SEE-I(T)
Connecting Nosich to Your Papers
SEE-I(T*) (Nosich p. 33ff)
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For each point you want to make:
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STATE the point
ELABORATE on it
Give EXAMPLES that back up your point
and/or ILLUSTRATE the point
AND
TIE IT IN* to your purpose/stance
(T* connects it to your writing, i.e. thesis)
CRTW Rubric Concepts
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Measure how well evaluation standards met:
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Does the assignment meet the objectives?
Is it appropriate for the audience?
Does the organization allow for highest readability and
flow?
How closely does it meet CT standards? (N: Chapter 4)
Does the writer understand the sources (if used) and
smoothly incorporate them?
Is the style smooth and consistent?
Does the document show signs of careful editing?
Is the documentation adequate and correct?
How do you write a paper that gives you the
best chance to succeed?
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Start by breaking down the assignment—what are you asked
to do? Make sure you can PARAPHRASE and be specific
about your task.
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GENERATE material by going around the circle for your
topic—use different points of view, paraphrase or alter your
Q at I, brainstorm each section, and generate material
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Next, ANALYZE the raw material. NOTICE and FOCUS
on key threads, oppositions, and repetitions.
Use these methods to find important ideas and work on
them.
Breaking Down Paper 1
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State position on topic in paragraph 1.
In body show why you have taken that
viewpoint and connect it to the impediments
in your thinking.
Use quotations from your reading as a
springboard for your analysis.
In conclusion, step back and look at the big
picture, ending with the “so what?”
How do you transfer this to a draft?
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Pick up clues for organization from the
assignment.
Make a work plan (may or may not be a
formal outline).
Start cutting and pasting material from your
circle work into the appropriate sections of
your plan.
Add SEE-IT for depth (scuba, not jet-skiing).
SEE-I(T) in Action
I feel the way I do about the War mainly because of pride. I am
extremely patriotic; maybe even excessively so. I am patriotic because my
grandfather was in the army. He taught me that the flag should never touch
the ground and when to raise it, when to lower it, and when to put it at half
staff. This instilled in me the feeling that this country is special and that
even minute details, such as a flag, are important. Also, I do not want my
country, the greatest power in the world, to back down from a fight. I
believe that we can do anything, and to give up now would just show
weakness in my opinion. The reason I believe that this country can do
anything is simple. The United States has rarely been below the bar as
compared to other countries. We are at the top in terms of technology,
wealth, and freedom. We once defeated what was thought to be the greatest
power on earth with a small army to gain our freedom. Teachers have taught
me that the United States is better than others in those terms so that has
certainly shaped my view on the War.
SEE-I(T)
The first impediment that comes to mind in thinking about my stance on
religion is, “Developmental Patterns of Thinking.” My parents have been
Christians for the majority of their lives, so I was born into a very Christian home.
Most of my extended family are practicing Christians, and we have attended the
same church for over twenty years. I have been brought up to believe in every
aspect of our religion and as of now, I do. Because I have never strayed from our
faith, one may see me as simply blindly following into my parent’s footsteps. This
is not the case, as is so with many young people in the Christian religion. I have
questioned my faith at times. During these times I turn to my Bible to read WHY I
believe what I believe. I have researched other religions through speaking with
practitioners, reading books based on the religion, and through visits at other
churches. Each time that I have questioned my faith, why I believe in this, why
my family believes in it, I am comforted by the Word of God. In the Bible, God
gives us obvious reasoning as to why his word is what should be followed. I am
immediately comforted in the thought that my entire family and I rotate as a unit
when it comes to religion. Thus through my religion, I always have someone to go
to when I am feeling discouraged, someone is always there to lend a hand or to
point me in the right direction when I am going astray.
SEE-I(T)
My issues with large-scale government mirror those to which
conservatives lay claim. However, as I watched the news in my late teen
years, I came to realize that so-called conservatives in Congress and the
White House really were not all that conservative when it came to
government spending or size of the federal bureaucracy. Why would a party
in possession of so much power want to downsize that power on principle?
How could my parents object to the size of government when all the
Republicans, their party of choice, seemed to do was to expand government
in such a non-conservative fashion? When my father began working for the
Department of Commerce in Washington D.C., I received a stark look at the
wasteful spending that the two-party system facilitated, particularly as it
stood under former President Bush. Between family political arguments
and Washington greed, I was ready for a new kind of politics to encompass
my beliefs. Neither the politics of my parents nor those of my friends or
distant relatives suited me well enough. Thus the impediment of my
personal experience has shaped, and continues to shape with each argument
over the family dinner table, my political beliefs.
SEE-I(T)
Growing up, we usually are bi-products of our parents’ views and opinions until
we become older and see that we either agree or disagree with them for our own
reasons. That was the case for me and my opinion on same-sex marriage. For me, it
was black-and-white thinking as a child. It was either that I was for it or against it,
and there was no middle ground. Therefore, I was completely against it because so
were my parents and the people of my church. Only later did I realize that it was my
choice to accept or reject what I was taught in church and by my parents about how
wrong same-sex marriage was, and I became conscious that I did not agree with
them. I was beginning to see through the media and news what was going on in the
nation about same-sex marriage. Gerald Nosich states in his book, Learning To
Think Things Through, that “you indirectly form a good deal of your picture of the
world from the news” (19). This is true for me as I started seeing a whole new
vantage point on the subject of same-sex marriage, and it impacted how I felt about
same-sex marriage. I began to form a new opinion about same-sex marriage that I
only considered after getting new and different information from other outside
sources. I had moved from black-and-white thinking to a new, so to speak, grey
area about the subject. So my thinking on the subject became my own.
Now, work on the flow…
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Develop each impediment you think is important
into its own SEE-IT section.
Decide if the sections of the paper are in the best
order (try cutting and pasting to move them around).
Compare it to your outline (or make an outline now).
Smooth out the seams between the sections
(transitions, etc.).
Assume the reader’s POV and see how the flow of
ideas would hit her or him.
Finally,
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Check that you’ve done everything the
assignment requires. (have you USED your
direct quotations or just dropped them in, for
instance?)
Polish the style—read sentences out loud;
work on the rhythm and word choice.
Check the editing with a fine-toothed comb.