Instructor: Owen JAMES
Email: james
Office: ILC 275
ARW on the Web
1. Homepage: http://arwcpc.blogspot.com/
2. D.I.Y. ARW Textbook: http://arwicu.wetpaint.com/page/Home
3. Group Email
* Group name: aa_arw
* Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/aa_arw
* Group email address aa_arw@googlegroups.com
* Group name: aj_arw
* Group home page: http://groups.google.com/group/aj_arw
* Group email address aj_arw@googlegroups.com
4. Research Collection
* Cultture, Perception, and Communication: http://del.icio.us/tag/arwcpc
* Issues of Race: http://del.icio.us/tag/arwior
Evaluation & Assessment
Everything you do counts towards your grade. Best grades are rewards for consistent effort.
Assignments 60%: RRA, RC, ARP, Essay. Evaluation of assignments is based critical thinking, clarity, and sufficient quantity. See below for details of assignments.
Other 40%: Discussion questions, reading homework, portfolio, misc. activities, attendance and punctuality, etc.
How to Succeed
Keep an open mind - learning means changing so do expect differences each term, not similarities. Attend all classes on time. Do all activities on time. If you need extra time to finish something, we need to talk before the due date. I am always happy to talk to you about your ideas or if you have concerns.
Assignments
A. Reading Reaction Activity (RRA).
1. Barna & Fisher
a) Barna posts: Edit and improve your two previous posts: a) Summary of SBIC and b) Summary of thesis + possible solutions + conclusion.
b) Fisher post: Summary of thesis + what perception is (II) + how perception works (III) + conclusion. You may like to use the oultine we developed in class to guide your summary (150-200 words).
2. Birk & Birk - blog, a mind map, wiki, or a combination. Ideas for using a wiki to annotate the text: Add sub-headings, bold main points, number supporting reasons, reorganise the text, add links, add definitions of keywords, add your comments and questions.
3. Gould, Shreeve, & Diamond - we will decide later how to do this.
Be sure each part of your RRA always has an accurate and descriptive title.
B. Research Collection
You will post a minimum 10 resources to our shared, class research collection maintained at deli.cio.us. As you surf the web in search of information about about Culture, Perception, and Communication and Issues of Race, you will bookmark items using the tags arwcpc or arwior. You are also encouraged to bookmark resources that you think classmates may be interested in. You will select specific items from this collection for your individual analysis and critical examination in your Reading Reaction Activity, ARP, and Essay. The Research Collection is available to everyone from the ARW homepage by clicking either C.P.C web box, or I.O.R web box, or by individually subscribing to the RSS feed generated by del.icio.us.
a) Getting Started with del.icio.us
Del.icio.us is designed to be quick and easy to use. But before you use it, you have to know how del.icio.us works and how to set it up. The easiest way to do that is to add the 
button right on the toolbar of your browser. When you find something you want to save, you click the "post to delicious" button.That opens up a new window with the title and URL of the page you are looking at already filled in. You then need to categorise the page by tagging it with arwcpc or arwior. You may also add comments to the page. When you're done, click "Save." That's it. The next time you view our Research Collection you will see the new entry.
b) Set Up Del.icio.us in 2 Steps
1. Sign up for an account at delicious. You will get an email to verify your account and you must click on the link in that email before going on to Step 2. For grading purposes, be sure to sign up with the username-- firstname+section, e.g. yuiaf
2. Put the "post to delicious" and "my delicious" buttons on your browser toolbar - There is no software to install. For most browsers, this is a simple as dragging a link to the toolbar.
3. Academic Reaction Paper (ARP)
Date Due: 20 October
Length: 350-500 words
Source material: ELP Reader (at least 2 of Barna, Fisher, Birk & Birk, Gould, and Shreeve) AND 3 or more individually selected sources.
Rationale: A key skill in academic writing is to be able to clearly and explicitly define key terms for your readers. This task is often difficult because a term can regularly have multiple meanings. This ARP gives you specific practice in defining ambiguous terms.
Content: Summarise multiple authors' definitions 'race' and one other term. Other terms include 'culture', 'ethnic group', 'nation', and 'civilisation'. Then discuss the different definitions, giving your reasons for preferring one particular definition OR combine ideas to present your own definition.
4. Essay
Date Due: 13 November
Length: 800-1000 words
Source material: ELP Reader, at least 2 of Barna, Fisher, Birk & Birk, Gould, Shreeve, and Diamond, AND 4 or more individually selected sources, that is a minimum of 6 sources.
Content: Write an argumentative essay on a self-selected topic related to issues of culture and/ or race. You will develop your ARP Discussion (restructure it and add more details) and turn it into an essay.
Blog posts: You need to post all your work to your blog to show your progression through the essay writing process. This requirement will also benefit you as it encourages you to be well organised and to complete your work in a timely manner. Visiting classmates' blogs will support you as well and by leaving a comment you can provide valuable support for others.
Planning your essay
1. Your essay question (5%)
Think of your essay as an answer to the main question you want to answer about your topic, therefore your essay question must be about an issue or idea that can be discussed and argued, that you are interested in, and have an opinion about. I recommend that you connect your question to your personal environment and experiences. For most of you it would make good sense to connect your question to Japan - this is the culture you know best and the context of your most vivid personal experiences. I do not think it makes a lot of sense to examine issues/ideas about race or culture from only a Western perspective. Your essay is your opportunity to have your voice heard and argue your personal position from within your home culture.
2. Scratch outline (5%)
Develop a scratch outline of the body paragraphs (do not worry about the Introduction or Conclusion at this stage). You will need no more than 3-5 body paragraphs. Your outline will show the main ideas and the supporting points underneath. Read about how to make a scratch outline SGW 32-33.
Research Collection (5%)
The Syllabus calls for you to add the webpages you are using as sources for your essay to the shared class IOR web box. This is an ongoing task while you are writing your essay. You help others in their research by posting sources that you have found useful and you are encouraged to post sources that may not be useful to you, but you think may be useful for classmates. You of course benefit from being able to access and select useful sources from the class collection that you had not found. In this way, you benefit from the collective intelligence and research of the whole group and you are not left to do all the work by yourself. Like all collaborative projects the benefits to you increase the more you contribute!
Body paragraphs & Thesis Statement (5%)
Read about body paragraphs SGW 38-39. See ARW Sample Essay, note the similar structure of each paragraph, especially the use of at least one piece of evidence from a source. Write the first draft of the body paragraphs using the Sample Essay as a guide. Read about thesis statements SGW 36-37. Write the first draft of your thesis statement. Post your work to your blog.
Introduction & Conclusion (5%)
Read about writing the Introduction and Conclusion SGW 37, 39-40. See Sample Essay. Write first draft. Add your Introduction and Conclusion to your thesis and body paragraphs blog post. Edit your whole paper, use the Essay Checklist to guide your improvements.
First Draft (10%)
Edit your whole paper again, use the Essay Checklist. Check the Sample Essay for examples. Organise a peer review of your paper. Your partner will compare your paper to the checklist and delete "Yes" from items that need your attention. Your classmate will attach the completed Essay Checklist as comment to your first draft post on your blog. Review the attached Essay Checklist and improve your paper as necessary. Submit "complete" first draft - header, student information, title, introduction, body paragraphs, & conclusion (Works Cited not required at this stage). Your teacher's feedback on your first draft will list the numbers for items in the Checklist that need your most important attention.
Towards your Final Draft
Continue writing, researching, editing, peer editing, and posting to your blog. Consider a) Using sub-headings, see Sample Essay b) Including opposing views and attempt to counter them, see AWR 42 c) Colour coding the structure of each paragraph, see Akiko's (Aa) first draft d) Taking a tutorial.
P & D on your Essay (5%)
This P&D requires you to present your ideas (2~3 minutes) and lead a discussion of your ideas based on 3 prepared questions (~5 minutes). Prepare a Formal Outline of your essay. Your outline will show the structure of the main ideas in your essay. Format your Outline using the Sample Essay (or SGW 35) as a guide. Write 3 questions about your topic for group discussion. Print. Practice talking about your essay using your Outline as speaking notes. Assessment: Bring your outline, present & discuss your ideas with your group, post your Outline to your blog.
My Expectations of your Writing
The writing assignments in this term build upon the work you did last semester. You should therefore go back and look again at your assignments and the models of ARPs and essays. This semester I will be expect you to further develop your ability to:
* Be independent
* Analyse and critically evaluate ideas and issues
* Write in an academic style
* Understand the concept of and build your ability to write an ‘argumentative’ essay
* Correctly use sources and in-text documentation
* Demonstrate how the ideas of different writers interact
* Comment on and make use of writers to make your point. Do not plagiarise.
* Create a Works Cited
* Format your work using MLA guidelines (See Hacker pp368-370)
Guidelines for Working Online
Do:
* Avoid the use of chat language.
* Try to spell correctly and use the spell-checker.
* Give constructive criticism.
* Use only your first name.
* Post a only a profile picture of yourself.
* Know you are responsible for anything posted in your name.
* Use common sense.
Do not:
* Do not plagiarize, acknowlege sources of all words and ideas.
* Do not give out any personal information about yourself or anyone else.
* Do not use any curse words or inappropriate language.
* Do not use fighting words or provoke anyone
(Modified from http://mathmusings.blogspot.com/2006/01/safe-blogging.html)
Guidelines for emailing teachers.
Please note that email is more formal than text/chat/SMS. Use variations on this basic form:
Dear (Teacher's name),
This is (Your name) from (Name of class).
(Ask your question or state your idea or issue here.)
(Explain what you would like the teacher to do)
Thank you,
(Your name)
