Course Evaluation

Course Evaluation

Directions: This is semester evaluation of the course and it has to be anonymous (do not write your name). The purpose of this evaluation is for you to give your true comments and thoughts for this class. The following questions will help you generate your ideas. Please be candid!

1. What do you like the best about this class? Please be as detailed as possible.



2. What do you like the least about this class? Please be as detailed as possible.




3. What comments/thoughts do you have in order to improve this class (make it better)?


4. Do you feel that this class teaches you useful things? Why or why not?


5. Is your instructor understandable?



6. What can be your most unforgettable experience(s) over the semester?


7. What do you think of the textbooks, Little Brown Compact Handbook and Writing from Sources? Are they useful? Do you like them? Why or why not?


8. How can Ling 101 help you in your future writing? Or has it helped you in some way in your academic composition? If so, in what way?


9. Do you like the in-class activities? What do you like best? Why?


10. What do you think of the three essay assignments? Are they difficult? Do you enjoy writing them? How much did they help you learn the traditional American College Composition? Why?

Extra-Credit Essay Prompt

Extra-Credit Essay Prompt

Full Mark: 30
Length: 3-4 pages, double spaced
Due: at the end of class, on Friday, 05/02/08
Still, please include the following information at the left upper corner of the first page.
Example:
Mike Lee
Ling 101, Section 002
Instructor: Qian Zhou (Jane)
May 2nd, 2008
Extra-Credit Essay

In this assignment, you are going to write a traditional five-paragraph college essay to discuss “pressures of being a student.” Please come up with your own thesis and title under the topic. Afterward, three main body paragraphs will explain the reasons why you have proposed such a theme. Last, your conclusion will reinforce the thesis. Plus, please pay attention to the transitions between sentences and paragraphs.

Portfolio Prompt

Portfolio Prompt

Dear Class,
A portfolio is required for this class, in which, the following items must be included:
v Syllabus (1)
v Tentative Weekly Schedules (4)
v Handouts (Materials provided in class throughout the semester including “Homework Instruction Sheet”)
v Journals (1-5)
v Note cards (22)
v Other Homework Writing (14)
v Peer-Response Forms (3)
v Three essays including both first and final drafts
v Self-Assessment Summary (1)
v All the other materials related with Ling 101 (e.g. Writing Center brochure)
Criteria for this Folder/Binder:
· Must be organized by types
· Must include dividers to separate different types of documents
· Needs to be neat, presentable and easy to read

All the paperwork related with Ling 101 must be included and sorted out in this portfolio.
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Friday, May 2nd, 2008.
**A well-organized folder/binder is worth 50 points. **

Good luck!
Jane

Self-Assessment Summary Prompt

Self-Assessment Summary Prompt

In this assignment, you are going to write a self-commentary, reflecting on your writing progress over the semester and your goals for your future academic writing. This writing is worth 20 points.
You might want to write your self-commentary based on the following questions:
1. What have you learned from Linguistics 101?
2. Will you apply what you have learned from this class to other classes? And How?
3. How can this class help you write in your future classes?
4. Has your writing improved? In what aspects? (Grammar, vocabulary, focus, organization, etc.)
5. Do you think you are a better writer compared to the first day you came to Ling 101 class? In what way?
6. Which writing assignment did you like best? Why?
7. Which writing assignment was most “painful” to you? Why? Did you gain something after that bitter experience?
8. What did you like the most about this class?
9. What did you like the least about this class?
10. What strength(s) in English composition do you think you have gained, developed or enhanced over the semester?

**I would want you to use transitions to smoothly convey your ideas within one paragraph by coherently including all your answers to the above questions rather than separately giving your answers under each question number.**

Synthesizing Multiple Sources

Synthesizing Multiple Sources

Once you have found and read your sources and discovered their similarities and differences, you then reassemble (put together) these parts into a more coherent whole.
We call this process “synthesis.”
To synthesize is to combine two or more distinct items into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
To synthesize sources in a research project/essay is to combine the ideas of multiple sources, as well as your own ideas and insight, into a paper that develops a single thesis.
The following guidelines will help you to synthesize sources successfully.
(Adapted from: http:// www.snow.edu/~jeffc/write/rhetoric/synthesis.html)
1. Narrow down your focus. Ask yourself what is the main point that you are going to make in your essay. Do not try to synthesize everything that your sources have written/said. Instead, choose a single, narrowly-focused idea that each of your sources develops in some way. Bring together only the information that refers to that idea. Omit extraneous (not directly connected to your focus) information.
2. Choose a source’s ideas that relate to or can help develop your focus. It is up to you as the writer to determine the extent to which each source’s ideas that match your focus. Indeed, the most successful writers are those who can both perceive and explain a relationship between sources that might otherwise seem unrelated.
3. A key to any synthesis is your ability to use transitional words and phrases to help your readers see the relationship between ideas. Words like “furthermore,” “moreover,” and “likewise” all indicate the similarity between one set of ideas and another. The phrase “for example” can show that one set of ideas illustrates another. Please refer to our handouts for transitions.
4. The following illustrates the organization of a typical synthesis:

Source 1
Summarize your first source’s attitude or point of view
Source 2
Summarize your second source’s attitude or point of view
Source 3
Summarize your third source’s attitude or point of view
Source 4
Summarize your fourth source’s attitude or point of view








Synthesis is also a term that describes a connection between sources. Here are some examples of these connections:
(Taken from: http://personal.bgsu.edu/~florenb/portfolio/synthesis.pdf)

Two (or more) sources that agree:
…Simpson concludes that listening to rock music can alter the way an adolescent fits into normal society (p.402). Jerry Roberts, child psychologist and author of “Vanilla Ice IS the Devil,” agrees, stating “Rock music is the boon of youth. Our future has long, shaggy hair, black eyeliner, and leather boots. Is this what we’ve been working for?” (p. 333)

Two (or more) sources that disagree:
…While Consumer Reports claims that food can be healthy (p. 223), others believe their definition of “healthy” is somewhat skewed. J.M.Clark, a nutritionist and undercover fry cook at Hardee’s, in his article entitled “Hey Man, No Go” from Greasy Spoon magazine, disagrees. He states, “Fast food is good only for the economy of the small business. ‘Healthy’ not only implies a lack of harm, but also some nutritional value. Fast food is not nutritious” (pp.111-112).

One (or more) sources that expands the ideas of or provides an example for another:
…Wartman states that the film Gladiator is cheap entertainment thinly veiled as art (p.14-21). Wartman is correct, but he does not go far enough. Geronimo Siskbert, move critic for The BG News, elaborates in her review, “Sadiator.” She claims that not only does the film do the things Wartman says, but much more, nothing, “Ridley Scott’s movie cheats its audience by using sub-par actors, then wastes the talents of Russell Crowe by restricting his dialogue and turning the movie into hard R-rated WWF” (p.11D).

###Each source is properly cited, with the author introduced and source qualified for the initial citation. Also keep in mind that these examples are simple, and that you can include more sources or text in between your citations, as long as the connection is made with clear transitions (i.e., agrees, disagrees, insists, etc.) which show why and how you are connecting them in the first place.###

In-text Citation for Personal Communication

In-text Citation for Personal Communication

Personal communications include letters, memos, emails, personal interviews, telephone conversations. Because they do not provide recoverable date, personal communications are not included in the reference list.
We cite personal communications in text only. Give the initial as well as the surname of the communicator, and provide as exact a date as possible:
J. Clarkson, a graduate student majoring in Fashion Merchandising at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (personal communication, April 8th, 2007) prefers to cram the night before a final exam. “I don’t know why my brain works very well the night before the final exam,” she says smiling, “That’s why I really like staying up late.”
Even though Clarkson likes to cram, she opposes the idea of using stimulants, saying they are harmful to students’ health.

Peer-Response Form: Multiple-Source Essay

Peer-Response Form: Multiple-Source Essay

Writer’s Name: ___________________________________________________________
Reviewer’s Name: _________________________________________________________
Your purpose in answering these questions is to provide an honest and helpful response to your partner’s draft and to suggest ways to make his/her writing better. Be sure to read the entire essay carefully before writing any responses. Be as specific as possible by referring to particular parts of the essay in your answers. Make sure you are polite and considerate as well.
1. Is there an introduction in your partner’s essay? What do you think of his/her introduction? Did he/she clearly present the summary of James T. Hamilton’s article? How do you like the summary? (at least 4 sentences)










2. Did your classmate clearly support and expand his/her thesis statement with concrete reasons?





3. How well did your classmate present each source’s position?



4. Did your classmate cite the sources accurately in the body paragraphs? Please give two examples and provide suggestions for him/her.






5. How well did your classmate use quotation, summary and paraphrase? Did he/she overuse them? Do you have any suggestions for him or her?






6. How is the organization of the essay? In what way do you believe so?









7. How do you like his/her thesis? Why?







8. Are there smooth transitions between concrete points/sentences in a paragraph? Between paragraphs? Point out any places where transitions need to be stronger.







9. Did the conclusion reinforce the thesis statement?







10. Did your classmate use the personal pronouns “I”, “You”, or “We” in the paragraphs before his/her conclusion? If so, please cite the examples below and tell him/her to change.






11. Check your classmates’ reference list. Was it accurately documented?








12. Write a few comments to your classmate. Start with what he/she did very well in the essay and then discuss what you think needs more work. Please be polite!