Week 6 Overview Podcast Transcript

Congratulations student writers! This is the week that you will complete the first unit of the semester, which ends with your submission of the summary/analysis essay. Week 6 also marks the first week of our second unit, during which you will compose an effects-based argument. Before we discuss the specifics of Week 6, we would like for you to take some time in order to reflect on your progress in the course thus far. Have you done your best work in Unit 1? If not, why? If, for example, you realize that you missed two or more assignments, what are you going to do differently in Unit 2 to ensure that you won’t miss any more? What patterns of behavior or thinking will you need to change to end Unit 1 successfully and to be successful on the lessons and the assignments that you will complete for Unit 2? Now is the time to really reflect on your past behaviors and thinking, your time management strategies, and your work ethics in order to set new goals for yourself for the remainder of the semester.

Now let’s talk about Week 6 specifically. You’ll begin this week focusing on the last stage of the writing process for your summary/analysis essay, which as you’ll remember is Stage 5: Revise and Polish. As a reminder, Stage 5 of the writing process involves three steps: global revision, local revision, and surface revision. To help you with both global and surface revisions, we have included a video tutorial on how to improve your draft. Please watch this video well before the night your final draft is due so that you can apply the important lessons and advice included in the video to your global and surface revisions. In addition, please check out the Proofreading Strategies video or podcast to get some great tips on how to successfully find and correct your sentence-level errors. Remember, folks, proofreading is the very last stage of the writing process, and it can make all the difference. To effectively proofread your essay, you’re going to want to print out a copy so that you can read it aloud with a pen in hand. Even if you can’t print out your essay, reading it aloud – or even better, having someone else read it aloud to you – will help you find and correct around 70% of your sentence-level errors. The final draft of your summary/analysis essay is worth 15% of your overall course grade, so it really is a major test of everything you learned throughout Unit 1.

Once you’ve submitted your final draft, it will be time to turn your attention to your effects-based argument. This second essay assignment asks you to consider the effects of technology, such as the internet, social media, or smart phones, on either social relationships and identity or on intelligence. This week, you’ll read through the prompt and rubric, watch a video introduction to the assignment, and read the first two readings associated with the new assignment.

And of course, as usual, you have Launch Pad assignments to complete, so it’s a busy week, folks, and you’ll need to manage your time wisely to complete it successfully.

That’s all for now! As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please email your instructor right away.