Tag Archives: assignment

Final Paper Rubric

Partial Draft Due: 11/25 (Monday by 8:00am)
Full First Draft Due: 11/27 (Wednesday by 8:00am)
Final Draft Due: 12/4 (Wednesday by midnight)

For a word doc version of this rubric, please click here: Final Paper Rubric

General Guidelines

For this assignment, you will compose a 6-10 page paper in which you synthesize research on the topic of your choosing to answer (or begin to answer) your inquiry question(s).

In your essay, you should:

  • Leave the reader with a clear understanding of the answer(s) [or lack of clear answer(s)] to your inquiry question. Stay focused on your inquiry question throughout the paper.
  • Develop and support your statements with evidence drawn from your research
  • Make rhetorical choices appropriate to your rhetorical situation (writing a formal research paper).
    • Choose two rhetorical devices that we have studied to use in your paper
      • Use each device at least twice and underline the usage
    • Appeal to your audience’s sense of ethos, logos, and pathos
      • Either label where you use these rhetorical appeals or write a summary paragraph explaining how you used them
    • Utilize both academic sources and non-academic sources for a total of at least 6 sources (may or may not be the same 6 as in your annotated bibliography) and document these sources appropriately using APA style
    • Follow the structural and stylistic conventions of academic writing

Final Paper Rubric (100 points)

  1. Turned in drafts on time and participated in writing workshop. (25 points)
  2. Incorporates research effectively and appropriately to support the argument (15 points)
    • All claims are backed up by evidence as needed (5 points)
    • Quotes or paraphrases from sources are well-integrated into the paragraphs (no naked quotes) (5 points)
    • All information from another source is correctly cited using APA-style in-text citations (5 points)
  1. Paragraphs and sections follow the structural conventions of Standard American Academic English (25 points)
    • Paper includes an introductory section that establishes the topic, the inquiry question(s), and the writer’s preliminary answer to the question(s) (5 points)
    • Body paragraphs stay focused on individual claims supported by relevant evidence and use topic sentences and transition phrases (10 points)
    • The paper includes a conclusion that explains why the inquiry is important and what readers should take away from the paper. (5 points)
    • The overall organization of the paper is appropriate to the topic, inquiry, and assignment (5 points)
  1. Paper is formatted in APA style (15 points)
    • Title page with name, title, school, page number, running head, and author’s note if needed
    • Abstract with keywords
    • Running head and page number on subsequent pages
    • References page is formatted correctly
  1. Follows the stylistic conventions of Standard American Academic English (10 points)
    • Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation, Formatting, Capitalization, Formality
  1. Other Requirements (10 points)
    • At least two rhetorical devices are used at least twice and are underlined
    • Uses of all 3 rhetorical appeals are marked or summarized
    • Paper meets the length requirement
    • At least 6 sources are used

Scripted Interview Instructions (11/18)

Today (11/18) we will be working on the “Scripted Interview,” one of the 8 assignments the English department requires from all 101 students. If you are unable to finish this during class, please complete it for homework (Due Monday 11/25 by 8:00am).

Instructions

  1. Review the sources in your annotated bibliography (by re-reading your annotations and reminding yourself of what each one says!)
  2. Choose two or three sources to work with for this activity
  3. Write an imaginary conversation where you interview the authors of your sources about the topic of your final project.
      • You should ask at least three open-ended questions that allow the authors to give complex, interesting answers (3 points)
      • Each of the authors should respond to each of your questions, giving a complex, interesting answer (6 points)
      • One of the authors should respond directly to the other author’s comment at least once (1 point)
      • The assignment should be turned in on time (2 points)

Total: 12 points

For people who conducted their own interviews: Don’t rewrite your actual interviews with the people, but ask new questions in this assignment and imagine what your interviewee might have said based on their responses to your real questions.

To complete this assignment, you must think seriously and carefully about each author’s point of view (based on what they wrote/said in your source) in order to imagine (as accurately as possible) what they would think/say about your questions.

It also might help to consider, if you were actually interviewing those two people, what would be interesting to hear both of them talk about?

Format the interview like a script. For example:

Scripted Interview Formatting Example

Olivia: What is the most important thing you have learned in college so far, and why?

Student 1: I learned that I have to be really careful about planning my time, because it’s easy to get behind, and if you’re behind, you don’t have time to do a very good job on your assignments or think about them a lot. So you learn less, even if the material is easy.

Olivia: I agree, that’s super important!

Data Collection Mini-Project

Due November 13 (Wednesday) by the end of the day

For this project, you will spend a week or two collecting data about your own life, analyze the data, and then write about your findings.

This is a small-scale, analog version of the kinds of data analytics that companies (Facebook, Amazon, Google, etc) conduct on our data all the time. The purpose is to get you thinking about all of the information that can be gleaned about your life all the time, and what inferences can be made about it.

Directions:

1. Choose what data you want to collect about yourself. It can be something your phone collects automatically (steps per day, app usage via the ScreenTime feature or something similar), or something you notice and write down yourself (like which subway stops you use at approximately which times). It can be anything that is 1) manageable for the scope of the assignment and 2) something you think will be interesting to learn from.

2. Collect/track/save that data for a week or two. Make sure that your dataset is complete (for example, if you’re tracking your subway usage, write down every single time you write the train and don’t miss any).

3. Analyze your data. Think about what it says about you. If you showed someone your data without telling them anything else about you, what assumptions would they make? What are some good educated guesses that could be made about you based on your data (even if these guesses are not accurate). Why?

It may be useful to actually show your data to someone else and ask them what they assume/conclude and why.

4. Write 2 or more pages about your experience, explaining what you chose for your project, a summary of your data, and your analysis.

5. Post your writing to the blog and tag it “Data Collection” and tag it with your name. (You may choose whatever privacy setting you want)

6. Respond to at least two of your classmates with your reactions/observations/thoughts about what they discovered

Annotated Bibliography

Due: Monday, November 18

 For a Word Doc version of this assignment sheet, click here: Annotated Bibliography Assignment .

Instructions

  1. As you research your inquiry question for your final project, compile a list of sources (bibliography) that help you answer your question and/or provide useful background knowledge for you and your readers.
  2. Cite each source according to APA style.
  3. Below each citation, write a paragraph or so about that source (an annotation). The paragraph should include:
      • A summary of the source
      • Your thoughts on the source (How do you think you will use it in your paper? What bias do you think it might have? What are its strengths, and what are its weaknesses?)
      • A reminder to yourself of anything else you want to make sure you remember about the source

Other Guidelines:

  • At least 6 sources + annotations
  • In addition to writing each citation in APA style, you should also include these other aspects of APA formatting: title page with title, name, university, and any author’s note you want to include, correct running head on all pages, page numbers, correctly titled References page

Grading:

Each source + annotation includes all required parts (4 points per entry = 24 points)
Every other element of APA style listed above is met: 9 points
Turned in on time: 2 points

Total: 35 points

Some Examples of Final Portfolios (in Progress)

While we will talk about this more on Wednesday during our computer lab session, I wanted to share with you some examples I found of final portfolios (in progress) by John Jay students in other English 101 classes.

Many classes use Digication for their portfolios, and you can search the John Jay Digication page for way, way more examples of current and past student portfolios!

John Jay Digication Database: https://johnjay.digication.com/portfolio/directory.digi

Some examples of current English 101 portfolios in progress.

https://johnjay.digication.com/jesus-robles-eng-101-fy02/home-1

https://johnjay.digication.com/leslie-pelchor-eng-1014/home-1

https://johnjay.digication.com/asadbek-alijonov-eng101-fy19/welcome

We will not be using Digication, but CUNY Commons/Wordpress instead. This is because while Digication is specifically designed for ePortfolios (and therefore probably easier), it’s also really only designed for use in schools. WordPress is the platform behind about 30% of the entire internet (the CUNY Commons is just one network of websites that uses WordPress), so more practice using WordPress will give you a much more marketable and personally useful skill.

(Personally, I’ve used WordPress in 3 different jobs so far, including teaching at John Jay, and I used to use WordPress for my personal website until I rebuilt it.)

Final Project Proposal Instructions

Proposals Due: Monday October 21st (via email or handed in during class)

Often, both academics and writers outside of the university do not just write an essay and submit it. Journalists pitch article ideas to their editors, and others might need to propose a topic before getting approval to write it.

For example (and this is 100% true), I recently applied to be part of a collection of essays about the TV show Riverdale, but I didn’t need to write my entire essay first. I sent them a proposal describing what I intended to write about, and only if I was accepted (I wasn’t) would I need to write the entire essay.

What does a proposal look like?

  • A proposal is typically about 2 pages, although it can be slightly longer
  • You can use “I” (like “I plan on investigating ______”)
  • Use a formal academic style (1 point)

What should you include in this proposal?

  • The general topic you are interested in researching and writing about (1 point)
  • Two or three “inquiry questions” relating to your topic that you would like to research/answer/find out more about. (2 points)
    • These should not be questions you already know the answer to, although you can have a hypothesis about what the answer will be.
    • They should also be specific, focused, and answerable/arguable within the  scope of the assignment
  • A justification for why you chose your topic and why these inquiry questions are worth investigating (2 points)
  • Explain which of the inquiry questions you will probably choose for your paper and why (although it’s okay to change your mind in this early stage) (1 point)
  • A research plan (1 point)
    • What do you need to find out in order to answer your inquiry question(s)?
    • What information is important to find out first before you investigate other aspects of your question(s)?
    • What stumbling blocks do you anticipate in your research?

 Grading

Meeting the Above Requirements: 8 points, distributed as noted in the guidelines
Turning the Proposal In On Time: 2 points
Total: 10 points

What is an Inquiry Question?

An inquiry question is something you genuinely do not know the answer to but would like to find out. It must be complex enough to require research and careful thought. Generally, you should avoid questions with simple yes/no answers. “How…?” “Why…?” and “In what ways…?” questions are typically better.

You’re allowed to have a hypothesis about the answer to your inquiry questions, but you should also be open to being wrong.

As you develop your questions, think carefully about scope. If your question is too big/broad, it will be impossible to answer it between now and the end of the semester, and impossible to describe your research in only 6-8 pages. (Some inquiry questions are so big that they require years of research and entire books or series of books can be written about them!). If your question is too small/specific, you will have trouble finding enough to write about. What seems feasible for you to:

  1. Research thoroughly so you have a solid (although beginning) understanding of the issue in only a few weeks
  2. Write about in a coherent and comprehensive way again in only a few additional weeks

An example of a too-big question: Last year, I had my students write a more substantial rhetorical analysis essay than I’m having you do for your “analysis of an ad” projects. One student’s inquiry question was essentially, “What’s up with Trump’s rhetoric?” That’s WAY too big of a topic for one essay! Trump says more things all the time! I encouraged him to just pick one speech or one set of tweets.

Final Research Paper/Project Guidelines

These are up for discussion/negotiation/revision. Please either leave a comment with your questions/suggestions or remember them to bring up in class.

For a .docx version of these guidelines, click here: Final Research Paper Assignment Overview

For the last half of the semester, we will be writing toward our final research papers. The final research paper is worth 20% of your total grade in the course, and the process assignments leading up to the final paper are worth another 20%.

Topic

Choose any topic you wish to research that relates to one of the chapter themes in Weapons of Math Destruction (algorithmic modeling, college admissions and rankings, online advertising, criminal justice, job applicant systems, scheduling workers’ shifts, credit scores, the insurance industry, Facebook and politics). This is a broad range of topics! I’m open to you taking this project in a variety of directions.

Remember: Choose something you find interesting enough to hold your attention for the next several weeks. This is a long project process, and it will be very hard if you’re bored by your own topic.

Overall Task:

Write an argumentative research paper (perhaps 6-10 pages) that answers an inquiry question you have about one of the topics above. You should include some discussion of the use of algorithms/Big Data in relation to your topic, but that does not need to be the main focus.

Schedule of Assignments

 October 21 (Monday): Proposals Due

October 28-30 (1 week): Learning Research Skills and Computer Lab Time for Research

November 18 (Monday): Annotated Bibliography Due
November 18 (Monday): In-Class Process Assignment—Imaginary Interview

November 20 (Wednesday): Outline Due

November 25 (Monday): Partial Draft Due, first day of Peer Review

November 27 (Wednesday): Full First Draft Due, second day of Peer Review

December 4 (Wednesday): Final Draft Due

December 9-11 (1 week): Presenting our projects to each other

December 16 (Monday): Portfolios Due, All Revisions of Previous Assignments Due

Analysis of an Ad Assignment

Original Post Due: Monday 10/14 by end of day
Comments To Your Classmates Due: Wednesday 10/16 by end of day

For this assignment, you will take a picture of an ad or other poster that you see out in the world. We’re in NYC– there are ads everywhere. You may not use an ad we have already analyzed together in class, and you may not knowingly use the same ad as a classmate.

While it is possible to use WordPress on your phone, I strongly suggest you use a computer to write your post, especially if you have never used WordPress before.

Part 1 Instructions

After you find your chosen ad, do the following:

  1. Write a blog post on our course site following the Posting Directions. Embed the picture of your ad using the “Add Media” button.
  2. Under your picture of the ad, write a rhetorical analysis of your chosen ad. It should be the equivalent of about 2 pages of size 12/double spaced writing in a word processor.
  3. Before you post, find the “Categories” section in the right-hand sidebar of the post editor. Choose the “analysis of an ad” category. Then also find the “tags” section in the right-hand sidebar and tag the post with your name.
  4. Hit the blue “Publish” button.

If you have questions about WordPress/how to post, you can email me or leave them in a comment on the “Instructions for Posting” post–that way, your classmates can answer you as well as me.

Some guiding questions for your analysis:

  1. Who is the speaker in the ad? How is the speaker trying to present themselves? How does the speaker want you to view them? How do you know?
  2. What are the messages/arguments that the ad is trying to convey?
  3. What assumptions does the ad rely on?
  4. Who is the intended audience(s) of the ad? How do you know?
  5. What strategies does the ad use to try to persuade the audience?
  6. How does the ad appeal to ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade the audience?
  7. Do you think the ad is effective? Why or why not?

Part 2 Instructions

Choose (at least) two classmates’ posts to respond to with comments.

In your comments, you must add to their analysis of the ad. It is not enough to simply agree with their take and compliment them on it (although you can do that too!). Adding can mean disagreeing with their interpretation and explaining why, or it can mean offering additional interpretations even if you think their take is valid:  “Another interpretation could be that the argument is _________, because if you look at _________, maybe that means _________.” Or, you can analyze some aspect of the ad that your classmate didn’t talk about in their post!

Always support your analysis with evidence.

Each comment should be the equivalent of at least half a page of (size 12 double spaced) writing.

Paper 1: This I No Longer Believe (Assignment Sheet and Rubric)

Partial Draft Due: 9/18 (Wednesday) by class time
Full Draft Due: 9/23 (Monday) by class time
Final Draft Due: 9/25 (Wednesday) by class time

For a Word Doc version of this information, click here: JJ Paper 1 Assignment Sheet

This I No Longer Believe Assignment Description

For your first paper, you will write a piece of persuasive creative nonfiction (at least 4 pages, 12 point Times New Roman or Arial font) about one of your own beliefs. The “This I Believe” essay is a common genre for ENG 101 students to read and write. However, I am asking you to write about a belief that you no longer have, or a belief that has changed significantly over time. Your paper should tell the story of how you came to hold your original belief and then what made you change your belief and why. I encourage you to select a belief loosely related to one of the topics we are reading about in Weapons of Math Destruction, although you are not required to do so. I would rather you choose something genuinely important to you than strictly related to our class.

In your paper, you should:

  • Choose any English dialect you wish to write in (Standard American Academic English [SAAE], informal General American, AAVE, Spanglish, or any other dialect)
  • Use a consistent authorial voice throughout your paper (tone, style, etc.)
  • Provide rough translations of any non-English or slang words your monolingual professor might not understand (remember your audience!)
  • Provide vivid sensory description of your experiences that enables the reader to picture the events in their mind’s eye (and mind’s ear, tongue, skin, nose, etc.)
  • Leave the reader with a clear sense of what you no longer believe and why
  • Articulate your logical reasons for changing your belief AND the personal events that led to your change in belief (see the admittedly boring example below)
  • Format the paper and document evidence as needed using APA style (stylistic accuracy will be ungraded, but any sources used MUST be cited in your best attempt at APA formatting)
  • Use correct punctuation, capitalization, and spelling for your chosen dialect. When in doubt, use SAAE rules.

Example

Claim: I used to believe Heart of Darkness is terrible, and now I think it is a good book.

Logical Reasons: Heart of Darkness has vivid imagery, beautiful language, and many different interpretations that a reader can get meaning from. It addresses important topics like colonialism, racism, and human psychology.

Personal Reasons/Events: When I first read Heart of Darkness in 12th grade English, we had to read it much faster than I was used to reading for class, and I struggled with the high-level language. Our assignments were mostly identifying symbols in the book, which I thought was boring. We also weren’t given room for having our own interpretations of the meaning. When I read it again in college, the language was easier for me, I was better at reading more pages in less time, and my professor gave me the freedom to see the book from multiple points of view.

Creative Nonfiction Rubric (100 points)

  1. Turned in drafts on time and participated in writing workshop (25 points)
  2. Leaves the reader with a clear understanding of the previous belief, the current belief, the reasons the belief changed, and how that change in belief came about. (10 points)
  3. Maintains a consistent authorial voice throughout the paper with regard to chosen dialect, tone, and style (10 points)
  4. Fits the genre of persuasive creative nonfiction (25 points)
  • Paper develops a story over time (the story may or may not be told in a linear fashion)
  • Paper uses vivid sensory description and/or literary devices to convey feelings, events, thoughts, and/or experiences
  • Paper leaves the reader with a clear sense of the belief’s significance in the writer’s life or some other intended meaning
  • Paper is at least 4 full pages long
  1. Supports and explains the change in belief using well-developed arguments AND addresses both logical and personal reasons (20 points)
  2. Uses correct capitalization, punctuation, and spelling for the chosen dialect and cites evidence as needed. The writer made their best attempt at APA formatting. (10 points)

Portfolio Assignment and Rubric

ENG 101 Final Portfolio Assignment Sheet

Due: Monday, December 16 at 9:30 am

For a Word Doc version of this assignment sheet, click here: Final Portfolio Assignment Sheet

Your final portfolio, worth 20% of your grade, is your chance to showcase your learning this semester. There are several components to the portfolio, listed below. All page guidelines are minimum requirements.

  1. The first draft of your research paper (required by English department)
  2. Final (or even further revised) drafts of the following:
    1. Paper 1: This I No Longer Believe
    2. Proposal for Final Paper
    3. Annotated Bibliography
    4. Outline for Final Paper
    5. Imaginary Interview
    6. Final Paper
  3. A reflection statement (at least 1 page) on Paper 1 (your writing process, what you learned, what you think you could have done better, “How does this paper showcase your learning?” etc.)
  4. A reflection statement (at least 1 page) on your research paper (the Final Paper)
  5. A reflective letter, addressed either to me or to the class as a whole, analyzing your work this semester. Think of it as a fresh “Yourself as Reader and Writer” essay now that the semester is over. What did you learn from ENG 101? What do you want to learn more about? What skills do you want to further develop? Look back at the learning objectives on the syllabus. How have you achieved these objectives? What evidence (from your work this semester) shows that achievement? This letter should be as long as it needs to be, but I expect it will need to be at least 3 or 4 pages.
  6. Answer this question (however long it takes to answer in whatever form you choose): If you had the freedom to write about whatever you wanted, in whatever form you wanted, what would you do? (Or, you can think of it this way: if you had to change one of our assignments and its requirements to let you write EXACTLY the thing you want to write, what changes would you make?) Why is this your dream piece of writing?
  7. (Optional) Any additional assignments you want to showcase or commentary you wish to include about your work this semester.

You should present your portfolio as a digital portfolio (site) on the CUNY Commons or using WordPress.com. You may organize the required components however you wish on your site, but you should make these choices with rhetorical awareness. What looks professional and aesthetically pleasing? What organization makes logical sense for how you want the reader to navigate through the site? Is your site easy to read?

Portfolio Rubric

  1. Portfolio contains all required components and was turned in on time. (15 points)
  2. All components meet the length requirement. (10 points)
  3. Reflection statements on major essays display critical thinking and serious self-reflection, referring to specific aspects of the essays or parts of the writing process (10 points per paper)
  4. The final reflective essay offers compelling and persuasive insight into the student’s learning and growth (and/or lack thereof, and/or future goals for learning and growth) over the course of the semester. The final reflective essay uses specific examples from the student’s writing, actions, or life experiences to support the student’s claims. (20 points)
  5. All components exhibit the appropriate structural and stylistic conventions for personal reflective writing in the student’s dialect of choice. (10 points)
  6. The Portfolio utilizes WordPress/CUNY Commons in a rhetorically effective way, exhibiting design and organization choices that make the portfolio professional, easy to read/navigate, and reflective of the individual student. (25 points)