Thursday, February 11, 2010
2 Rules for Giving Feedback
2) Good ideas deserve praise, but give constructive and positive feedback
-Margaret Neville, Khayla Deans, Nicole James
Group Rules: Camille, Charles, Laura, Kailey
2) Offer suggestions and explanations for your markings/corrections.
2 Rules for Giving Feedback
Feedback Rules!
2)If you do not understand a comment, ask.
Rules for Feedback - Sterling, Zach, Sarah, Kelsey
Unit 1 Thoughts
Jackies feedback definitely helped my reevaluate my work and her comments were very helpful. After reading Kenans paper, the three of us agreed on what our intro to our introduction was going to be. I have enjoyed getting to know my group better and I think all of us are developing our research skills and learning how to connect our research to the intent of our paper.
Unit 1 thoughts
I liked the draft workshop period in class and being able to revise it in class. I have a class right after English, so my brain would shift gears and I would lose focus on my peer's suggestions for my draft. I thought that sometimes we did not have enough time to finish some of the requirements by the set deadlines. I liked having class time to discuss problems, and I liked having a conference to go over problem spots in our group outlines.
UNIT 1
In unit 1 I uncovered my strengths of reading and analyzing. When asked to read a certain amount of submissions I found it very difficult to retain a lot of the information. Due to some of the submission that were written in some older English it was also hard to comprehend. I did though find the topics I read interesting though some of them were difficult to understand.
What I disliked about the project initially was the assignment itself. I am still finding it difficult to piece everything together. Im hoping this weekend I can meet with my group members and figure everything out. Im hoping to succeed in this unit because I do think there are many interesting topics however Im not sure if that will happen.
Harper's Introduction Project
I did not really like the idea of this project to begin with, but after getting into the project I realized that it is really helping my research skills, and it is helping me familiarize myself with different genres and different writing periods. I am very proud of my work thus far, and my groups, and I feel like we have all learned a lot!
thoughts so far
I guess we haven't finished the project so things still could go drastically wrong. But so far the unit has gone really well and has been interesting as well as work. It has been manageable with all my other class work. Pulling the whole thing together may be a little difficult in making sure that it flows well, but hopefully that will surprise me in going really well just like the rest of the project so far.
Reflection on Unit Project
By reading an 1850 issue from Harper's Magazine, I learned more about the culture and current news of America and the world in the mid 19th century. It is interesting to read magazines as a form of entertainment in the 1850s and compare them to our magazines today. I am also learning how to write a critical introduction which is a very important skill when writing in the humanities as well as other academic fields.
Unit 1 Project
I have enjoyed working in the same group, and am very pleased with the fact that we will keep the same group for the remainder of the semester. I think by the end of the semester doing group work, group projects, group papers, etc. will be much easier as we will have had several months to adjust to one another and become comfortable offering advice and criticism. I was not looking forward to completing this project after reading my section of the Harper's issue we were assigned, but I have actually enjoyed the project, especially the research and the writing, aside from the initial reading assignment. I feel that the project adequately appeals to several types of people and learners. Overall, I have no major complaints about this project.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Critical Introduction: Reaction
I think I have enjoyed this assignment because it has refreshed my memory regarding the Civil War of 1861 from a different perspective. One is usually taught about the Civil War through the facts provided by history textbooks. This assignment, however, has given me a more personal perspective on the war. By reading excerpts from the novels listed under the "Literary Notices" article in the March, 1859 issue of Harper's New Monthly Magazine, I can tell that most of the major novels of the time were mainly about the main concerns of the time. The main concerns revolved around discrimination and the inequality faced by the different ethnic groups. This assignment has been very informative.
Unit 1
I also enjoyed being able the connect some of the current events to the articles in the newspaper. This involved research which was oftentimes a time consuming a frustrating process, but nonetheless it was valuable experience that I'll use in all my other classes in the coming years. Group work, so far, has been a very rewarding experience. My group has worked very well with each other and I believe we've all benefited from eachother in this short period of time, so I have a good feeling about our future projects together.
Reaction to Unit Project
Unit 1
I've really enjoyed working in a group so far and I found the workshop to be extremely useful. The only part I didn't really care for was reading the articles and writing the summaries just because it was a lot of reading to do in a little time so my summaries may not have been that great. I've also learned how to write a memo which I know will come in handy so that was interesting and I liked it.
Unit 1
Unit 1 Project Thus Far
While working on this project I have learned to write a memo. I did not know how to write a memo before taking this class. Memos are a very useful thing to learn. Another thing that I have learned is about Harper's Magazine. During the Unit 1 project, my groupmates and I were researching about the 1850s and what was occurring in America during this time. I have really enjoyed learning these new things.
-Margaret Neville
Unit Project Reflection - Sterling
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Draft Workshop & Unit 1 Project - Kailey
For me personally, the workshop helped to better organize my paper and kept me focused. I had a clear thesis statement and made logical points but they were a bit out of order and one needed more supporting details. These are things that I know need to be in the paper, and that I thought I had included, however, after talking with my group it was clear that there was some ambiguity that made sense in my head but not to the readers.
My favorite part of the draft workshop was having the opportunity to correct my errors right then. By the time I've gone to my next class, hit the gym, and had dinner I usually forget all the little things my editor has said, especially the small tweaks that I forget to write down because I think I'll remember them later.
Overall I felt that the draft workshop was very effective and extremely helpful. I can't think of anything that I didn't particularly like :)
As far as the Unit 1 Project goes I'm surprisingly enjoying it (as much as one can enjoy homework). At first I was nervous about doing group work but it has gone really well in my group. I feel that we all get along really well and so far that everyone has equally contributed to our project. Content wise, I really found Harper's New Monthly Magazine interesting. I am one of those "math and science" kind of people so at the beginning I didn't think I'd like reading historical documents and journals. Harper's has surprised me in that I can read it similarly to the way I's read magazine articles from today. So far I have enjoyed this unit project and working with my group mates!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
FD vs HW
From this critical introduction, I gathered information of the life of Federick Douglass from the perspective from himself from his own autobiography, and other authors who have wrote their own biography on him. The critical introduction is written like a biography, explaining the pivotal events in Douglass’s life living as a slave. The man difference between Harper’s and this authors critical introduction is detail.
FD vs. HW- Taylor Bridgers
FD post
Narrative of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave
I believe that part of the reason why this autobiography was so successful was because it targets a wide demographic. Anyone who can read, who is interested in history and who is interested in learning about the struggles of slaves in America, would enjoy this narrative. Furthermore, unlike history textbooks, which provide the facts about the time, this autobiography would offer a more personal, more detailed, in depth, view of this time in history.
Frederick Douglass Intro
Critical Introduction: Harper's vs. Douglass' Narrative.
The tone of the introduction to the narrative is almost story-like. It is not very formal or insightful. Although, it does offer some conclusions that are drawn from the excerpts of the narrative that are presented.
Sarah Sawyer
Narrative-Douglas
Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass - Kailey
Critical Introductions
In the critical introduction to Frederick Douglass's Autobiography, the tone of the writing is very neutral. The author was not trying to entice readers into reading the story based on his own interpretations of the narrative, but rather wanted the readers to read the narrative based on what the story was about.
Frederick Douglass Narrative blog - Sterling
Frederick Douglass' Narrative
In the introduction to Douglass' narrative the author very apparently supports Douglass' position and his feeling. The author uses language that praises Douglass, and condemns his captors.
Critical Introduction on Frederick Douglass' Narrative
Frederick Douglass Critical Intro
The tone of the writing in the intro to this autobiography is sympathetic and praising, but not overly. It seemed that in the Harper's intro the writers were really pushing the founders of the magazine up on a kind of pedestal. Well, it wasn't that severe, but they were praised a lot. The writer of the Douglass intro is appreciative and respecting of everything that Douglass accomplished and seems to have a lot of respect for him and is trying to convince the reader that they should too.
Frederick Douglass - Introduction
The Harper's introduction had a much more formal tone than the Frederick Douglass introduction, due partially to the differences in information included in the two introductions. The Frederick Douglass introduction feels largely like a short story, which typically are easy to read and fairly entertaining. The Harper's introduction was more informative and used more formal language to reflect the reputation of the magazine, which is publishing pieces with literary merit. Also, the tone of the writing of Frederick Douglass' introduction can also be described as colloquial because it is so easy to understand, which in the case of telling a story is a positive. The tone is also inviting to the reader because it tells the main points but leaves out enough details to make the reader want to know the rest of the story, accomplishing the typical goal of an introduction.
The Life of Frederick Douglass and Harper's Magazine Introduction
The introduction of the Harper's Magazine by Lewis H. Lapham, is also informative, but it provides information about the makers of Harper's magazine and what sorts of stories and writings that Harper's Magazine may include. The tone was amuzing, and not as deep as the Douglass introduction.
-Margaret Neville