BECAUSE A DRAFT IS REQUIRED FOR PEER EDITING DAY WHICH IS TWO DAYS AFTER THIS IS DUE, I WILL NOT GRANT EXTENSIONS. Plan your time wisely. Get started early.
REQUIRED LABOR: 9.5 HOURS
(120 MINUTES OR 2 HOURS): REFORMULATING & READING
- (15 minutes): Think about your research question. Spend time reformulating it if you need to. If you're already happy with your question, think about why what you have to say is important. How will your paper change the way your reader thinks about the text you are working on?
- (15 minutes): Find other passages (besides just the one you worked on already) that will help you answer your research question.
- (90 minutes): Close read the passages you've chosen. See instructions in Difficulty Paper 1. Make sure that you do what you practiced-- spend time in UNCERTAINTY before you start making claims.
(180 MINUTES OR 3 HOURS): RESEARCH -- another go at Difficulty Paper 2
- (120 minutes) Go read the articles or books you found. If you've found a book, don't need to read the whole book. Find the chapter that's relevant to your project. If you don't know what that is, then read the introduction to the book to know what chapter or pages to read.
- Write on how what you've read helps you think about your research project or question.
(240 MINUTES OR 4 HOURS): WRITE!!!!!
- It is probably better if you break this up into 60 minute chunks, since sitting to write for four hours can be exhausting.
- REMEMBER:
- THIS IS JUST A DRAFT. DON'T STRESS.
- THINK OF THIS AS A STORY. You are telling me the story of your mind at work.
- Please don't try to sound academic or smart. Just sound like yourself. If you need a model, sound like Teju Cole.
- Don't be afraid to use I or the first person plural. "In this paper, I argue..." "As we move further along the sentence, we can notice the tension building up."
- Each time you sit down to write, do the following:
- FIND A QUIET PLACE. HAVE COFFEE/TEA/WATER/SNACK nearby.
- Try your best to turn off distractions, because it is SO easy and tempting to browse when you're stuck on a sentence.
- If you get stuck on a paragraph or idea, open another document and just free write-- just vomit out words. Eventually, you'll find a phrase from your vomit free writes that you can use in your paper and get the flow starting again.
- If you're just really stuck and free writing doesn't help, call your friend or go get ice cream with a friend and make her/him/them listen to you blab at them about your project. TRUST ME! THIS WORKS!!!
(30 minutes). What do you want feedback on?
- Write about 250-500 words about your draft. What do you think the weaknesses are? What are the strengths? What do you want your readers to notice or help you out with on Peer Editing Day.
On the day this is due:
- BRING FOUR COPIES OF YOUR PAPER STAPLED TO FOUR COPIES OF YOUR REFLECTION.
- Bring whatever free work you've written. (no additional copies necessary).