Draft Workshop April 22nd weekend
1. While I think that many of you have made a great deal of progress with your thesis statements, one habit I see a lot of people falling into is simply juxtaposing a couple of formal aspects of the piece (i.e. color, shape, line, etc.) with some sort of broad comment about the piece (it's nostalgic, chaotic, etc.) and joining them with a generic verb like "uses" or "does" rather than really making an argument about how the formal aspects of the work contribute to these interpretations of the piece. Give the author's thesis statement another go-round. Does s/he fall into this pattern? If so, how can s/he push the thesis statement to be clearer about what the formal aspects of the piece are actually doing?
2. By now you probably should have added research to your papers. Does the author have the appropriate amount of research? Is the research substantial (i.e. from academic sources) and is it used substantially in the paper (i.e. not just dropped in)? If not, how might the author improve his or her use of research to better meet the demands of the assignment?
3. Does each paragraph contain a strong topic sentence and stick to that topic sentence without wandering for the entire paragraph? If not, suggest ways in which the author might improve the organization of his or her paper into paragraphs (note: throughout the semester paragraphing has consistently been the dividing line between successful and unsuccessful papers in this class!).
4. In our model draft workshops the distinction between description and analysis keeps coming up. Assess whether the author has struck the appropriate balance of description and analysis, noting specific examples.
2. By now you probably should have added research to your papers. Does the author have the appropriate amount of research? Is the research substantial (i.e. from academic sources) and is it used substantially in the paper (i.e. not just dropped in)? If not, how might the author improve his or her use of research to better meet the demands of the assignment?
3. Does each paragraph contain a strong topic sentence and stick to that topic sentence without wandering for the entire paragraph? If not, suggest ways in which the author might improve the organization of his or her paper into paragraphs (note: throughout the semester paragraphing has consistently been the dividing line between successful and unsuccessful papers in this class!).
4. In our model draft workshops the distinction between description and analysis keeps coming up. Assess whether the author has struck the appropriate balance of description and analysis, noting specific examples.
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