Week 1        (due 1/18).

• Find the class web page.   Explore the various links.  Then send me an email message (paulb@one-world.org) containing about 1 paragraph worth of writing.  You may write whatever you wish (e.g., questions, comments, a letter, poetry, etc.).

Week 2         (due 1/25)

• Follow the instructions on the class web site for joining the class listserv.  Join the listserv.
• Pick up and read the Tucson Weekly & the Sunday Arizona Daily Star.  Look for articles & editorials that treat local conflicts & issues.  Pick an issue treated in one of these publications and write a summary of the sides or terms of the debate.  How is the issue framed?  What arguments are presented for each side of the conflict/issue?  (at least 150 words).

• How might the texts by Tapahanso resonate with issues covered in the papers or discussed in class?  What does this allow you to see about individual & group expression and different types of media (oral tradition, written, movies, broadcast, etc?)?  (150 words).

Week 3        (due 2/1)
 

• After browsing through this week's TW and AzDS, select an article that covers a local issue/conflict that interests you.  Brainstorm about the persuasive strategies employed by the author.  Analyze the rhetorical situation & strategies of the piece.    (250 words).

• Explore how might you organize & focus a formal essay that analyzes the rhetoric in this text?  (100 words).

Week 4        (due 2/8)
 

• Construct a fully developed sentence outline for essay 1.

• Draft your essay 1.  Bring 3 copies to class.  This draft is required in order to qualify to write the week 5 peer reviews & to receive feedback from me during your conference.

Week 5          (due 2/15 or 2/17 at group conference).  (Special double credit journal assignment!).
 

• OK, so there's no class this week, but there's much work to be done.
• If you are still wondering about this whole rhetorical analysis thing, check out The Rhetorical Analysis Review Sheet.
• First, you need to read the following posted writings:  Five Types of Weak Theses & How to Fix Them, & How to Analyze Your Evidence.
• Then, write a peer-response for each of the other members of your group before your scheduled conference.

           1.  Read the introduction. Based solely on the introduction, what do you expect this paper to be about? Does the introduction grab your attention? Does it provide adequate background information to understand where the paper is going?
           2.  Now read the rest of the paper. Was it about what you expected it to be about? Where, if at all, did the author shift focus or wander away from the topic that was established or suggested in the introduction?
           3.  What do you take to be the author’s thesis? In other words, what is the major argument the author is making in his/her analysis? Is it a strong thesis? How might it be made stronger?  Is the thesis appropriately focused for an essay of this length?  How might the focus be refined?  Does the thesis lead to a sustained analysis of the text or texts?
           4.  Produce a quick fragment outline of how this essay is organized. You can plug in the words introduction & conclusion where appropriate. How has the author related the parts of his/her analysis to one another? What logic is governing the arrangement or order of the parts? (If you can’t determine the logic, say so.).  How might the organization of the paper be improved?
           5.  Where in the analysis (cite by paragraph #, please) do you find evidence in support of the thesis? Where in the paper does the analysis break down or otherwise not support the thesis?  What other evidence might be considered?
           6.  Pick one supporting body paragraph. Underline all of the inferences, interpretations, and claims you find there. Put a check mark by all of the evidence in support of those inferences. What can you say about the balance the author has established between these two?  Does the author explain the links, connections & warrants between the evidence and the claims?  In other words, are the paragraphs fully developed and well-balanced?
           7.  What questions remained unanswered by the paper? What are you still confused or curious about?  Did any counter arguments come to mind that the author did not consider?
           8.  What did you enjoy most about the paper?
 

• After your conference, you should read the following:  Introductions & Conclusions, Revising for Style & Revising for Correctness.
• Then revise your draft based upon my comments, the comments of your peers, and what you have learned from all these posted writings.

Week 6    (due 2/24)
 

• Brainstorm and Freewrite about the various issues and approaches that you might take to essay 2.   Re-read the posted essay assignment.  Think about the advantages and disadvantages of each of your ideas.  (at least 200 words)

Week 7    (due 2/29)
 

• Continue to think about what local southwestern issue, controversy or problem that you would like to explore and write about.  Try to come up with 3 specific research questions that would enable you to write a documented argument, a persuasive essay.  Make a list of key words that are important in this issue or controversy.  Bring these questions and these key words to class on Tuesday!  (at least 150 words)

• Prepare for the In-Class Midterm!   Think carefully about the southwestern issue/conflict that you have chosen to explore & argue about.  Brainstorm all the arguments both for and against your side.  Organize these arguments via clustering, webbing, etc.  Think of examples or other logical evidence for both sides.  Construct a sentence outline that structures a persuasive essay that relies heavily on LOGOS.  Remember that logical appeals -- reason & rationality in a balanced, critical inquiry -- are traditional within the academic discourse community.  Bring this sentence outline to class on Thursday (along with a blue book!) and use it to help you write your Midterm Exam. (300 words -- the more complete your outline, the better your in-class essay will be!).

Week 8     (due 3/7)
 

• Continue researching your issue/conflict.  First, finish your self-guided tour of the UA's library research tools -- RIO tutorial.  Make sure you have fully read and passed the quizzes on the "What is Sabio", "Sabio Catalog", "Database Basics", "Finding Articles", "WWW", and why not "Writing Papers" as well.
• Find and read several articles (or other relevant, appropriate texts) about the issue from journals within your chosen field / discipline / academic discourse area.  Print out your search results from your SABIO searchs.  Put these search results in your portfolio!
• Write a proposal or abstract for Essay #2 with a Works Cited page.  In this 200 word MAXIMUM text, you should briefly give your reader background on the state of the conversation / argument that you will be joining.  Assume that your readers are college educated & well-read, but not necessarily familiar with the issue at hand.  So you should not only describe what the issue is, but also who is arguing what and how.  Yes, you should actually mention the authors of the articles that you have already found during your research.  Then, you should clearly explain to the read how you plan to join the debate.  What insights & arguments & critiques can you bring to the table?  What other research do you plan to do?  How will you do it?
• Bring a print out to Kaibab on Tuesday.  Also bring a ibm/pc type 3.5 inch floppy disk with a file containing your proposal.  You will also need to make sure that you remember your xxxx@u.arizona.edu  username and  password.  If you don't know this account's username and password click here to telnet to account.arizona.edu.  Follow the directions carefully -- if you get confused, read the page fully!  Here, you can find out your username or, if you don't know your password, you can get a new random password.  Remember that telnet is a primitive interface -- you won't be able to use your mouse.

                  (due 3/9)

• Continue your research.  Print out search materials for your Unit 2 portfolio .  Make copies of articles that you will cite so that you can attach these passages (highlighted) to your final draft of Essay #2.  Begin integrating your research into your sentence outline that you used for your midterm. The more your accomplish drafting Essay #2 this week, the more free time you will have over Spring Break!  (500 words).

Week 9    (due 3/21)
 

• Write a draft of Essay #2, complete with works cited.  Print out a copy & put it in your unit 2 portfolio.  But you must also post this draft to your u.arizona.edu website as we learned how to do before spring break.  Post this draft before class!  If you are having trouble look at the journal assignment above for week 8, the ftp-instructions, & perhaps you might even need to download WS_FTP.  (800 words minimum)

                  (due 3/23)

• Peer Reviews due in class -- double credit assignment!  Print out the draft of essay 2 from your peers' web site.  Read it carefully, marking it for corrections.  Then answer the following questions -- print out one copy for your peer and put one copy in your portfolio.  You are only writing one peer response this time, so I expect it to be twice as useful, twice as complete as last time.  I will grade them accordingly....

Week 10    (due 3/28)

• Write a self-evaluation & revision plan.  This is essentially a review of your own essay -- what's working, what's not -- along with a detailed description of how your are going to make it a more effective persuasive essay.  (200 words, min.)

• Revise Essay #2 and bring in final draft (w/ attached source material) and Unit #2 portfolio.

Week 11    (due 4/4)

• Read the assigned text in WAR 362-371.  Taigue has written an essay that is focused around the chapayeka masks that are used (still) in the annual Yaqui Easter Ritual (you all might consider attending the Yaqui Easter Celebration for extra credit this year....)  What is Taigue's purpose?  Her thesis?  How does she structure her essay?  How does she integrate personal experience with analysis?  What do you find effective about her writing?  What is the point of using the gift of the masks to focus her essay, to make her point?  (250 word minimum).
• Think about movies that you have seen that relate to themes of the class & the readings you have been doing.  Come to the MOO session prepared to suggest and argue for certain movies that you would like to see shown in class.

• Now that you have viewed Lone Star, write a 1 page analysis of your reaction to the movie.  Pick something that you liked, or perhaps that bothered you & try to understand how your own past personal experiences, beliefs or expectations relate to your response.  You might consider the miscegnation that is valorized at the end of the movie, or the representation of the border, of "illegal aliens", of intercultural relations, etc.  (250 word minimum).

Week 12    (due 4/11)

• Brainstorm and freewrite an analysis of your reactions/response to the movie that you decided to watch over the weekend.   How does it represent the Southwest?  In what ways might your movies representation of the Southwest be problematic given the other texts & conversations that you have experienced this semester?  How has your conception of the Southwest or of your own prexisting beliefs, expectations, or personal identity been affected?  (250 words).

                    (due 4/13)

• Now that you have seen Imagining Indians (in the reserve room of the main library) & read the article about it in WAR 147-160, write about how this film comments about the other Western/Southwestern movies that you have seen.  What is the point of Imagining Indians?  What does it hope to achieve in viewers like you?  Will it change how you view filmed representations of Native Americans?  Did it bother you?  Why did you react in the way that you did?  What does this teach you about your own expectations for films containing "Indians"?  Why does the dental patient take the drill to the movie lens at the end? (300 words minimum).

Week 13    (due Monday, 4/17)     Special double credit assignment!

• Write a peer review of your partner's emailed essay.  Print out a copy of your peer review and put it in your unit 3 portfolio, email a copy to your peer.  Answer the following questions completely and with specific references to your peer's essay.  (300 words minimum).

• Read your peer's evaluation of your Essay 3.  Consider your revision needs and write a detailed revision plan (200 words).  Bring this revision plan in to your conference along with any other essays/questions that you would like to discuss!

• Compare and contrast the organizational and narrative strategies of the various sample student essays from the Student's Guide that you have read in Unit 3.  What strategies & techniques work well?  Which essay do you like best?  Why?  How can you employ these strategies in your own Essay 3?  (150 words)
• Revise your essay based upon your peer response & individual conference.  Have a copy of your essay opened in a file when you meet on the MOO for class!

• Finish revising Essay 3.  Bring in printed final version along with Unit 3 Portfolio.  Print out final copies of any other revisions that you want me to re-grade.  Make sure that you have the original graded copy & that you highlight all revisions in order to qualify for the re-grading.  Place these drafts directly after your final draft of Essay 3 and write "REGRADE" on them!

Week 15    (due 5/2)

• Answer the final exam study questions as fully as possible.  Annotate your final readings clearly for each type of likely question (perhaps highlight the texts in different colors).  Perhaps construct sample essay outlines.  Any materials you generate may be used during the final exam & will be turned in as your Unit 4 Portfolio at the time your finish the final exam.

• Bring your annotated readings, blue books, pens & any notes/outline/question answers & other materials (dictionary, etc) that you would like to use.  Be sure to turn in your Unit 4 portfolio with your blue book at the end of the final.