Revision and Final Portfolio

I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving Break, and has a safe journey back home (wherever that might be).

For those considering revision (of any or all of the three essays), remember to familiarize yourself with the revision process, and with the material that I require if I am to re-grade your work. All of this is found on the ENC 1101 main page. In addition, you can find the Final Portfolio sheet on that page, too, along with a link to UCF’s final exam schedule.

If you’re planning to revise, I will need the requested goals, personal critiques, etc., during the final week of regularly scheduled classes: that’s next week, after your return from Thanksgiving Break. I’m not telling you to work on this when you’re supposed to be chomping down on turkey…but I am telling you to plan ahead, and don’t wait until the last minute. This is your chance to truly sharpen your work, to come away from a course with something that you can honestly say, “This is the best piece of writing I’ve ever produced.” Don’t let that opportunity slip by.

Journal Example, and Core III Peer Review

Just a schedule reminder: The final draft of the Core III essay is due on Tuesday, November 22 (if you want to make sure you receive it back after Thanksgiving, so you have time to revise) or Tuesday, November 29th. Include your “shitty first draft,” your second draft, and your in-class peer review critique. If you’d like comments, include a rubric, but if you do not turn in the final draft on Tuesday, there are no guarantees that you will receive the graded  essay with ample time for revisions.

On Tuesday, November 22, we will discuss the Final Portfolio, and we will have our final “First Page Workshop.” Yes, I know it’s Thanksgiving Week. It’s also my birthday, and I’m still working and giving it every ounce of energy I’ve got, so I expect you to be there and to be prepared. You’ll get plenty of food and rest later in the week, but on Tuesday, we’ve still got class to worry about.

As you finish your second draft of your Core III essay, check out some of the very strong examples of student writing from individual Writer’s Journal sites. The first excerpts are great examples of “first day narratives,” which could provide the authors with an easy (and engaging) organizing structure for their entire essay. This comes from Kayla Delarosa:

I was scared to go to my first day of work. I tried straightening my bow tie, but it just ended up being crooked. I put on my apron, I felt like a baker/fancy waiter. When I pulled up to the restaurant I didn’t know where to park, was there a specific place workers had to park? Or could I just park anywhere? I decided to park on the side of the building so I wouldn’t burden other people looking for a parking spot up close.

As I walked in I someone welcomed me, “Welcome to Steak n Shake.” As I arrived in the back room which looked like the manager’s office they gave me buttons to put on, it was as if I was a walking billboard. They told me to go to the “service station” and the “service trainer”will show you what to do. I had no idea what that meant. I stood there lost, the manager saw that I didn’t know what she was talking about. She led me to the front of the store where there was a two registers, soda machine, and other food items.

A peppy guy approached me. “Hi, I’m Joesph I’m the service trainer and you’ll be following me around today!” I was a little scared by his excitement. He told me to grab a tray, as if I knew where they were. I stood there until he grabbed one for me and handed it to me. I followed him around the dinning room. We walked up to a table and he greeted them by introducing himself and me. Then he talked about 4 different food items, which seemed as if it lasted for hours. The customers then ordered their food but they asked if they could get a onion ring out before their food. Joseph said he would and it would be out shortly. We went back to the service station where he walked up to the little opening where the kitchen was and yelled “O-Ring on the Fly!” I was guessing a “O-Ring” was an Onion Ring but I knew they didn’t fly! I asked him what was flying and he laughed at me saying “silly it means pronto, like I need it now”. It was a type of lingo that wasn’t a part of my vocabulary. I followed Joseph around for a few hours. Then he told me I was done for the day, I didn’t even do any work, it was more like following this guy around and look awkward as people look at me standing behind this guy who was way too happy to be working. He then told me to go look at my schedule in the back, I stood there again until he realized I didn’t know where that was. He showed me my schedule, it told me when I worked again. Joseph said next time I’ll actually be taking tables myself while he stand behind me, great…..I left the place still a little confused about everything. How was I supposed to take a table by myself when I didn’t know what to call things, let alone what was on the menu. Hopefully my second day wouldn’t be such a wreck.

 

These next examples offer a great look at the individual text artifacts. How do we incorporate the interviews and quotes and fliers and web sites into our essays? Check out Jose Tamayo’s analyses, who show us the artifact, and the lexis, and then attempt to teach us what it means and why it’s important. His blog combines the analyses with actual images.

Above is a picture of a “thread” or single issue forum. There are over 10,000 threads which make up the “boards,” which is where the threads are grouped together at on the vanswarpedtour.com website. This is where the discourse community experiences their discourse and where most of the lexis of the community can be seen. In the upper left corner of the thread, the word “sticky” is shown; this means that this thread has become popular and is still being debated on currently. An “official thread,” as was stated by the first writer, means that the thread has been set up by Warped Tour. Another term of lexis in the above thread is the “two year rule.” The two year rule states that no band is allowed to play the main stage of Warped Tour two years in a row.

The Forum:

 

The Warped Tour Forum begins called the “boards.” After the boards it is time to choose a forum. The forums range from “General,” which is general Warped Tour conversations, to “Site Help” and “Misc” or miscellaneous. Once a forum is chosen then a thread may be picked to read. A thread is where the discourse actually occurs in the community. In order for one to begin communication with others, they must have at least a general knowledge of what Warped Tour is and deals with. If this is not known, there is a small Question and Answer forum which new members can post questions and be answered by others. A person must have general knowledge of Warped Tour, however, there is no handbook to warped tour. Everything learned is either done by actually attending one of the Warped Tour stops, or asking a friend who has been there.

 

The boards show intertextuality in that each of the members, in almost every thread, has attended a Warped Tour. Even though this may not be an average “text” for intertextuality, it is what the whole forum is based around. The experience of the tour, the text, is mentioned in almost all of the threads.

The next example comes from Matt Keeth. This is an excerpt from his analysis of the textual artifacts and the forum for his discourse community. Pay attention to how he describes the material, then attempts to make sense of it for his readers:

Based on these artifacts you can learn several things about the discourse community.  One is sense of humor, Team Fortress 2 is known for having a light hearted presence and emphasis on being funny.  This is illustrated by cartoon looking characters, news presented in humorous ways, funny “meet the …” videos, and clever in game items.  Also the community enjoys fresh ideas and change.  This can be shown by the hundreds of game updates and items in the game.  Additionally it is apparent that the community appreciates… the community.  The community is constantly coming up with new ideas for the game and getting them into it. 

There are many things within these textual artifacts that outsiders might find odd or intimidating.  Within the artifacts there is lingo (Steam workshop), various classes, inside jokes, and complex subjects (hundreds of items that can be unlocked).

The Forum

 

There are two major forums for Team Fortress 2, in game and website based.

In Game
Within the game itself users may communicate through speech as well as text.  These assist in team tactics, trading items, and even telling jokes(like I said humor is a big deal).

Web Forums

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=80

The visual layout consists of a grey page with descending posts from users based on sequence of the post. Essentially to communicate in the forum all you do is read posts and reply to them. It is usually best to stay on subject for the most part otherwise users could harass you.  In order to succeed in the forum, one must have a basic knowledge of the in game concepts and lingo as well as some forum lingo (ITT: In this thread).  It is expected that forum users are aware of item and map names and if not are able to find them on a wiki which is an example of intertextuality.  Seeing how the forum is for Team Fortress 2 there will be a huge amount of intertextuality since everything refers to the video game in some way.  Oftentimes outside sources are referenced and cited with links in order to convey an idea or spread the news of something.  If an update is announced on the main blog for the game it is pretty much a fact that a link to the post will be somewhere on the forum.

 

What follows are some final links to a few other great postings. Check out Kristen Spencer’s and Christina Taylor’s sites for a good look at textual artifacts (each of them coupled with a variety of images), and Kayla Thieken’s site for several good narratives.

Some Examples

On Thursday, bring your “Shitty First Draft” or “Shitty First Outline.”

As with all previous essays, you should have a lot of material to work with already. The tough part is how you organize that material.

For a couple quick examples on structure, check out these two links.

• My Example Structure (shown in class)
• One Former Student’s Example Essay

Conferences, and Journal Prompts

Class will be canceled on Thursday, November 3, and Tuesday, November 8, for student-professor conferences. We will have sign-ups in class today. Remember to write down your specific time and date.

During the next two weeks, though, I will expect you to be working diligently on your discourse community analysis.

To ensure that you do so, we’ve got two more journal prompts.

Journal Prompt #7 is due this coming Friday, and will take you through a checklist as you narrow down and identify your discourse community for analysis. This prompt does not necessarily require a lot of “work,” as it mostly involves brainstorming. But make sure you approach it with seriousness, and brainstorm as much as possible; the more you put into this prompt, the more material you will have for analysis, and the better your analysis will be.

Journal Prompt #8 is due on Friday, November 11 (read the assignment closely…we will discuss it when we return to class on Thursday, November 10, but if you have ideas that will require an extension of the deadline, you must have them by class-time on Thursday). This prompt is much more in-depth, and could also provide the meat and the structure for your entire essay.

…speaking of discourse communities

As a side note to today’s class:

Would I understand what the heck these shirts were saying if I wasn’t part of the University of Central Florida? Do you understand all of them?

 

Core III, and next Journal Prompt

As we begin the Core III, make sure to familiarize yourself with the Core III Resource Page and the full schedule for the next few weeks (all of it found on the ENC 1101 page). This will include all readings for class discussions.

For your next journal prompt (due this Thursday, and including the final Writing Studies Discussion), follow the link here.

Core II – Final Draft

Final drafts are due this coming Tuesday, October 25.

What to include:

• The final draft, formatted properly, stapled.
• All previous drafts (shitty first, and second, and/or first page).
• Peer Review Worksheet (from class today).
• Rubric (if you want comments).
• Place all of this into a crisp lightweight envelope or folder.

Core II Reflection

• Today, you will leave class with another student’s Core II draft.
• By this evening (Thursday), simply post a “Core II Reflection” onto your Writer’s Journal; discuss your essay, its strengths and weaknesses, its overall evolution, and what you still need to work on.
• By Sunday evening, post a critique onto another student’s Writer’s Journal (as a response to their Reflection posting). Use the worksheet from class as a guide.