For Tuesday

Hello all,

Today we spent some time thinking about how we would sell our handi-wares. The exercise highlights the importance of having a bit of faith in your abilities.

We then shifted to discussing the upcoming research project and abstract that you completed and posted on your blog. Everyone that has completed the exercise did a fantastic job. Remember, you will want to complete the abstract (context, problem, and launching point) and the listing of your six sources asap.

We discussed canon--not the boom-boom--but the body of knowledge surrounding a specific discourse. Remember, all types of texts create and generate canons. We used the example of a surfing culture or the Dodge Dart culture to explain and to express how canon functions. Remember, you will want to use texts from the canon that surrounds your topic. Films, music, images, interviews, webpages, articles, magazines, books, and other electronic media is okay--as long as it is in your topic's canon of discourse.

We then reviewed two thesis/focus statement handouts. These two handouts propose two different yet similar methods for arriving at a guiding statement for writing. I am attaching the handouts to this email. Remember, these are just two suggested methods for creating a thesis statement. The key is for you to create your own method and use what helps you to generate a good guiding statement. Most of you found good things in each of the exercises, and you also found some bad things, so pick and choose what helps you to create.

Following the thesis statement workshop, we reviewed how to structure an introduction. We, once again, covered two methods of crafting a introduction. You will want to pick the method that works for you. The two methods that we reviewed were 1. the who, what, where, when, why, and how method and 2. the says, means, and values. We also briefly touched on the MEAL plan method of organization. Remember you will want to craft a draft of your introduction and place it on your blog by Tuesday.

We ended the class we an overview of how to write an annotation for your research. For Tuesday, you will need to review all your sources, and then select the three that you believe are the most salient to your project. You will then take those three and create brief annotations for them. These annotations should be no longer than 2-3 sentences. The first portion should summarize the material and then the second portion should explain the material's relevance to your research topic.

For Tuesday:
You will need to draft your introduction and post on your blog.
You will need to review your material (research) and then select three salient sources
You will need to create short annotations for your three selected sources.

BTW-Due to travel plans, class on tuesday is going to be electronic--which means you won't be coming to class. However, you will need to go to the following links.

First link-

Second Link-

Third Link-

Please post a short summary of the video links on your blog.

Thanks and please feel free to email me,

Take care,

Kat