Excerpt: Descriptive Writing Meeting Reflection/Theme (10 min)
I loved this passage from one of your classmates. I thought it would be good to read in terms of details, sensory information, and writing descriptively in general to serve some larger aim.
Read the following and have some responses ready for the following questions:
- What makes this passage so descriptive?
- And what does this description do to you as a reader?
- What purpose does it serve for the writer, do you think?
When I was 14 years old I decided to rebel and cut, bleach and color my dark brown hair to a bright, fiery red shoulder length cut. This matched how I was feeling at the time. Going through a large shift in my life with my mother leaving my family, my long boring dark brown hair didn’t match what I was feeling inside. I didn’t feel like I was just boring, I felt like I had so much going on in my head and in my life that I couldn’t stand looking “boring” anymore.
Giving Feedback (10 min)
Write privately to yourself responding to the below questions:
- What are some memories you have of having a difficult time receiving or giving feedback? Why was it difficult?
- What was the best feedback you got and how was it given?
Let’s record some ideas about what are some good ways to give and receive feedback:
- Consider people’s feelings
- Give a compliment first
- Be honest
- Don’t take it personal as receiver of feedback
- Focus on big picture first
- don’t overwhelm person with millions of ideas…hard to prioritize if too much
- Frame feedback positively
- Ask questions
Peer Review (45-60 min)
Let’s go over these Peer Response Guidelines (link right here).
You will be with one other partner. If we have an odd number, there will be a group of three. Any independent workers today due to writing about something sensitive will also alter how we organize things.
Each person takes turns reading while following the “Writer” and “Responder” roles on Peer Response Guidelines. Each person should have about 10-15 minutes. I’ll help anyone who is in a group rather than a pair.
Let me know if you what you are writing about is too personal and you want to be in a specific group with people you know/trust. Or if you want to work one on one with me today, instead, rather than share with other classmates.
Once you are finished reviewing each other’s work, I want you to return to your partner’s paper and write down more in-depth feedback than what you shared verbally. That way, they have a record from their own notes and also a record from your own thoughts.
Guidelines for the Peer Review Letter are on Brightspace, which is the same place you will submit the assignment. I’ll go over that once you have had a chance to talk with your partner.
Grade Boost option for peer review (but keep in mind all grade boosts! we are already through about a third of the semester!)
Second Full Draft of Literacy Narrative Due October 15 (5-10 min)
Let’s briefly go over the expectations for the next draft due on October 15. I just made this assignment available today on Brightspace.
Next Time
-No class on Oct 2.
-On Oct 7, you have to read “What is rhetoric?” and leave at least four annotations on Perusall
-On Oct 7, you also have to write Reading Response 2. This is on Brightspace but let’s go over the prompt briefly: Has anyone ever said to you before that “it’s just not that deep” when you were talking about a movie, a show, a book, a sign, a conversation with a friend or romantic partner, something a family member said to you, etc.? Where someone felt you were seeing something there that wasn’t there. Or, has the opposite happened, where you made the case that you saw a “meaning” in something that the other person didn’t quite see until you pointed it out? If you ask me, ANYTHING can be “deep” but some interpretations are certainly better than others. Write about one of your experiences and how you found meaning in something that others reacted to. Finally, connect this exploration to what you read about rhetoric this week. Write at least 250 words in response.
-On Oct 9, you will again have private writing in your journal to do. Here is the prompt for that: Talk about a person you met so far this semester who has really influenced you in some way (hopefully positive!). You don’t have to name them. What did you learn from that encounter(s)? What further encounters with other people would you like to have? Who do you want to get to know? How will you get to know them? Clubs? Jobs? Classes? What’s your plan for meeting more people you can learn from and grow with? Write for at least 10 minutes.
-As discussed already, the next draft of the literacy narrative is due October 15. Get to work!