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Writing and Rhetoric I

English 151

Instructor: David Sharpe
Ohio University, Athens OH

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LAB TEN

Announcements

 


Labwork

Introduction

I hope you've enjoyed the quarter and that you feel your writing has improved.  Remember -- you achieve more by the discoveries and experiments of rewriting than you do in the original writing.  Always save time for rewriting, and return to your first version with the challenging eye of an interested, informed stranger.

  1. Routine Startup
    1. Open a second browser
    1. Start your email in a third browser
       
    2. If you don't have a printout ready for your suspended sentence, please print it out now.
       
    3. Save in the shared folder the feedback you have prepared on two Research Papers, if you haven't done so already.  In addition, don't forget to email the feedback to the authors.

       
  1. In-Class Project

Here is your chance to show how much you've picked up about viewing a film with greater perception and thought, moving beyond Wow to How, and demonstrating your writing skills as a closing gesture for the course.

You will be given thirty minutes to write a well-organized, clear, insightful essay on the film clip that has been shown.  Take a minute to organize your thoughts, then wait until the writing time begins (it will be announced verbally).  You can write the essay on the computer, or by hand on paper I have given to you.

Talk about details you perhaps didn't notice before.  Think about parallels and overtones.  Consider the effects of mise-en-scene (within a single shot) and montage (between shots).  You don't have to describe the whole clip, only what you noticed.  Try for more than a plot summary or synopsis of what you saw.

The essay should have complete sentences and structured paragraphs.  It should not be a series of disconnected notes or points.

    1. In Word, start a new document and Save As essay_yourlastname in the shared folder.
    2. When the time begins, write your essay.
    3. Save your finished essay when the time is up and close the document.  If you chose to hand-write the essay, please turn it in at the end of the writing time.

 

  1. Work on your rewrites for the final

You may wish to leave at this point, but you are free to stay and continue on with the rewriting for your final papers.

All four of your papers should be reworked for the final grading.  Use the feedback from the instructor and other students.  In addition to improving the style throughout, make at least one significant change to each paper beyond the feedback you have received -- additional material or removal of weak parts or a change of approach -- still within the expected word length.  Please make sure that your final version is done with Track Changes turned off, creating a clean, final copy with only your own chosen words.

A change that is significant would be more than revising sentences according to the feedback you have received (though that is important to do as well). It would rework an approach to an idea, or add material that is integrated with the rest of the paper. I can't give you examples because each one is unique (an example would be hard to point out effectively -- you'd need the whole original and the whole rewrite, and a lot of time to compare). Follow your own sense of what is significant. Ask yourself -- does your change make a difference to the quality of the paper? Whether or not you can identify significance is part of what is being evaluated.

Each paper should end with "_final" (e.g. analysis_yourlastname_final).  Send each of the four in a separate email to me by the time of the scheduled final, with the Subject Lines: 151 final review, 151 final synopsis, 151 final analysis, and 151 final research.  Describe the changes in the body of another email (not as an attachment) -- and say why you think they are improvements.  In the body of another email (not as an attachment), describe the changes you have made and why you think they are an improvement.  Use 151 final summary as the Subject Line.

My feedback for your review and your analysis paper has been added to the shared folder (for feedback from other students, look in Student-Work_Previous) for your convenience in rewriting now.  The original feedback was sent out by email during the quarter.

 

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