Final Slide Show

1
Final Slide Show

• CRTW 201
• Dr. Fike

2
Next Time

• Well do the course evaluation first.
• Then youll turn in your portfolios. See
  http//faculty.winthrop.edu/fikem/Courses/CRTW202
  01/CRTW2020120Portfolio.htm for details about
  your portfolio.
• Do you have any questions about requirements?

3
What We Did This Semester

• We used a process system to foster and reinforce
  the elements of critical thinking, the importance
  of focusing topics, the use of the classical
  argument, and lower-order correctness.
• This system involved a great deal of work for me,
  but your reading, thinking, and writing benefited
  significantly.

4
After Midterm

• We responded to your assessment by building in
  more in-class critique days (days like today).
• http//faculty.winthrop.edu/fikem/Courses/CRTW202
  01/CRTW2020120Midterm20Assessment20Results.htm
  

5
Process Grades

• The syllabus explains the grading system that we
  have used so far this semester, but there has
  still been some confusion about it. Let me say
  the following
• I care about your development, especially your
  development as writers.
• Process grades are a way to reward you for effort
  and sometimes to signal a problem with a paper
  without 86ing your final course grade.
• In short, process grading is a strategy on my
  part to get you to focus on improvement rather
  than worrying too much about your grades.
• Almost everyone in my two sections is getting has
  an A or a B on process going into the portfolio
  (rubric-based) part of the course.

6
Did It Work?

• Compare your first draft of your first paper with
  the second draft of your fourth paper.
• I think that you will see incredible improvement
  in the quality of your writing and thinking.
• For example, a bunch of people had trouble
  writing 4 full pages in September. That hasnt
  been a problem for anyone in a long time.
• You also have the hang of the elements and the
  classical argument.

7
Reminders

• Regarding Paper Four, remember that you need to
  apply the elements to your passages, not to your
  own reaction to your passages.
• In particular, remember that point of view is
  something about the authors way of thinkinghis
  or her vantage point. It might be something
  about a background story, impediment, political
  affiliation, etc.

8
More Reminders

• Remember that the key principle in this classthe
  one I most want you to remember about good
  writingis that you should focus your topic and
  say more about less.
• Also remember that a thesis must contain a
  controversial idea about a focused topic.
• Controversial ought to translate into an
  although clause, a main clause, and a reason
  why. This structure nicely anticipates
  particular paragraphs of your paper.

9
Still More Reminders

• Topic sentences echo the thesis.
• Arguments support the thesis.
• Objections object to arguments.
• Replies reply to objections.
• The focused topic appears in ALL paragraphs.
• If something is in the thesis, it had better be
  in the body.

10
Reminders Yet Again

• Dont try to write a paper from scratch in one
  sitting.
• Process is the thing prewriting should include
  brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revision,
  conferencing, and more revision.
• Good writers dont work in isolation from other
  writers.

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A Final Reminder

• You should take away from this class the sense
  that you worked hard and made progress from
  whatever point you started from.
• And you should remember that the elements of
  critical thinking are in Winthrops curriculum so
  that your use of them can continue after CRTW
  ends. Use the elements when you read, write, and
  think in your other courses.

12
Final Examination

• 200 section  Monday, December 11th, 300 p.m.
• 500 section  Tuesday, December 5th, 630 p.m.

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What Will the Final Exam Look Like?

• I will give you a passage.
• You will apply the elements to it.
• You will relate it to a focused topic (not all
  people in general, not all people or most
  people or some people or just plain people,
  and certainly not the individual in todays
  society dont fall back on your bad habits).
• And you will write a classical argument.

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Sample Outline for Exam Essay

• Introduction, including focus and thesis.
• Analysis of the quotation via the elements
• Background on your focus
• Arguments that connect your analysis and your
  background
• Objections
• Reply concession and rebuttal
• Conclusion

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How long should it be?

• About 1,000 words (roughly equivalent to 4
  double-spaced pages on a word processor)

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What Else?

• I want to see connections between sectionse.g.,
  between the analysis of the passage and your
  argument about your focused topic.

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What Do You Have To Bring?

• 1-2 large bluebooks (how many depends on how much
  you write and how big your handwriting is write
  only on one side of the page)
• I will bring clean copies of the exam.
• But the exam will be on our webpage by Thursday
  afternoon.

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Todays Activity

• Group assignments
• Group 1 Introduction, focused topic, thesis
• Group 2 Passages and elements
• Group 3 Arguments/objections/replies
• Questions
• Can you suggest any revisions to the thesis?
• Can the paper do more with the elements?
• Does the paper support its thesis?
• How might the paper connect arguments for the
  thesis and analysis of passages?