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Handling Quotations, Integrating Them

Here's the handout from class today on integrating sources in a variety of ways. There's an example of a block quote from a play that you could use as a model for handling long exchanges between characters, should you need to include one. You can look up "block quotes MLA" on Google, too, for other formatting details.

Here's a set of slides on emphasis, too, from our editing work today.

Slideshow: Interpretation Helpers

Here's the slideshow walking you through getting started on the last essay!

Deadline Reminders

I know I said this in class, but just to be clear:

• Project #3 due tonight, 11:59 PM
• Revision of #2 due Sunday, 11:59 PM
• We'll start Project #4 Monday; draft of that due Tuesday, 11:59 PM

Helpers for the Reading Art, Part II Project

Some sample essays:

• Lindsay's, about a play called Boy Gets Girl. Look for her thesis, and how the first statements of her paragraphs, even read by themselves, reveal how her ideas fit together. Lots of evidence in the piece, too—look for how she uses it. She's writing to an audience somewhat familiar with the play, as you should, too, but even for those unfamiliar, we can still understand her argument and enough about the play, thanks to the context and explanations she provides. 
• Igor's, about the same play. Same here: watch how he establishes a context and sets up his thesis, which, just like Lindsay's, is at the opener's end. Watch how clearly he establishes his body paragraph points (and again, how we can read just those statements, even, and still get a sense of his entire argument). He's really good at integrating and commenting on his evidence, too, of which he has plenty. 

You can also look to both of these examples for MLA, and how to both punctuate citations as well as handle longer quotes.

Finally, here's a link to the shooting script for the film, which can help you remember things or look for evidence. But, the actual film is your real source—keep in mind that the shooting script might feature things that weren't in the final cut of the film. Too, there are visual aspects of the film (the cinematography, the editing) that could serve as evidence, too. 

A Quick Comment about the Reading Process Piece

Group, as I comment on rough drafts, I just want to steer you in the right direction here. This particular essay is ultimately about your reading process. It's not about the poem as much as it's about how you made meaning out of it. How did that happen, actually?

Given that purpose, don't organize the body by the order of the poem. The goal is not to merely walk us through the text and share some thoughts on your final understanding of the lines. It's more about you walking us through how you made sense of it. Do you see the difference there? We won't get that exploration of your process if you're just taking us through the poem line by line. So start with what happened when you looked at the piece for the first time. Did you even read through it? Or did you immediately get stuck? When did you first get confused? Did you ever feel like giving up on it? Did you feel any breakthroughs or "aha" moments? That's where you need to push the piece.

MLA for the Reading Process Piece

Don't forget the final draft is due Thursday, 11:59 PM. Here are the slides from today re: how to do the Work Cited and how to work with poem quotations.

Slideshow from Today

Here's the one with the process tips and strategy we're using for our current project about the poem by Pat Mora. I'm also sharing a start of a draft for the project of my own, which is about the Kooser poem we read today. It will give you a sense of how to talk about the poem and your process—and how to quote yourself :)

What Film?

Here's a survey, kids.

MLA Refreshers . . . and Revision Tips for Project #1

Here are links to our slideshows from today:

• the one on revision, with examples from your drafts,
• the one with the wrong/right versions of WC entries, and
• the one with examples of in-text citations.

Starting Points for Project #2

Once you've picked your prompt, get started by recording some of your thinking:

• First, try fastwriting out any experiences you've had that could work as relevant examples to share. After all, while traditional scholarship and other readings work as research, there are other forms worth drawing upon: memory, observation, interview. Seeing what you remember is a good first step toward collecting material.
• Once you find those traditional sources and have spent some time with them, do more fastwriting: what are some relevant FACTS you've discovered?
• For another fastwrite, record relevant IDEAS and THINKING your experts share in the research you are reading. 

Finally, after you've recorded that material, do another fastwrite to collect what YOU think in response to your chosen prompt . . . All of this writing should prove useful as we move on. A good next step would be to look at the prompt, and formulate a working idea in response. You could plan a sketchy, rough outline—one that simply presents some smaller points you have to make in order to explain that larger idea. That would give you something to work and write from!

Tannen and Turkle: Books

Here are links to Tannen's and Turkle's books on Google, where you can at least read parts and see the Table of Contents. Would be easy to find a PDF of Tannen's whole book, and you might have luck with Turkle's. Both would likely be in libraries!

A Cool Quiz--with Answers/Explanations on Gender Differences

Definitely worth a look.

Vids about Communication Styles

I'm just sharing links to some of the vids and reading materials from Monday's class:

On Communication and the Ways Gender Can Impact Our Interactions:

• The clip featuring sociolinguist Deborah Tannen
• The article written by her for Scientific American, "He Said, She Said"
• The piece from Robert Lane Greene for The Economist, "Why Men Interrupt"
• The SNL skit that depicts some mansplaining

On Technology and the Ways It Can Impact Our Interactions:

• The TED Talk with Sherry Turkle

MLA Refresher

Let's see how well you work with a few sources. Can we make a few Works Cited entries, please? Here are the pieces I found:

• Source A 
• Source B (off our EBSCOhost database)
• Source C

Slideshows as We Develop the Draft

Here are slideshows from class today, including the one we saw on entering conversations, the one we did on analyzing your paragraphs and the structure of your piece, and the one on improving clarity in your writing.

MLA Formatting

Here's the guide I typically use as an overview of the formatting of the paper itself. As for the Works Cited page, you'll find all you need to know on page 111 of your MLA Handbook.

A visual reference to formatting papers in MLA style.

As for Works Cited entries themselves, here's that image from your book that is the guide to doing any source, for the most part:

The basic template for WC entries.

On Finding a Topic and Asking Questions

Here are two slideshows from today, one on researching as a way of exploring topics as well as loopwriting as a means of exploring your thoughts, and one on formulating a good question to drive your project.

What Do You Want to Know about MLA?

Group, I've just created a document that I invite you to add to. I'm gathering some data regarding what you want to still learn about "new" MLA. What don't you understand yet? What's confusing?

Project Ideas from Class Monday

Remember that initially, with any topic, we work toward building a "working knowledge"—a sense of what it entails, what is being talked about recently, and so on. Having a working knowledge can help us start to figure out where and what we can contribute to the conversation with our own take.

We'll add to this list I'm sure, but here's what we've explored so far with regard to personality and our attempts to understand what makes us work:

• Personality testing, how it’s useful, how it’s used and where and with what implications
• Other ways data-hungry culture uses testing to understand workplaces and interactions among people
• Giving versus taking and the dynamics of that
• Personality traits/trends in the culture (parenting), in the world (social perfectionism and male suicide)
• Personality privilege, i.e. being introverted in an extroverted culture