives. In your follow-up posts, please share your thoughts on your classmates' approaches to specific revision levels and note similarities and differences between your classmates' approaches and your own. In addition, share your thoughts on your classmates' ideas for self-reward, also noting similarities and differences between your classmates' self-reward ideas and your own.
ENGL147 Advanced English Composition
Week 8 Discussion
Reflection
Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:
Textbook: pp. 510-523.
Lesson
Apply the following writing resources to your posts:
Link (multimedia presentation): Citing References in Text (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Link (website): APA Citation and Writing (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Initial Post Instructions
Main Post Part 1: Read and Respond
After thoroughly reading the Week 8 lesson and the required textbook pages, go back and re-read, specifically, the articles from the assigned Week 8 textbook pages. Ask yourself: In the textbook readings, which statements in these articles inspire me? How and why? Do any statements bother me? How and why?" Take careful notes, jotting down quotations and your reactions to them, based on those questions. After you have given good time and attention to this process, you will begin writing Part 1 of your discussion post.
A note: Keep in mind that your actual post will require that you express yourself openly. While correctness is always important, try to steer away from obsessing over strict "rules" so that you may focus on you and your feelings and passions. It is absolutely crucial that we step away, at times, from intellectualizing and dive, instead, into pure gut reaction, to what our heart says about what we are reading and into writing about that freely. This is the fertile soil for those big ideas that might turn into dreams, then into realities, in our future.
Instructions for Part 1:
Identify two specific direct quotations from two separate readings in your assigned Week 8 textbook pages that you noted having a gut/heart reaction to. Be sure to use signal phrases and to cite these in-text and in an end reference.
In at least one full paragraph, write about one quotation at a time. Identify the first quotation, then truly let yourself go. Let your heart and gut speak. Why did you choose this first quotation? How did it make you feel? Why? Then, in the same paragraph, identify the second quotation. Finally, as with the first quotation, truly let yourself go. Let your heart and gut speak. Why did you choose this second quotation? How did it make you feel? Why?
Main Post Part 2: So...What Are You Inspired to Do?
In another full paragraph minimum, still sticking to your heart and gut, freely write about what your reactions in Part 1 inspire you to do.
Note: Before composing this part of your post, you should brainstorm separately, in your own notebook or on a "brainstorming Word doc," generating many possibilities: large, small, local, global, at home, in the community, with one person, with a thousand people, whatever occurs to you. Let yourself "go" and list, list, list everything that comes to mind as an action you might take in response to your feelings in Part 1. Some of your ideas may seem far-fetched; don't be afraid to express them. Do not limit yourself to sharing just the practical, smart, reasonable actions. Have fun! Then, turn that into a good paragraph for your post.
Follow-Up Post Instructions
Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Here, in reading others' posts and replying to them, you will be exposed to reactions that may be very similar to your own and reactions that may be quite different from yours. You will hopefully also see some wonderful and eye-opening ideas for application. So, in your reply posts, please focus on sharing similarities and differences in your reactions and help your classmates brainstorm for more actions that might be taken based on your classmates' gut and heart reactions and on your own.
