Week 4 Overview Podcast Transcript
Welcome to draft week, student writers!
This week, we will begin with a video lesson on how to format your essay correctly, using MLA guidelines. Please pay close attention to the details explained in this video so that you don’t end up giving away points on your essay for basic formatting errors. Then, our first graded assignment for the week, due Wednesday, asks that you create your Works Cited page for the draft you will submit on Friday. Here’s our first tip! As you review carefully this week’s lesson on Creating Your Works Cited Page, take note that the sample citation included in that lesson is very close to the citation you will need to create for your Works Cited page. We provide examples such as this one for your benefit, so please do not miss them by skimming over (or skipping entirely) a lesson! Remember, your final draft of the Summary/Analysis essay is worth 15% of your total course grade, and it will include assessment of your MLA formatting as well as your source integration (which means you must create a Works Cited page that not only lists your chosen article but also conforms to MLA documentation rules).
Most importantly, this is the week you will submit your preliminary draft of the summary/analysis essay to your peer response workshop for review. Since this is our first workshop, I want to mention that many students (at this point in the class) tell us they don’t normally enjoy peer response workshops because they find them to be either “uncomfortable” or “a waste of time.” The first group, those who feel “uncomfortable,” often feel this way because – as student writers themselves – they just don’t feel equipped to provide feedback on their classmates’ writing. The 2nd group, those suggesting that peer workshops are a “waste of time,” typically feel this way because of past experience, because the feedback they received from classmates in a past workshop was generally unhelpful. Fear not, student writers! To help overcome those common problems associated with peer response, this week’s module includes an important lesson on how to provide constructive feedback.
Remember, you don’t have to be a writing expert to give honest (but kind) and useful feedback about any piece of writing. You just have to care enough to actually read the draft thoroughly and pay attention to specific areas within the draft that don’t quite meet the goals of the assignment. In this week’s “Post Your Peer Reviews” item, we provide you with specific questions to answer as you read each draft, and these questions will help you identify those areas of feedback that will be most useful for your classmates. Just make sure you provide detailed and specific feedback in response to each question that is listed in the instructions for posting your peer reviews. Remember, you will be graded on the quality and clarity of the feedback that you provide in this workshop, and – perhaps even more important – you do not want any of your classmates to feel that YOUR reviews were generally unhelpful.
One final bit of advice before I sign off. Please take note of the “Important Course Policy Reminder” that is posted immediately following this week’s list of “Assignments, Tasks, and Activities.” I’d really hate to see anyone in this class give away hard-earned points on their final draft of a major written assignment simply because they did not complete (or did not meet the length requirements of) a preliminary draft during draft week.
I wish you another productive work week; and, as always, reach out via email or MS Teams chat if you have any questions about this week’s lessons or assignments.