Discussion Board Posting Instructions
You will post on our Canvas Discussion Board on dates indicated on the syllabus. Your postings will engage the question or topic in depth, analyzing quotations and examples when appropriate. Because these postings are short, you are encouraged to develop your own impressions, rather than consult internet sources. If you do consult internet or any other sources, you must cite them.
Discussion board postings will be assessed using the following rubric:
4: Exceptional. The discussion board post is focused and coherently integrates examples with explanations or analysis. The post demonstrates awareness of its own limitations or implications, and it considers multiple perspectives when appropriate. The entry reflects in-depth engagement with the topic.
3: Satisfactory. The discussion post is reasonably focused, and explanations or analysis are mostly based on examples or other evidence. Fewer connections are made between ideas, and though new insights are offered, they are not fully developed. The post reflects moderate engagement with the topic.
2: Underdeveloped. The discussion board post is mostly description or summary, without consideration of alternative perspectives, and few connections are made between ideas. The post reflects passing engagement with the topic.
1: Limited. The discussion board post is unfocused, or simply rehashes previous comments, and displays no evidence of student engagement with the topic.
0: No Credit. The discussion board post is missing or consists of one or two disconnected sentences.
Adapted from https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/a-rubric-for-evaluating-student-blogs/27196
Replying to Others
Exceptional. Responses to classmates' postings are clear, specific and forward dialogue with them, asking questions of them as well as making useful comments.
Good. Responses to classmates' postings are clearly worded. Developing ideas; sometimes stimulates discussion.
Underdeveloped. Responses to classmates' postings are often worded in confusing manner and show little sense of what others have written.
No Credit. Abusive or distracting comments; persistent lack of participation.
For MLA style see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
For quoting practices see: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/
and https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/03/
For avoiding plagiarism see: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/930/10/
Discussion Board Posting Instructions
You will post on our Canvas Discussion Board on dates indicated on the syllabus. Your postings will engage the question or topic in depth, analyzing quotations and examples when appropriate. Because these postings are short, you are encouraged to develop your own impressions, rather than consult internet sources. If you do consult internet or any other sources, you must cite them.
Discussion board postings will be assessed using the following rubric:
4: Exceptional. The discussion board post is focused and coherently integrates examples with explanations or analysis. The post demonstrates awareness of its own limitations or implications, and it considers multiple perspectives when appropriate. The entry reflects in-depth engagement with the topic.
3: Satisfactory. The discussion post is reasonably focused, and explanations or analysis are mostly based on examples or other evidence. Fewer connections are made between ideas, and though new insights are offered, they are not fully developed. The post reflects moderate engagement with the topic.
2: Underdeveloped. The discussion board post is mostly description or summary, without consideration of alternative perspectives, and few connections are made between ideas. The post reflects passing engagement with the topic.
1: Limited. The discussion board post is unfocused, or simply rehashes previous comments, and displays no evidence of student engagement with the topic.
0: No Credit. The discussion board post is missing or consists of one or two disconnected sentences.
Adapted from https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/a-rubric-for-evaluating-student-blogs/27196
Replying to Others
Exceptional. Responses to classmates' postings are clear, specific and forward dialogue with them, asking questions of them as well as making useful comments.
Good. Responses to classmates' postings are clearly worded. Developing ideas; sometimes stimulates discussion.
Underdeveloped. Responses to classmates' postings are often worded in confusing manner and show little sense of what others have written.
No Credit. Abusive or distracting comments; persistent lack of participation.
For MLA style see https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/
For quoting practices see: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/
and https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/03/
For avoiding plagiarism see: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/930/10/
Discussion Board Posting 1
William Zinsser published “College Pressures” over 40 years ago. How would you update his critique today? What has changed and what remains the same? Your posting will make an argument responding to at least one point in Zinsser’s essay.
Your response will be at least 250 words and take the shape of the "sandwich paragraph" from Understanding Rhetoric. The topic sentence should assert what you argue in the paragraph. You will support your argument with analysis of quotations from “College Pressures.”
See here for instructions as to how to fluidly incorporate quotations as part of your text.
Postings will be graded using the discussion posting rubric. You are also required to respond to at least one of your classmates’ postings within 48 hours of the deadline.
You will also include a list of works cited in MLA style including Zinsser’s essay and any sources you consulted, including web sites. You must use your own words, quote appropriately, and cite all sources you consult. See here for instructions.
Discussion Board Posting 2
Infographics blend information and visual argument, communicating data and ideas. Below are two infographics created by former students, one addressing Understanding Rhetoric, and one in response to Nnedi Okorafor’s novel Binti.
Using Piktochart or Canva (both have free access), you will create an infographic interpreting at least one concept in Understanding Rhetoric Issue 5: "Research: More than Detective Work" (Issue 6 in the second or third edition). Make sure to acknowledge this source and any others you consult (or images you include) as part of your infographic, perhaps at the bottom, using your own words and quoting appropriately.
You will post a screenshot of your infographic on the Discussion Board and a 50-word response addressing why you made the design decisions that you did, how your infographic interprets the text, and what you learned about the text and making visual artifacts in the process of doing so. You are also required to respond to at least one classmate’s postings within 48 hours of the deadline, addressing the ways that they made meaning visually and how it altered your sense of the text or texts they interpret.
William Zinsser published “College Pressures” over 40 years ago. How would you update his critique today? What has changed and what remains the same? Your posting will make an argument responding to at least one point in Zinsser’s essay.
Your response will be at least 250 words and take the shape of the "sandwich paragraph" from Understanding Rhetoric. The topic sentence should assert what you argue in the paragraph. You will support your argument with analysis of quotations from “College Pressures.”
See here for instructions as to how to fluidly incorporate quotations as part of your text.
Postings will be graded using the discussion posting rubric. You are also required to respond to at least one of your classmates’ postings within 48 hours of the deadline.
You will also include a list of works cited in MLA style including Zinsser’s essay and any sources you consulted, including web sites. You must use your own words, quote appropriately, and cite all sources you consult. See here for instructions.
Discussion Board Posting 2
Infographics blend information and visual argument, communicating data and ideas. Below are two infographics created by former students, one addressing Understanding Rhetoric, and one in response to Nnedi Okorafor’s novel Binti.
Using Piktochart or Canva (both have free access), you will create an infographic interpreting at least one concept in Understanding Rhetoric Issue 5: "Research: More than Detective Work" (Issue 6 in the second or third edition). Make sure to acknowledge this source and any others you consult (or images you include) as part of your infographic, perhaps at the bottom, using your own words and quoting appropriately.
You will post a screenshot of your infographic on the Discussion Board and a 50-word response addressing why you made the design decisions that you did, how your infographic interprets the text, and what you learned about the text and making visual artifacts in the process of doing so. You are also required to respond to at least one classmate’s postings within 48 hours of the deadline, addressing the ways that they made meaning visually and how it altered your sense of the text or texts they interpret.
Discussion Board Posting 3
Jennine Capó Crucet's Make Your Home Among Strangers takes Lizet Ramirez's first year of college as its subject. Readers encounter Lizet contemplating her decisions and reacting to her surroundings. In response to reading such a novel during what may be your first semester at New York Tech, you will formulate a thesis statement that responds to one of the following questions, which you will support with your analysis of quotations from the novel.
1. How does this novel address the realities of college life? What is missing from its story? Why is what is included or excluded necessary to a discussion of college life?
2. How do the author's lack of quotation marks affect the way her book makes meaning? How do passages of the novel read differently as a result?
3. How does the protagonist's interest in science shape the novel, particularly as a novel of 'the college experience' (there is not just one)?
As you develop your thesis statement and paragraphs, use the templates from They Say/I Say. The structure of your paragraphs should also follow the example of the sample paragraph in Issue Four of Understanding Rhetoric. Remember that you do not need to summarize the novel, as your posting's readers will be familiar with it, and you should select quotations to analyze in which the language of the quotation (the words, images, tone) is necessary to making your point. You do not need to quote passages that you could otherwise put in your own words.
Remember to select a narrow focus so that you can achieve depth in your posting. You do not need to summarize the texts in your posting. Assume your readers have seen them and tell your readers what they need to know to understand your points.
As you compose your posting, review the techniques for analyzing and interpreting texts in Understanding Rhetoric.
You must include a list of works cited at the end of your blog posting acknowledging all sources you have consulted, including webpages. You must use your own words and cite all sources using MLA format.
Online Peer Review
After submitting your rough draft of your analytical essay, you will share a copy with your peer review group on Canvas. Each student will comment on at least two of their classmates' essays. Ideally, you should comment on essays that have received less attention. If you see one that already has many comments, choose another. You will not receive feedback from the instructor on your rough draft. Instead, your rough draft will receive a complete/incomplete grade and you will receive feedback from each other.
Your comments should address the following aspects of the revision process:
1. Revision - Larger ideas regarding the thesis statement, organization of the essay and paragraphs, and analysis of the text.
2. Editing - Suggestions for improving the way the essay makes meaning at sentence level, including aspects such as incorporation and analysis of quotations, and topic sentences that state what each paragraph argues.
3. Proofreading - Smaller changes, such as grammar and punctuation.
You should check for aspects indicated in the rubric included with the assignment instructions. Ask, for instance, whether the conclusion differs from the introduction and makes suggestions for further research. You might suggest a title that will draw in readers or a more direct way of introducing the thesis.
Revision and editing should be attended to first, as proofreading may be needed later in the process.
This will be an assignment that will be graded out of four, like other postings, with attention to thoroughness, effort, clarity, and creativity.
Discussion Board Posting 4
In preparation for your projects designing phone, tablet, or computer applications (apps), your second posting will argue that one existing app is of use to college students (it may also be an app you see as a model for your group’s app). Your posting will be at least 250 words and analyze aspects of app that you have located, including one image, and at least one quotation from Jennine Capó Crucet's Make Your Home Among Strangers.
When assessing the app you have selected, review the instructions for the App and Rationale assignment on our course website and Understanding Rhetoric’s strategies for analyzing visual rhetoric. Consider the ways that the app’s written, oral, visual, electronic, and nonverbal elements work together. Other questions to consider (you do not need to address them all) include: What is the audience for the app? How will college students use it? How does it work? How do the visual design and purpose work together? What pages or options does the app include? Is the app easy to use? How does it incorporate a phone, tablet, or computer’s features, such as internet access, gps, or access to social media? What would you improve about the app? Are there any reviews of the app? Who has found it successful or unsuccessful, and why?
You must include a list of works cited at the end of your blog posting acknowledging all sources you have consulted, including websites. If you located your app using itunes, you can find a website describing the app and directing users to the itunes store using google.
You must use your own words and cite all sources using MLA format.
Discussion Board Posting 5
In this discussion board posting you will address one of the following questions, asserting a thesis that you will support with analysis of evidence from at least one course text and one peer reviewed journal article.
Your 250-word posting will analyze at least one quotation from Smith's or Phillips’s essays or Alexie’s poem and one quotation or point from a scholarly journal article. You can choose from one of the articles in our Google Drive folder or locate one on your own. You are also welcome to analyze the film The Social Network in relation to Smith's essay, and you can include an image or link to a clip from it as well.
As you write about your journal article, use at least one template from They Say, I Say. Take a look at the sample essay in the chapter devoted to revising for ways to incorporate and analyze secondary sources. You might ask yourself what you agreed or disagreed with int the article and why this matters.
Make sure to cite all sources you consult, use quotations appropriately, and cite page numbers in parentheses when referring to or paraphrasing an idea. Use MLA format for in-text citations and list of works cited acknowledging all sources you have consulted.
Jennine Capó Crucet's Make Your Home Among Strangers takes Lizet Ramirez's first year of college as its subject. Readers encounter Lizet contemplating her decisions and reacting to her surroundings. In response to reading such a novel during what may be your first semester at New York Tech, you will formulate a thesis statement that responds to one of the following questions, which you will support with your analysis of quotations from the novel.
1. How does this novel address the realities of college life? What is missing from its story? Why is what is included or excluded necessary to a discussion of college life?
2. How do the author's lack of quotation marks affect the way her book makes meaning? How do passages of the novel read differently as a result?
3. How does the protagonist's interest in science shape the novel, particularly as a novel of 'the college experience' (there is not just one)?
As you develop your thesis statement and paragraphs, use the templates from They Say/I Say. The structure of your paragraphs should also follow the example of the sample paragraph in Issue Four of Understanding Rhetoric. Remember that you do not need to summarize the novel, as your posting's readers will be familiar with it, and you should select quotations to analyze in which the language of the quotation (the words, images, tone) is necessary to making your point. You do not need to quote passages that you could otherwise put in your own words.
Remember to select a narrow focus so that you can achieve depth in your posting. You do not need to summarize the texts in your posting. Assume your readers have seen them and tell your readers what they need to know to understand your points.
As you compose your posting, review the techniques for analyzing and interpreting texts in Understanding Rhetoric.
You must include a list of works cited at the end of your blog posting acknowledging all sources you have consulted, including webpages. You must use your own words and cite all sources using MLA format.
Online Peer Review
After submitting your rough draft of your analytical essay, you will share a copy with your peer review group on Canvas. Each student will comment on at least two of their classmates' essays. Ideally, you should comment on essays that have received less attention. If you see one that already has many comments, choose another. You will not receive feedback from the instructor on your rough draft. Instead, your rough draft will receive a complete/incomplete grade and you will receive feedback from each other.
Your comments should address the following aspects of the revision process:
1. Revision - Larger ideas regarding the thesis statement, organization of the essay and paragraphs, and analysis of the text.
2. Editing - Suggestions for improving the way the essay makes meaning at sentence level, including aspects such as incorporation and analysis of quotations, and topic sentences that state what each paragraph argues.
3. Proofreading - Smaller changes, such as grammar and punctuation.
You should check for aspects indicated in the rubric included with the assignment instructions. Ask, for instance, whether the conclusion differs from the introduction and makes suggestions for further research. You might suggest a title that will draw in readers or a more direct way of introducing the thesis.
Revision and editing should be attended to first, as proofreading may be needed later in the process.
This will be an assignment that will be graded out of four, like other postings, with attention to thoroughness, effort, clarity, and creativity.
Discussion Board Posting 4
In preparation for your projects designing phone, tablet, or computer applications (apps), your second posting will argue that one existing app is of use to college students (it may also be an app you see as a model for your group’s app). Your posting will be at least 250 words and analyze aspects of app that you have located, including one image, and at least one quotation from Jennine Capó Crucet's Make Your Home Among Strangers.
When assessing the app you have selected, review the instructions for the App and Rationale assignment on our course website and Understanding Rhetoric’s strategies for analyzing visual rhetoric. Consider the ways that the app’s written, oral, visual, electronic, and nonverbal elements work together. Other questions to consider (you do not need to address them all) include: What is the audience for the app? How will college students use it? How does it work? How do the visual design and purpose work together? What pages or options does the app include? Is the app easy to use? How does it incorporate a phone, tablet, or computer’s features, such as internet access, gps, or access to social media? What would you improve about the app? Are there any reviews of the app? Who has found it successful or unsuccessful, and why?
You must include a list of works cited at the end of your blog posting acknowledging all sources you have consulted, including websites. If you located your app using itunes, you can find a website describing the app and directing users to the itunes store using google.
You must use your own words and cite all sources using MLA format.
Discussion Board Posting 5
In this discussion board posting you will address one of the following questions, asserting a thesis that you will support with analysis of evidence from at least one course text and one peer reviewed journal article.
- Zadie Smith’s essay addresses the film The Social Network, which came out in 2010. What has changed and what remains the same? How would you update her critique of Facebook and social media now?
- What impact does technology have on personal relationships in Smith’s essay and/or Alexie's poem? What would you change about the relationship between technology and personal relationships as Smith and/or Alexie see it, or as it is now?
- What do we learn about education from Smith's or Caryl Phillips's essays, or both texts?
Your 250-word posting will analyze at least one quotation from Smith's or Phillips’s essays or Alexie’s poem and one quotation or point from a scholarly journal article. You can choose from one of the articles in our Google Drive folder or locate one on your own. You are also welcome to analyze the film The Social Network in relation to Smith's essay, and you can include an image or link to a clip from it as well.
As you write about your journal article, use at least one template from They Say, I Say. Take a look at the sample essay in the chapter devoted to revising for ways to incorporate and analyze secondary sources. You might ask yourself what you agreed or disagreed with int the article and why this matters.
Make sure to cite all sources you consult, use quotations appropriately, and cite page numbers in parentheses when referring to or paraphrasing an idea. Use MLA format for in-text citations and list of works cited acknowledging all sources you have consulted.