ENGLISH 1121: COLLEGE WRITING AND CRITICAL READING
ANOKA-RAMSEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
ONLINE SCHEDULE
SPRING 2016
1. This course Schedule contains all class activities and due dates that you are responsible for
throughout the semester. Because you have this Schedule from the first day of class, it is up to
you to ensure that you look ahead, stay aware of what’s expected of you, and coordinate your
many life obligations effectively.
2. Each week, you’ll see that the Schedule lists the activities that you are to be working on, including
textbook readings, video screenings, writing exercises, quizzes, paper assignments, and online
small group discussions.
3. The Schedule also lists the dates by which you must complete all work. Keep looking not only at
the activities for the week we’re in, but also for their corresponding due dates in the future.
4. All items are due at NOON on Tuesday of each corresponding week. When you look at the
date range for a particular week, and you see “Due by Noon on Tuesday” right below the
week’s dates, those items listed are due on THAT Tuesday, the Tuesday that falls within
the date range immediately above. Be sure to plan for this accordingly. Remember our
course’s late policy, and review the Syllabus if you have any questions about it.
5. To stay abreast of all class assignments and due dates, I strongly recommend that you review
this Schedule every day. If you do so, keeping track of where you are, and looking ahead to
upcoming assignments and due dates, you'll ensure your success.
Use these links to quickly jump to specific weeks in our course Schedule, below:
Introduction to the Course
Week 1: January 11-15: Introduction to the Course
Advertising Unit
Week 2: January 18-22: Advertising
Week 3: January 25-29: Advertising
Week 4: February 1-5: Advertising
Week 5: February 8-12: Advertising
Television Unit
Week 6: February 15-19: Television
Week 7: February 22-26: Television
Week 8: February 29-March 4: Television
Popular Music Unit
Week 9: March 7-11: Popular Music
Spring Break: March 14-18
Week 10: March 21-25: Popular Music
Week 11: March 28-April 1: Popular Music
Week 12: April 4-8: Popular Music
Movies Unit
Week 13: April 11-15: Movies
Week 14: April 18-22: Movies
Week 15: April 25-29: Movies
Week 16: May 2-6: Movies
Finals Week
Week 17: May 9-13: Final Exam Week
Week 1: January 11-15: Introduction to the Course
This Week’s Activities:
READ
A Note About Online Courses
Taking classes online, such as English 1121, has pros and cons. On the one hand, you get to complete
an entire college course without having to commute daily to campus, and you can work on the course
when it is most convenient for you to do so. These things make online courses ideal for many busy
students.
The drawback, though, is that without the day-to-day contact you get in a seated, face-to-face course, it
can be all too easy to fall behind. Students who are successful in online environments are extremely
dedicated and self-motivated. To ensure that you are fully prepared for our class, make sure you have a
good spot at home for studying: you will need a quiet place with your books, computer, and papers; and
thoughtfully examine your schedule to ascertain if you have enough time to devote to taking this class.
Professors and study skills experts generally estimate that students will spend 16-20 hours per week on a
difficult, 4-credit online course, such as English 1121 (This time estimate includes the 4 hours one would
spend in a brick-and-mortar classroom, plus the 3-4 hours of per credit hour of outside-of-class work that
difficult courses require.). Ideally, you will be able to spend a few hours each day on our
coursework. Therefore, while it is entirely within your power to do exceptionally well in our class, it will
definitely require a significant investment of time, focus, effort, and dedication. Be absolutely sure that
you are ready and able to commit to this heavy work load. If you do not have this amount of time to
dedicate to the class each week, I recommend that you take the class at a different time.
I am excited to work with all of you this semester, and while there’s no doubt that it will definitely be hard
work, I sincerely hope we all enjoy the process of learning and growing together.
Course Orientation
Take a self-guided tour, using these orientation instructions: 1121 Self-Guided Orientation.
Incorporate these Effective Online Communications Guidelines in all of our course interactions.
Read these instructions about the short, Informal Weekly Writings that you’ll submit most weeks.
Common Culture Reading for the Week 2 Advertising Quiz and Discussion
“Advertising,” pp.46-48
“The Cult You’re In,” pp.49-53
“Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals,” pp.54-72
“Jesus Is a Brand of Jeans,” pp.86-91
“Interview with Mark Crispin Miller,” pp.93-99
DISCUSS
Discussion and Writing Groups
You have been assigned to a semester-long Discussion and Writing Group. The Discussion and Writing
Group number that you are assigned to corresponds to the number of the Discussion Room your group
will use throughout the semester; this room is the primary place where you will earn your Active Class
Participation grades. Access this Discussion Room space at Discussions in the drop-down menu under
Communications on the above navigation bar.
Every week you will earn a grade based on what you post in your group’s Discussion Room by noon on
the following Tuesday, so, as with the rest of our schedule, always be looking ahead and keeping track of
what's due. If you wait until next Monday to check and see what's due on Tuesday, you may not have
adequate time to complete the assignments.
You can find your Group Number and groupmates’ names on our 1121 Discussion and Writing Group
List, which is also available in the table in the center of our D2L Brightspace Homepage. Everyone’s
contact information is located above at the Classlist tab, under Communications on the navigation bar—
just click on people’s names for their e-mail addresses.
Take the initiative to introduce yourself to the other students in your group immediately, this
week. Please let everyone know what you prefer to be called, and complete this week’s Discussion
together. Because this is the first week of the semester, there is a lot to discuss this week. The
Discussion closes at noon next Tuesday.
Discussion: Exploring Attitudes About Advertising
In your group’s Discussion Room, located in the Communications drop-down menu, share your ideas
about the following statements. You will earn the highest discussion grade each week by posting a
minimum of 5 times throughout each Discussion, demonstrating a combination of posting in-depth,
thoughtful comments, as well as acknowledging and being responsive to the postings of your fellow group
members. Be sure to engage in TRUE discussions, rather than just writing isolated posts. You will also
earn high grades by participating in your Discussion and Writing Groups throughout each week of the
semester, rather than commenting only on one day, or immediately before the deadline; in both of these
cases, it is impossible to hold real, thoughtful, in-depth discussions.
The controversial quotes that follow are taken from the California Newsreel video The Ad and the Ego
(which you do NOT have to watch—just read the following statements from the film). Share your
agreement or disagreement with your group members, and be sure that you always provide a reason for
your stance on the issues.
a.
Advertising sells products, but it also sells a good deal more than products. It sells values, it sells
images, it sells concepts of love and sexuality, of romance, of success and, perhaps above all, of
normalcy.
b.
Advertising is too stupid and trivial to be taken seriously.
c.
Advertising is so much a part of our environment that we don’t even notice many of the ad
messages around us.
d.
Ads cannot influence me to buy things that I don’t want.
e.
The function of advertising is to produce discontent in human beings. Advertising is designed to
generate an inner sense of conflict within ourselves.
WRITE
Take our Advertising Quiz at Quizzes, located under Assessments on the drop-down menu on the
navigation bar above, after you complete the unit’s readings. This Quiz must be completed by noon next
Tuesday.
When you have a free, uninterrupted hour before noon next Tuesday, take the Writing Diagnostic Essay,
and then submit it at the Dropbox, located under Assessments on the navigation bar above.
SCHEDULE REMINDER
Always be sure that you are looking ahead to the upcoming weeks in our Schedule. For instance, as you
look ahead to Week 2, you'll see that there is both a Quiz on this week's Advertising Readings and a 50minute essay due by noon on Tuesday of next week. You will want to begin both well in advance of the
due date and time, as the Dropbox locks promptly at noon every Tuesday.
Week 2: January 18-22: Advertising
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Discussion on Exploring Attitudes About Advertising closes.
After you have finished last week's assigned Common Culture Reading, take the Advertising Quiz, at the
Quizzes link, in the Assessments drop-down menu. Please note that ALL of our quizzes have a time
limit, which you’ll be able to see when you click to begin each quiz.
Complete and submit the Writing Diagnostic Essay, at the Dropbox link, located above in the
Assessments drop-down menu. All submissions must be formatted as Microsoft Word or Wordcompatible documents.
This Week’s Activities:
READ
Familiarize yourself with the requirements for Paper 1: Advertising Paper Assignment & Rubric. As you
work on the paper, consult the helpful Step-by-Step instructions at the link Formal Paper Assignments:
Step-by-Step Plans. Be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that the magazine advertisement you choose to
analyze meets the assignment requirements: it MUST be for a commercial product or service that a
person could pay money for. It may NOT be a public service announcement, be for a charitable
organization, or be a page or item from a catalog. You will submit a copy of this magazine advertisement
by noon next Tuesday.
Read this Essay Structure Lecture as preparation for your formal papers.
6 Techniques/Principles of Persuasive Advertising Lecture
The Paper-Writing Process Lecture
Little Seagull Handbook (LSH) Readings
W-1: “Writing Contexts”
W-2: “Academic Contexts”
W-3: “Writing Processes”
W-4: “Developing Paragraphs”
W-5: “Designing What You Write”
DISCUSS
Throughout the week in your group’s Discussion Room, share your ideas about the Common Culture
articles you've read. Remember that you will earn the highest discussion grade each week by posting
regularly throughout the week, and for making sure that you are conducting an in-depth, thoughtful,
responsive conversation with your fellow group members.
"The Cult You’re In" by Kalle Lasn
1. Look at Lasn’s introduction; you’ll notice that he writes in second person. What does it mean to
write in second person point-of-view? Why did the writer, Lasn, make this choice? What effect
does it have on you as a reader?
2. According to Lasn, how is advertising similar to a cult? Do you agree or disagree, and why or
why not?
"Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals" by Jib Fowles
3. Why does the U.S. economy require so much advertising? What do ads try to get us to believe
about the products depicted? Why is this so effective?
4. What information in this article surprised you most?
"Jesus Is a Brand of Jeans" by Jean Kilbourne
5. Kilbourne says that advertising creates cities and towns that are homogenized.
a. What does “homogenized” mean?
b. In what ways is this comforting to people?
c. Why is it problematic?
Interview with Mark Crispin Miller,” conducted by PBS Frontline
6. In this article, Miller says some experts claim that the average person is greeted with 2,000
advertising appeals per day. Other experts have placed the number, in recent years, to be closer
to 3,500.
a. What is being included in these counts, to get them so high?
b. Even though you haven’t personally counted the number of commercial messages you
encounter daily, do these figures seem outlandish, or reasonable?
c. Where are people safe from advertising? Where are the clutter-free zones in modern
life?
WRITE
Weekly Writing due next Tuesday at Noon:
1. Begin by either freewriting or brainstorming about your advertisement for 5-10 minutes.
2. Write the complete Introduction and 3 Topic Sentences for your Advertising Paper. This should
consist of the full introduction (attention-getter, brief ad description, thesis statement, and
forecasted proof points), ending in a strong, clear thesis statement, and a minimum of 3 complete
topic sentences, one for the opening of each of your body paragraphs. Each topic sentence must
present a separate reason why your thesis is valid.
Week 3: January 25-29: Advertising
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Week 2 Discussion on the Common Culture advertising articles closes at noon.
A scanned copy of the print advertisement that you are analyzing for the Advertising Paper, along with the
magazine date and title that the advertisement is from, as well as the page numbers that the
advertisement appears on in the print magazine, to the Dropbox, located under the Assessments
menu on the navigation bar, above.
Weekly Writing: Freewriting or Brainstorming; Complete Introduction; 3 Topic Sentences for your
Advertising Paper, submitted to the Dropbox.
This Week’s Activities:
READ
Read the Paper Formatting Guidelines, which apply to all four of your formal papers in this class.
LSH Readings
R-1: “Doing Research”
R-2: “Evaluating Sources”
R-3: “Synthesizing Ideas”
R-4: “Integrating Sources, Avoiding Plagiarism”
Documentation: MLA: MLA Style section
Lecture: MLA Citation and Documentation Style
Video to Watch
Watch the online TEDx Talk on advertising, by Jean Kilbourne, the writer who authored the article we
read, “Jesus Is a Brand of Jeans,” located at the following link, which you will probably need to cut-andpaste to your browser, as D2L Brightspace often won’t let you click to access external links:
“The Dangerous Ways Ads See Women” (15:50 mins.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy8yLaoWybk
DISCUSS
This week, please discuss the TEDx Talk you watched, “The Dangerous Ways Ads See Women.”
1.
One of the first points that Jean Kilbourne makes is that men in our society are “allowed” to age
naturally, whereas women are not. What evidence and examples have you seen that this is true?
2.
Kilbourne also says that advertisements still promote “the white ideal.” First, what does she
mean by this? Second, present your own argument, either in agreement or disagreement: do
you see that this is still the case, or do you see significant improvements in today’s
advertisements?
3.
What does Kilbourne mean when she says that objectifying men in advertisements is not the
same as objectifying women—what reasons does she give for her claim? Do you find this
argument convincing, or not?
4.
Jean Kilbourne argues that advertising posits impossible standards that negatively affect women,
as they find themselves unable to achieve them. Furthermore, she argues that these impossible
standards also affect how men view and appreciate real women. How, personally, has popular
culture’s depictions of women, specifically, affected you, whether you are a man or a woman?
5.
What is Jean Kilbourne’s main idea, her overall thesis about advertising?
WRITE
Worksheet
After completing your reading in LSH, work on your MLA Works Cited Worksheet (due next week in the
Dropbox).
Take Quiz by Next Tuesday at Noon:
After finishing your LSH reading and your MLA Worksheet, take the MLA Quoting and Paraphrasing Quiz
at the Quizzes tab, above.
Advertising Paper Works Cited Page
Using what you’ve learned about MLA documentation, correctly format your paper’s Works Cited page,
and submit it to the Dropbox by noon next Tuesday.
Week 4: February 1-5: Advertising
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Week 3 Discussion on TEDx Talks: “The Dangerous Ways Ads See Women” closes at noon.
The MLA Worksheet, in the Dropbox, under the Assessments tab.
The MLA Quoting and Paraphrasing Quiz, at the Quizzes link, under the Assessments tab.
Advertising Paper Works Cited Page to the Dropbox, under the Assessments tab.
This Week’s Activities:
READ
TV Assignment Announcement
Although our TV Unit does not begin for 3 more weeks, between now and then, you must select and
watch 3 episodes of the reality TV show that you will analyze for our second paper, the TV Paper.
Watching these 3 episodes is actual homework for the TV unit, a required part of the class.
Your TV show must be in the Reality genre. Shows can be ones that are currently airing, or older ones
that you can watch on DVD or by streaming. The 3 episodes need not be consecutive, but they should all
be from the same season of the show. You must get your show pre-approved by me. E-mail your show
title to me by next Tuesday at noon.
Once your TV show choice has been approved, begin watching the 3 required episodes, as you’ll want to
have completed viewing them by the time we begin the TV Unit Week 6.
Read this What Is Critical Thinking Lecture? to strengthen your understanding of one of the major goals
of not only our class, but a college education in general.
LSH Reading
W-7: “Arguments”
DISCUSS
No formal online discussion is required this week; instead, you will earn credit in your Discussion and
Writing Groups by posting and answering questions and consulting with your Writing Group members for
help with ideas for your Advertising Paper before you submit your rough draft to the Dropbox. Because
everyone in our class is fully versed in our studies and assignments, they are excellent resources for
questions and help.
WRITE
Advertising Paper Rough Draft
Submit this Weekly Writing to the Dropbox AND post in your Discussion Room or send to your
groupmates by noon next Tuesday:
Write the rest of the rough draft of your Advertising Paper. The more complete and polished your rough
draft is when you submit it to the Dropbox and send it to the members of your Writing and Discussion
Group, the more targeted and helpful their and my feedback can be.
Week 5: February 8-12: Advertising
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Full Rough Draft of your Advertising Paper, to the Dropbox, under the Assessments tab.
Full Rough Draft of your Advertising Paper to your fellow Writing and Discussion Group Members for
proofreading.
E-mail the title of the reality TV show you want to view and analyze for your TV Paper to the professor for
pre-approval.
This Week’s Activities:
READ
Online Writing Group Instructions
Common Culture Reading for the Week 5 Television Quiz and Discussion:
“Television,” pp.115-116
“Society’s Storyteller: How TV Creates the Myths by Which We Live,” pp.117-121
“Television Addiction No Mere Metaphor,” pp.123-130
“Watching TV Makes You Smarter," pp.131-143
“Gin, Television, and Social Surplus,” pp.144-149
DISCUSS
As early as possible, proofread the Advertising Paper rough drafts of 2 of your Discussion and Writing
Group members, and have them do the same for you.
As you proofread their papers, complete a separate Online Writing Group Critique Worksheet for each
person, and send it to each of them.
Collect the two feedback worksheets that others filled out for you, as you'll submit them for credit, along
with your finished paper, to the Dropbox.
It is imperative that you critique your groupmates' rough drafts and return their Online Writing Group
Critique Worksheets EARLY in the week, so that everyone has time to actually use the thoughtful, indepth feedback as they revise and prepare their final paper submission.
WRITE
Advertising Paper Final Draft
As soon as you get your Online Writing Group Critique Worksheets back from your 2 proofreaders, revise
and edit your Advertising Paper for final submission next Tuesday. Bring all of your knowledge and
writing skills to bear on writing the most polished, creative critical analysis of the advertisement that you
can.
Remember that all submissions need to be formatted as Microsoft Word or Word-compatible documents
in order for the College's computers to be able to open them.
Reading Quiz
After you finish the Television readings, take the corresponding Quiz before noon next Tuesday.
Week 6: February 15-19: Television
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Your complete, final Advertising Paper, submitted to the Dropbox, under Assessments,
above. (Congratulations on successfully finishing our first formal paper!)
The 2 Online Writing Group Critique Worksheets that your Discussion and Writing Group members
completed FOR YOU, ABOUT YOUR PAPER, to the Dropbox.
Television Reading Quiz, at the Quizzes link, under Communications, above.
This Week’s Activities:
READ
Read through the TV Paper Assignment and Rubric. As you work on the paper, consult the helpful Stepby-Step instructions at the link Formal Paper Assignments: Step-by-Step Plans.
DISCUSS
With your Discussion and Writing Groups, in your Discussion Rooms, discuss the assigned television
articles. You will earn the highest discussion grade by posting a minimum of one thoughtful comment per
assigned article, and for acknowledging and being responsive to the postings of your fellow group
members, rather than just writing an isolated post. In other words, engage in full conversations. You will
also earn high grades by participating in your Discussion and Writing Groups throughout the week, rather
than commenting only immediately before the deadline.
“Society’s Storyteller: How TV Creates the Myths by Which We Live,” by George Gerbner,
pp.117-121
1. Explain how fiction, or made-up stories, ends up showing truths about humanity and life. Can you
think of any examples that illustrate this?
2. What are some very positive things about the fact that TV reaches everyone?
3. Gerbner’s studies indicate that heavy TV viewers fall prey to the “Mean World Syndrome,” and as
a result of this, “they are more likely to even approve of, if not welcome, repression, if it comes in
the name of security.” What could be some real-world examples illustrating and resulting from
this?
“Television Addiction Is No Mere Metaphor,” by Robert Kubey and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi,
pp.123-130
4. In what ways does TV-watching meet the general psychiatric criteria for addiction?
5. Do you think other diversions, such as video or computer games or Web surfing, appear to be
similar or dissimilar to TV in their addictive qualities? Why or why not?
6. Are you convinced that television can be an addiction? Why or why not?
“Watching TV Makes You Smarter” by Steven Johnson, pp.131-143
7. Johnson explains the ways in which Reality TV viewers experience an emotional connection to
participants on Reality shows. In what ways have you, personally, experienced increased
involvement and engagement in Reality TV, as opposed to other television genres?
8. Johnson says that older shows do not require the audience to think as newer shows do, and “not
having to think is boring.” Yet, some people argue that all they want to do when they collapse in
front of the TV at night is not think. Which type of entertainment do you tend to prefer, media that
make you think, or media that don’t require thought, and why?
“Gin, Television, and Social Surplus” by Clay Shirky, pp.144-149
9. When you need more time in your life to get things done, what time pool do you borrow from:
TV? Computer? Sleep? Why is this your go-to time to sacrifice? What are the benefits and
costs of making this sacrifice?
10. What aspect of modern technology do you spend time on, but actually feel is a waste of time?
Why is this technology appealing, and why do you regret the time spent on it?
WRITE
Writing Group Reflection:
1. How would you evaluate the success of the writing group in helping you improve your writing?
Did you feel that you got and gave valuable responses?
2. What, specifically, did you learn about your own writing from your writing group?
3. What problems did you encounter in your group?
4. What might I have done to enable the groups to be more productive?
5. Tell me about the most and least satisfying aspects of our writing group sessions for this paper.
Weekly Writing: Television Paper Drafting
1. Begin by either freewriting or brainstorming about your television show for 5-10 minutes.
2. Write the complete Introduction for your Television Paper. This should consist of the full, 4-part
introduction, ending in a strong, clear thesis statement.
The primary mistake that writers make when composing their TV Paper’s thesis is that rather than
making it argumentative and analytical, they make it descriptive, and just spend the paper
describing what takes place on the show.
One way to better ensure an argumentative thesis is to use a template, such as the ones below,
when crafting your thesis:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
The primary message of this show is _____.
This show negatively influences viewers by _____.
This show benefits society by _____.
This show teaches viewers that _____.
This show encourages its audience to _____.
The values that this show promotes are _____.
Of course you do not need to use any of these 6 prompts as you write, but they’ll give you an idea
of how to formulate a strong thesis that meets our Paper Assignment requirements.
3. Write 3 Topic Sentences for your Television Paper, one for each of your body paragraphs. Each
topic sentence must present a separate reason why your thesis is valid.
4. Write your 3 Works Cited entries for the 3 episodes of the television show you’re analyzing. Each
episode does need to be a separate entry (and then, for your final paper, you’ll need an additional
2 outside sources, as all three episodes of the same show count as ONE source, even though
they’re listed individually).
Week 7: February 22-26: Television
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Week 6 Discussion on the Common Culture television articles closes.
Writing Group Reflection, in the Dropbox.
Weekly Writing: Television Paper Drafting: Freewriting or Brainstorming; Introduction; 3 Topic Sentences;
3 Works Cited entries, submitted to the Dropbox.
This Week’s Activities:
READ
There is no reading assignment this week, so you'll have more time to work on your TV Paper.
DISCUSS
No formal online discussion is required this week; instead, you will earn credit in your Discussion and
Writing Groups by posting and answering questions about your current assignments, or consulting your
writing group members for help with ideas for your Television Paper, and for giving feedback on one
another's Introduction and Topic Sentences before you submit them to the Dropbox. Because everyone
in our class is fully versed in our studies and assignments, they are excellent resources for questions and
help.
WRITE
Submit this Weekly Writing to the Dropbox AND post in your Discussion Room or send to your
groupmates by noon next Tuesday:
Write the rest of the rough draft of your Television Paper. The more complete and polished your rough
draft is when you submit it to the Dropbox and send it to the members of your Writing and Discussion
Group, the more targeted and helpful their and my feedback can be.
Week 8: February 29-March 4: Television
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Full Rough Draft of your Television Paper, to the Dropbox.
Full Rough Draft of your Television Paper to your fellow Writing and Discussion Group Members for
proofreading.
This Week’s Activities:
READ
Review our Online Writing Group Instructions
Common Culture Reading for the Week 8 Popular Music Quiz and Discussion:
“Popular Music,” pp. 203-204
“5 Things That Killed Hip-Hop,” pp.205-213
“The Year Hip-Hop Invented Sex,” pp.225-232
“The Money Note: Can the Record Business Be Saved?,” pp.243-266
“Sex and Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll: Urban Legends and Popular Music,” pp.276-291
DISCUSS
As early as possible, proofread the rough drafts of 2 students in your Discussion and Writing Group, and
fill out the Online Writing Group Critique Worksheet for each of them separately. Send this completed
worksheet to the two writers, so that they can use your feedback to revise their papers. Likewise, collect
the two feedback worksheets that others filled out for you, as you'll submit them along with your finished
paper to the Dropbox.
It is imperative to be conscientious and considerate in providing feedback to two other writers in the group
as soon as possible, so that they have time to consider and incorporate your thoughtful, in-depth
feedback as they do their final revising and editing work.
WRITE
Television Paper Final Draft
As soon as you get your Online Writing Group Critique Worksheets back from your 2 proofreaders, revise
and edit your Television Paper for final submission. Bring all of your knowledge and writing skills to bear
on writing the most polished, creative critical analysis of your TV show that you can.
Remember that all submissions need to be formatted as Microsoft Word or Word-compatible documents
in order for the College's computers to be able to open them.
Reading Quiz
After you finish the Popular Music readings, take the corresponding Quiz.
Week 9: March 7-11: Television / Popular Music
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Your complete, final Television Paper, submitted to the Dropbox.
The 2 Online Writing Group Critique Worksheets that your Discussion and Writing Group members
completed FOR YOU, ABOUT YOUR PAPER, to the Dropbox.
Popular Music Reading Quiz, at the Quizzes link, above.
This Week’s Activities:
READ
For our third paper, on Popular Music, you are required to work as a Writing Team. You’ll divide the
members of your Writing Groups into teams of 3 or 4, and together each Writing Team will compose and
submit a single Popular Music paper.
The details of the paper and the work groups are contained in the following materials:
Lecture: Collaborative Paper: Evaluation and Argumentation
Read the informational sheet about our Popular Music Collaborative Paper: Team Work Details
Read our Paper Assignment and Rubric for Pop Music, and be sure to consult the helpful Step-by-Step
instructions at the link Formal Paper Assignments: Step-by-Step Plans.
LSH Readings
W-8: “Rhetorical Analyses”
W-14: “Reading Strategies"
DISCUSS
In your Discussion and Writing Group Rooms, decide which article your smaller Popular Music Writing
Team will write about for the collaborative Popular Music Paper.
Each Writing Team must come up with a clear, solid plan for this group writing project. It's best to agree
to both how to most equitably divide the various roles and responsibilities among team members AND to
a schedule of intra-group due dates. Planning ahead and maintaining very clear, honest, open
communication is the best way to keep group projects on track, and ensure that everyone is contributing
equally. Stay in especially close contact with your Writing Team members throughout this project.
After your Writing Team has determined which article you’ll be writing about, as a team, in your
Discussions room, complete the following pre-writing exercises together:
1. In one sentence, state the article’s thesis.
2. List the main reasons why the writer believes the thesis to be valid.
3. List 2 reasons to give the writerly aspects of the article a positive evaluation.
4. List 2 reasons to give the writerly aspects of the article a negative evaluation.
5. List 2 reasons to agree with the article’s thesis.
6. List 2 reasons to disagree with the article’s thesis.
These writing prompts lead very naturally into composing a successful paper for this assignment, as they
require you to analyze particular parts of the original argument that you must both evaluate and respond
to in your own team paper.
WRITE
Reflect upon the Television Paper Writing Groups:
1. How would you evaluate the success of the writing group in helping you improve your writing?
Did you feel that you got and gave valuable responses?
2. What, specifically, did you learn about your own writing from your writing group?
3. What problems did you encounter in your group?
4. What might I have done to enable the groups to be more productive?
5. Tell me about the most and least satisfying aspects of our writing group sessions for this paper.
Spring Break: March 14-18: Thoroughly Enjoy Your Time Off!
Week 10: March 21-25: Popular Music
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Writing Group Reflection due in the Dropbox.
Week 9 Discussion Room closes.
This Week’s Activities:
READ
There is no reading assignment for this week.
DISCUSS AND WRITE, AS BOTH A SMALLER WRITING TEAM, AND AS A WHOLE DISCUSSION
AND WRITING GROUP
In your Discussion and Writing Group room, with your smaller Writing Team, complete the following prewriting exercises together. Then, as a larger Writing Group, help to proofread each team’s work and
ensure that all teams are clearly expressing BOTH of their required theses: whether they are giving their
chosen article a positive or negative evaluation, or rating, AND whether they agree or disagree with the
original writer’s thesis.
1. Compose your Writing Team’s evaluative and argumentative theses for the Popular Music
paper. You can express these two theses in a single sentence, or in two separate ones.
2. Create your Writing Team’s paper outline by writing topic sentences for each of your body
paragraphs.
Week 11: March 28-April 1: Popular Music
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Week 10 Discussion Room closes.
This Week’s Activities:
WRITE AND DISCUSS, AS A WHOLE GROUP
All Writing Team members should be working together to produce a successful collaborative Popular
Music Paper.
If we were in a seated class together, this class time would be devoted to face-to-face Writing Team
meeting time.
As a team, write the rest of the rough draft of your collaborative Popular Music Paper. The more
complete and polished your rough draft is when you submit it to the Dropbox and send it to your 2 outside
readers, the more targeted and helpful my and their feedback can be.
Submit this Weekly Writing to the Dropbox AND send a copy of your group's Popular Music Paper to at
least 2 OUTSIDE readers to critique (these can be completed as Writing Teams, or by individuals). Note
that your two proofreaders CANNOT be people who are in your smaller Writing Team, working with you
on your team’s paper.
Week 12: April 4-8: Popular Music / Movies
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Week 11 Discussion Room closes.
Full Rough Draft of your Writing Team's Popular Music Paper, to the Dropbox (Just elect ONE person to
submit a SINGLE copy of all team work to the Dropbox, and ensure that all contributing team members’
names appear on the draft).
Full Rough Draft of your Writing Team’s Popular Music Paper to at least 2 outside readers (either other
teams or individuals), to collect Online Writing and Discussion Group feedback on your Writing Team’s
paper.
This Week’s Activities:
READ AND VIEW
Review our Online Writing Group Instructions. Note hat for this assignment, the two outside readers
MUST be from another group, not fellow writers on your own team paper.
Common Culture and Additional Reading for the Weeks 13-14 Movies Quiz and Discussion
“Movies,” pp.451-452
“The Way We Are,” pp.453-462
This hyperlinked article (not in our textbook): “Film Reviews Versus Film Analyses"--be sure to read the
special instructions at the top of the page
Acquire and Watch the Class Movie: Match Point (Allen 2005)
Because we are working together in an online environment, it is your responsibility to acquire and view
the assigned film for this unit.
You may choose to rent, buy, or stream the required film. The fee required to buy, rent, or screen the film
is a built-in part of our course--a viewing lab fee, if you will. To help minimize your viewing lab costs, it
may be beneficial to comparison-shop. Some sites require that users have a subscription to the sites in
order to buy or rent movies, while others may allow single-use streaming. Sometimes movies are only
available for purchase at some sites, while they may be rented and streamed from others for less than the
cost of a movie ticket.
You may, of course, pool your resources with other members of our class and get together for a movie
screening; this is a nice option, because not only do you share the rental costs, but you can also discuss
the film and get paper ideas afterwards. It is entirely possible to keep your one-time viewing cost to a
minimum for this assignment.
DISCUSS AND WRITE, AS INDIVIDUALS AND WHOLE TEAMS
As early as possible, proofread other Writing Teams’ collaborative Popular Music rough drafts. You can
either complete this work as an individual reader and commentator, or along with your fellow team
members. Aim to fill out an Online Writing Group Critique Worksheet for at least two other Writing
Teams, so that the other teams have lots of feedback on their papers.
As a team, collect the feedback worksheets that two outside proofreaders (either individuals or entire
teams) filled out for your team paper, and together review the feedback and decide which elements you'll
incorporate in your team revision.
It is most important that you critique the other teams’ rough drafts and send them their Online Writing
Group Critique Worksheets EARLY in the week, so that they have time to actually use the thoughtful, indepth feedback you have provided.
WRITE
Popular Music Paper Final Draft
As soon as your Writing Team gets its 2 Online Writing Group Critique Worksheet backs from its outside
proofreaders, collaboratively revise and edit your Popular Music Paper for final submission next
Tuesday. Work well together to apply your best writing skills in polishing the most impressive evaluation
and argumentation that you can in response to the article your team has chosen.
Remember that all submissions need to be formatted as Microsoft Word or Word-compatible documents
in order for the College's computers to be able to open them.
Reading Quiz
After you finish the Movie readings, take the corresponding Quiz before noon next Tuesday.
Week 13: April 11-15: Movies
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Have one person from your Writing Team submit the following two items to the Dropbox on behalf of the
entire team. Remember to indicate all contributors’ members on all Writing Team submissions.
1. Your Writing Team's final, finished collaborative Popular Music Paper
2. The 2 Online Writing Group Critique Worksheets that your two outside readers—people NOT on
your Writing Team--completed for your team, about your Writing Team's paper
Movies Quiz, at the Quizzes link, above.
Finish watching the assigned class film by today, as described in Week 12.
This Week’s Activities:
READ
Film Criticism Lecture
Look at the Movie Paper Assignment and Rubric. As you work on the paper, consult the helpful Step-byStep instructions at the link Formal Paper Assignments: Step-by-Step Plans.
DISCUSS
In your Writing and Discussion Group room, discuss the film:
1. Brainstorm 5 specific things a writer could analyze in the movie if writing a semiotic study.
2. Write a sample thesis statement for ONE of the group’s semiotic ideas.
3. Brainstorm 5 specific things a writer could analyze in the movie if writing a structural study.
4. Write a sample thesis statement for ONE of the group’s structural ideas.
5. What is your personal review of the film, and why?
WRITE
Grade Your Collaborative Writing Team Members
Individually complete the confidential Popular Music Collaborative Paper Self- and Team Member
Evaluation by noon next Tuesday. For this assessment, you will actually give yourself and your fellow
Writing Team members a number grade, and they will also grade you and your performance as a team
member. This is a formal percentage grade that is entered in the grade book.
Weekly Writing
Compose your full introduction for the Movie Paper. Be sure to include the film's title and director in the
introduction. Remember to avoid writing a film review--instead, you are to be writing a formal, academic
film analysis: a critical analysis of the film from a semiotic or structuralist perspective.
In addition to the introduction, write 3 topic sentences for your body paragraphs.
Compose the Works Cited entry for the film itself.
COLLEGE NOTICE
Tuesday, April 19, 2016, is the last day to withdraw from semester-long
classes with a “W.”
Week 14: April 18-22: Movies
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Popular Music Collaborative Paper Self- and Team Member Evaluation, to the Dropbox.
Discussion on the assigned class film closes.
Weekly Writing: Movie Paper Introduction, 3 Topic Sentences, and Works Cited Entry, to the Dropbox.
This Week’s Activities:
WRITE
Submit this Weekly Writing to the Dropbox AND post in your Discussion Room or send to your
groupmates by noon next Tuesday:
Write the rest of the rough draft of your Movie Paper. The more complete and polished your rough draft
is when you submit it to the Dropbox and send it to the members of your Writing and Discussion Group,
the more targeted and helpful their and my feedback can be.
Week 15: April 25-29: Movies
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Full Rough Draft of your Movie Paper, to the Dropbox.
Full Rough Draft of your Movie Paper, to your fellow Writing and Discussion Group Members for
proofreading.
This is the absolute last opportunity to submit any late work accompanied by a Late Voucher.
This is also the only opportunity to redeem any unused Late Vouchers for extra credit (There is a
spot in the Dropbox for your unused, extra-credit Late Vouchers). After this point, Late Vouchers
and late work will not be accepted for any reason.
This Week’s Activities:
READ
Review our Online Writing Group Instructions.
DISCUSS
As early as possible, proofread the Movie Paper rough drafts of 2 of your Discussion and Writing Group
members, and have them do the same for you.
As you proofread their papers, complete a separate Online Writing Group Critique Worksheet for each
person, and send it to each of them.
Collect the two feedback worksheets that others filled out for you, as you'll submit them along with your
finished paper to the Dropbox.
It is imperative that you critique your groupmates' rough drafts and return their Online Writing Group
Critique Worksheets EARLY in the week, so that everyone has time to actually use the thoughtful, indepth feedback as they revise and prepare their final paper submission.
WRITE
Movie Paper Final Draft
As soon as you get your Online Writing Group Critique Worksheets back from your 2 proofreaders, revise
and edit your Movie Paper for final submission next Tuesday. Bring all of your knowledge and writing
skills to bear on writing the most polished, creative critical analysis of the assigned class film that you can.
Remember that all submissions need to be formatted as Microsoft Word or Word-compatible documents
in order for the College's computers to be able to open them.
Week 16: May 2-6: Movies
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Your Movie Paper, in the Dropbox.
The 2 Online Writing Group Critique Worksheets that your Discussion and Writing Group members
completed FOR YOU, ABOUT YOUR PAPER, to the Dropbox.
This Week’s Activities:
WRITE
Prepare for and take our Final Exam by next Tuesday at noon:
FINAL EXAM
SELF-EVALUATION AND COURSE REFLECTION
You have done a tremendous amount of writing this semester and have grown significantly as a writer.
For the Final Exam, review your Week 2 Writing Diagnostic Essay that you wrote at the very beginning of
the semester in the Dropbox.
Review both the form and the content of your initial class composition. You will be critiquing and
commenting upon this Writing Diagnostic Essay for your Final Exam, so take the time that you need to
thoroughly reacquaint yourself with it. You may consult this essay during your Final Exam, so you may
wish to print it out and have it beside you as you work on the Final.
In addition, you’ll look back at the course itself, your personal goals, and all of the progress you’ve made.
I’ll also ask you to help me improve the course by letting me know what has been most and least effective
for you.
After you've taken the time to review your Week 2 Writing Diagnostic Essay, you're prepared for the Final
Exam. Again, it would be helpful to have a printed copy of your Writing Diagnostic Essay beside you as
you complete the Final.
Begin the Final Exam at the Quizzes tab when you have 120 minutes of uninterrupted writing
time. Respond to the exam prompts in your best, most polished prose style.
Week 17: May 9-13: Final Exam Week
Due by Noon on Tuesday:
Final Exam (located at the Quizzes tab).