Dear Class --  Here you will find the companion to the "What Makes a Good Forum Post" presentation. This one "A Guide for Writing Strong Papers" builds on the earlier PowerPoint Presentation, and it also builds on the skills you have all been displaying and honing in your Forum Posts and Replies. This one is a bit shorter, but still packs in a lot of information. Don't let it overwhelm you; take it in piecemeal, in sections, and refer to both presentations as you write. We'll go over some of this material in class at our next in-person class meeting. And the handout following this one is a great (though somewhat condescending) handout from UNC about essay organization that I refer to in this guide. 

Here you will find the assignment sheet for the first Essay due Wednesday June 8th. Please read it carefully in advance of our in-person class meeting, and refer to it as you craft your essay. 

Please read this carefully and review it as you craft your final papers. Email me with questions.

Here is a word document to supplement the PowerPoint on Writing Effective Papers--This one will help you craft a strong thesis for your SECOND paper, which asks you to analyze 2 literary texts together. 

Review this PowerPoint carefully before your first Forum post and Reply, but refer to it all semester long to be sure you get maximum credit for the Forum portion of our class, which is approximately 50% of your grade. There are 4 parts to it:

1) Introduction, and Overview of the goals of Forum Posts

2) A look at how Posts should be organized, and what they should contain

3) Some "Dos and Don'ts"

4) Sample Posts and Replies, Weak ones and Strong ones, with notes about what makes them so good or bad. 

             --Please note: this is a large file, and may take some time to download.

See the first Video Lecture on Ceremony for details on how to use this. 

This one goes from the Star-Page almost, but not quite, to the end (I stopped 20 or 30 pages before the end because I know some people might dislike accidentally glimpsing "spoilers").

Here you will find some inspiration: a few pieces of excellent writing taken from the first Forum (including parts of Posts and a couple of full Posts)--with some notes from me about what is successful. Use this as a complement to the PowerPoint, and look for ways to emulate these examples!

Check out these samples of wonderful work from your colleagues, plus a few notes from me, for inspiration!