PowerPoint from June 5

Last Minute Warnings and Advice

PLAGIARISM!

• If the IDEAS came from another source, it needs a footnote. (Without footnotes, it's plagiarism.)
• If the WORDS came from another source, it needs quotation marks and a footnote. (Without footnotes and quotation marks, it's plagiarism.)
  
• BE SAFE, NOT SORRY!

General Advice

• Thesis statements that are facts are not good. A thesis statement should be a claim, not a fact.
• Topic sentences that don't provide direction for the paragraph are not good. Everything in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.
• Paragraphs in the partial essay should be paragraphs that belong in the essay, not summaries of the essay. (Avoid introductions and conclusions and write body paragraphs instead.)
• Paragraphs in the partial essay should have footnotes (if needed). If not, it's plagiarism.
• Don't state the obvious.
• To fix unclear sentence structure, read your essay out loud to someone else to see if he/she understands
• Formatting: 1.5 spacing, 12 point font, A4 paper, readable font, name at the top

Reaction/Opinion Advice

• Not reacting to anything specific is not good. (If your topic is a product, consider reacting to a review of that product.)
• Give an opinion not just information.
• Organize clearly.

Sample Reaction/Opinion Organization
I. Intro

• Background information about what you're reacting to.
• Sample Thesis: "So-and-so" has good points about "such-and-such," but I think...
• Sample Thesis: This article says "such-and-such," and I agree/disagree because..

II. Summary and analysis of the source you're reacting to
III. Your reaction (using your personal experience as evidence)
IV. Conclusion

Ideas for the Blog Entry: Questions to Consider

• What surprised or challenged me?
• What did I learn? (About my topic? About academic writing?)
• What piece am I most proud of? Why?
• How can I improve my writing in the future?
• What were my failures and successes?

Submitting the Blog Entry

• Go to www.blogger.com.
• Sign in with the Google ID you created.
• Click on "New Post."
• Write your blog entry, or copy/past it from Microsoft Word.
• Post your blog entry.
• Print your blog entry from the Internet (Just yours. Not everyone's).

Submitting Everything Else

• You will submit a hard copy and an electronic copy.
  
• Bring all your portfolio pieces in a folder (the hard copy).
  
• You only need one bibliography (list of sources) for the whole portfolio.
• We want to know how many drafts you turned in, so remember.
• Submit all the pieces in one Microsoft Word document to misslauramail@gmail.com. Name the document like this: [your name] [your class]. Example: Laura 11.2