LIBS201LectureOne

LIBS 201: 

LIBS 201 Lecture One: Introduction to the Course and Week One

What is “social justice”?: 

What is “social justice”? Roosevelt itself is founded on the concept of equality and making sure that all people have access to education, a concept of social justice The goals of the institution are to further social justice, both in Chicago and elsewhere An underlying question of this course will be, how is social justice achieved or not achieved in our society given the trends described in the texts we’ll be reading?

How do the books link to this idea?: 

How do the books link to this idea? Both books focus on the declining civic and intellectual engagement of contemporary, and especially young, Americans We’ll raise questions about the assumptions behind these claims and the implications they have for our society Since knowledge and information about social structures precedes the ability to make substantive social change, working towards answers to these questions is also essential to realizing (or even agreeing with one another about what counts as) social progress

Researching, curiously: 

Researching, curiously The Curious Researcher will help guide you through the process of doing research for each of your papers, not from the viewpoint of someone trying to prove an established thesis but from that of someone trying to discover what he believes about that subject Several of our Discussion Board posts may come from exercises drawn from Ballenger You must read Ballenger but are not required to take his writing process onboard

How the course works : 

How the course works Check in on Sunday night for the week’s assignments Do the readings by 11:59pm on the dates listed in the syllabus Respond to any questions in Discussion Board (DB) by the same time on the dates listed Peer evaluations will be done online in assigned groups under the Communications tab Final papers are SENT to Digital Drop Box under Student Tools

This week: DB #s 1-4: 

This week: DB #s 1-4 Who are you? Tell us about yourself in DB #1 Respond to someone else’s post for DB #2 For DB #3, after reading pp. 1-25 in Ballenger, do the two-part exercise on pp. 1-2, then post about what you discovered Respond to someone else’s post for DB #4

This week: The Diagnostic Essay: 

This week: The Diagnostic Essay Watch the Frontline program at PBS.org – give yourself sufficient time to watch it in one sitting Write an essay on the questions in the diagnostic sheet to give me a sense of your writing skills, to see how you incorporate ideas into your writing, and to start discussing the topics of our texts SEND the completed paper by 11:59pm on Friday

Tony’s Twelve Steps: 

Tony’s Twelve Steps To Writing A Paper

Step One: Define Your Purpose: 

Step One: Define Your Purpose as defined by the assignment as defined by the prompt research report (exploratory) or research paper (argumentative)? answer the question: Why am I writing this paper? helps to narrow range of topics

Step Two: Choose Your Topic: 

Step Two: Choose Your Topic sometimes defined by the assignment if not, choose something that interests you (ie., not boring!) answer the question: What would I want to write about? Examples: the use of computers in the classroom, texting and driving, the lack of civility in modern political debate, anti-intellectualism in schools

Step Three: Develop a Working Knowledge: 

Step Three: Develop a Working Knowledge read an essay, look at an article, engage in discussion freewriting, journaling, brainstorming, clustering, interviewing gasp! The dreaded “R” word!

Step Four: Define Your Research Question: 

Step Four: Define Your Research Question What question am I trying to answer with this paper? may NOT actually involve research, despite the “R” word – also known as the focusing question applying stasis questions to the topic will help you narrow down the research question and the type of argument you might write: Did something happen? (argument of fact) What is its nature? (argument of definition) What is its quality? (argument of evaluation) What actions should be taken? (proposal argument)

Step Five: Answer That Question: 

Step Five: Answer That Question reread the material you’ve covered with a more focused eye towards answering the research question look for info that proves your points and refutes those of the opposition for in-class papers: answer the question using what you’ve read

Step Six: Create Your Thesis or Main Idea: 

Step Six: Create Your Thesis or Main Idea Research question? Thesis! “Oh, no, it isn’t!” NOT a statement of fact NOT a statement of blinding obviousness

Step Seven: Analyze Your Audience: 

Step Seven: Analyze Your Audience figure out who you’re writing for (intended readers), what they need to know, what they already know - knowing this can change the paper itself figure out who may be represented in the paper (invoked readers) and who may read the paper without your intent (“real “readers) – knowing this may change the paper answer the question: who am I trying to inform, convince, or persuade? your audience is NEVER me and me alone

Step Eight: Organize and Outline : 

Step Eight: Organize and Outline outlines are NOT punishment! nothing fancy – just state thesis, reasons, proof form follows purpose ALWAYS have an intro and conclusion NEVER simply start writing!

Step Nine: Draft Your Paperr : 

Step Nine: Draft Your Paperr get it down on paper don’t sweat the mistakes yet put it away, then come back to it

Step Ten: Primary Revision: 

Step Ten: Primary Revision this isn’t your paper anymore – be brutal with it take things out, fill in the blanks, get rid of stupidity make the paper interesting avoid the typical errors (they’re/their/there, these/theses, where/were, too/to, a person/they) NEVER use “In today’s society”

Step Eleven: Peer Evaluation: 

Step Eleven: Peer Evaluation “Why should I let someone in here look at my paper?” Why NOT? individuals make different types of errors be constructive, be kind, be honest “This is perfect, don’t change a thing” is the only statement you should NEVER trust this is also the draft you should take to tutors in the Writing Center

Step Twelve: Revise, Document, Turn It In: 

Step Twelve: Revise, Document, Turn It In revise according to peer comments document sources at this point as necessary (Works Cited) print and THEN proofread do NOT trust spell check or grammar check!

If you have any questions...: 

If you have any questions... E-mail me Text me Post a question in the General Discussion Forum in DB if it’s something others might be interested in knowing about Good luck!