Author: Professor Sean Scanlan (Page 1 of 5)

Hi Class,

Thanks for attending today’s brief class. It was really great to get to meet you. I am proud to be your teacher!

Just a reminder:

*Final Portfolio deadline is 5pm tonight (May 24). Submit through BlackBoard.

*I will accept late work (late penalty will apply) until the deadline: 5pm tonight (May 24).

If you have any questions, please email me…but do so before 5pm.

Best wishes,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

Thanks for attending today.

1–Here is a student example of the Final Portfolio (all 5 pieces) in one Google Doc. Please note that this is for layout purposes–each of the 5 parts is incomplete:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wkBIkUPvGK3Ktnt_RQRh11sXW_SW_2vU651mFJmoe84/edit?usp=sharing

2–Turn in your Final Portfolio through Blackboard.

3–We have a short class on Monday–about 15 minutes. It would be great to see you one last time.

4–I have office hours today and Thursday.

Email any questions,

Prof. Scanlan

ps. Deadline for all work is May 24, 5pm

Hi Class,

Thank you for working hard during our “sprint.”

Here is the homework for Wednesday (the more that you can get done now, the easier this week will be).

HOMEWORK: Set a timer for 30 minutes and fill out the first two sections of the revision documentation for your Annotated Bibliography — the documentation is near the top of the Readings menu tab. Take a break, then set a timer for another 30 minutes and try to complete the revision documentation. Be ready to discuss your work on Wednesday.

Reminders:

May 19: Regular Class–please attend

May 24: Last Class (it will be short, but please attend)

May 24: Deadline for all work: 5pm.

I do have office hours this week.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

Uggh, sorry about missing class. Finally got it all sorted out.

**OFFICE HOURS ARE CURRENTLY HAPPENING! USE THE LINKS TO THE RIGHT IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.

HOMEWORK: Set a timer for 30 minutes and fill out the first two sections of the revision documentation for your Intellectual Home essay — the documentation is near the top of the Readings menu tab. Take a break, then set a timer for another 30 minutes and try to complete the revision documentation. Be ready to discuss your work on Monday.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi class,

my whole block’s internet is down. I’m sitting in a coffee shop. I’ll post the homework later today. Very sorry about this.

-s

Hi Everybody,

Thank you for sharing your freewrites today! I think everybody is on track to complete a draft of the Final Reflection Essay in good order. The homework for Wednesday is also meant to help you build a solid first draft of the Final Reflection Essay.

A few of you asked about my office hours. Details and Zoom info is posted on the right column of the site =====================>>>>>>>>

Wed and Thurs from 1-2. Email me if those times don’t work.

Homework:

Step 1–Find two quotes from your own writing this semester that make you proud (good writing). Then, find two quotes from your own writing that do not make you proud (bad writing). [Some selected sources: IH, AB, Coffeehouse posts, quiz, notes]

Step 2—Copy and paste these quotes into a new document (Word or Google Docs). Or, you can just add it to the freewrites that we worked on today.

Step 3—Under each quote, write three sentences (at least) that explain why you selected it.

Step 4—reflect on these explanations and write three sentences (at least) about your writing style.

***Come prepared to read one of your quotes and the explanation.

Best wishes,

Prof. Scanlan

NOTE: SORRY, I HAD TO CANCEL TODAY’S OFFICE HOURS DUE TO A MEETING CONFLICT!–Email any questions.

——————————

Hi Class,

Thank you so much for attending the conferences. I hope that you found them helpful. If you were not able to attend your session, please send me an email, and we can set one up. And there’s always my office hours.

For Monday:

1. Read the Unit 3 instructions carefully (Assignments menu tab)
2. 20-minute freewriting session: Select between 2-4 questions from the Unit 3 Reflection Essay instructions that speak to you and what you have learned this semester. Then freewrite about these questions for a single 20-minute session. Try to spend several minutes on each question. Come to class on Monday prepared to read your freewrite. You may edit your freewrite as this will be direct fuel for the Reflection Essay.
3. 5-minute freewriting session: Read the writing/revision quotes below and select your favorite one or two. Then freewrite on the quote(s) for 5 minutes. The result of this freewrite might be very useful for your Reflection Essay. In fact, I think it is a great idea to use a quote in your Reflection Essay. It might by helpful in either the intro or the conclusion. Be prepared to read your freewrite on Monday. Please edit or revise the freewrite as you see fit.
4. OPTIONAL: If you want to get a head start revising your Intellectual Home essay (Unit 1) or your Annotated Bibliography (Unit 2), then you should look at the Revision Documentation Guides in the Readings menu tab. We will examine them on Monday.

 

Quotes on writing and revising:

1–Learn to enjoy this tidying process. I don’t like to write; I like to have written. But I love to rewrite. I especially like to cut: to press the DELETE key and see an unnecessary word or phrase or sentence vanish into the electricity. I like to replace a humdrum word with one that has more precision or color. I like to strengthen the transition between one sentence and another. I like to rephrase a drab sentence to give it a more pleasing rhythm or a more graceful musical line. With every small refinement I feel that I’m coming nearer to where I would like to arrive, and when I finally get there I know it was the rewriting, not the writing, that won the game.

—William Zinsser

 

The first draft is black and white. Editing gives the story color.

—Emma Hill

 

 A good editor doesn’t rewrite words, she rewires synapses.

–S. Kelley Harrell

 

Writing without revising is the literary equivalent of waltzing gaily out of the house in your underwear.

–Patricia Fuller

 

 There’s no page of prose in existence that its author can’t improve after it’s been in a drawer for a week. The same is true on the macro level – every time I finish a story or a book, I try to put it away and forget it for as long as I can. When I return, its problems are often so obvious and easy to fix that I’m amazed I ever struggled with them.

—Charles Finch

 

“I’ve found the best way to revise your own work is to pretend that somebody else wrote it and then to rip the living shit out of it.”

― Don Roff

 

“Nothing is ever so good that it can’t stand a little revision, and nothing is ever so impossible and broken down that a try at fixing it is out of the question.”

― Rebecca Solnit

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

This is a friendly reminder to be on time for Wednesday’s conferences. The schedule of conferences is in the post below this one. [Thank you to all who attended on Monday]

I will post the homework to be due on Monday, May 10, late in the afternoon on Wednesday.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

Note: the final quiz is due by 12:30 today (April 28).

Below please find the schedule for our one-on-one conferences (worth 10 participation points). Please bring  a draft of the Final Reflection Essay to your conference so we can discuss it (the instructions for this essay are in the Assignments menu tab–UNIT 3). Also, bring any questions from the Intellectual Home essay and/or the Annotated Bibliography. You do not have to turn your camera on if you don’t want to–but it would be great to see you!

Please be on time!

Hi Class,

Homework:

Read “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid (Readings menu tab). Then review the components of the academic summary, sentence types (see Notepad for April 19 and 21 or Readings menu tab), and the new handout on conditional sentences (Readings menu tab). Final Quiz  will take place during class on Wednesday.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan