Workshopping and not being like the American Idol judges. A Typical Thursday.

2. TODAY
1)Icebreaker
2)For the good of the order: knowing when to
retreat/re-work
3)Reminders of what’s coming up soon
4)The Subtle Art of Peer Workshopping
5)Practice shots at CCM readings
6)Workshop
7)Homework

3. ICEBREAKER
Another quick/easy icebreaker for today.
Similar to the question about music last week,
today I’d like you to say your name and tell us
two things: your favorite TV show right now
and your favorite TV show that is no longer on
(or from when you were a kid that you no
longer watch).
My answers:

4. ANNOUNCEMENTS
1)The blogroll on the site is up-to-date, so if
you don’t see your name, I still need your
Tumblr address.
2)As much as I hate to retreat, I think we need
a Twitter exit strategy. I started out last night
trying to make a class list since the hashtag
wasn’t working, but several of you aren’t
coming up in search when I input the user
IDs you emailed me. I am unsure why
Twitter isn’t cooperating, but it’s time to stop
wasting energy on it.
If you want to keep following me, I will post
class announcements there.

5. INSTEAD OF TWEETING
Starting next week, instead of Tweeting on
Tuesday, I’d like you to utilize the ―ask me‖
function on my Tumblr.
It’s here:
I will remind
all of you
on Tuesday.

6. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Remember as well that your Inquiry One
projects are due a week from today, on
September 6th.
In class on the 6th, we will write up your
writer’s reflective memos and I will show you
how/where to upload your work on Niihka.
MAKE SURE YOU BRING YOUR LAPTOP
AND YOUR PROJECT IN A FILE FORMAT
THAT CAN BE UPLOADED!
*sorry for the all caps, but this is serz biz*

7. ALSO…
Inquiry Two will start next week. If you’re the
sort who likes to look ahead, feel free to read
over the assignment sheet for it from the main
course site.
If your forum account hasn’t been
activated, email me before the end of class
and I’ll check on it and get back to you ASAP.
Any questions about what’s going on? Any
concerns?

8. Peer Reviewing
Today we will peer review your projects for the
first time as a class. Peer reviewing is a subtle
art.
I mentioned this the first day of class, but I’m
going to go back to it for a moment because I
like comparisons. I hope all of you at least
heard of/about American Idol before all the
judges got shuffled. If not… I hope my
explanations will assist in making my point. 

9. NO CAN HAS

10. Reacting like the AI Judges…
… is sadly sort of typical of how we, in
American culture, talk to each other about
creative work. Taken as a whole, the Idol
judges (at least the originals), sort of formed a
―Popcultural Rhetorical Triangle of Wha?‖
But individually, each falls to one of the three
cardinal sins of peer response.

11. Simon Cowell: The Jerk
Sadly for contestants on the show, Simon was
often the most accurate of the judges.
However he epitomized the spirit of the elitist,
the uppity, snide, all-too-brash jerk.
You don’t want to offer comments to your
fellow students that take on a harsh tone. This
isn’t a put-down contest. It’s collaboration.

12. Randy Jackson: Cool Dude
Randy Jackson, meanwhile, had a much better
sense of how to phrase his responses. Problem
is, dawg, he’d just tell everyone that they ―did
their thing‖ and that they were, at least usually, ―in
the dawg house‖ which was good, and usually for
a duration of time, such as ―for life‖ or ―for the
night.‖ Randy rarely pointed out what could use
improvement. He was very likable, but… what
good is a friend who won’t help?

13. Paula Abdul: Pathos
Paula’s reactions were almost always
emotionally charged. That can be decent,
but the problem is that it usually led to either
her gushing over a person (nice to hear, but
not all that useful for improvement) or her
talking about herself.
That’s not going to make us better writers.
But I’ll be honest, it is nice to know when
your writing touches someone, so don’t hold
that back.

14. These two were also stereotypical. Tyler self-
promoted, and J-Lo was a less emotional Paula.
Plus Tyler was in Aerosmith. Never listen to
someone from Aerosmith.

15. Instead, strive to…
Peer review ―do‖s:
1) Be a generous, careful reader. Take your time,
and make sure you really see/read/understand
each word
2) Take a moment, as difficult as it might be, to
imagine the paper is yours. React from that
position, thinking about what YOU would do
differently.
3) Tell the author what works for you. Be specific!
4) When something doesn’t work, or you want
more information, be specific both about in
what location and about what you’d like to see.
5) Don’t gush, but don’t attack. Have an even
tone.

16. Helpful strategies:
1) Ask the author his/her goals. Or in the case
of an assignment here, read the assignment
sheet and rubric before commenting
2) Ask if the author wants you to look for
specific sorts of weaknesses, or if there’s a
particular part of the essay that the author
really could use help with.
3) Remember, always, that it’s another
person, but it’s another person who has to
go turn this into a project that will be graded.
Think about the sorts of comments
you, yourself, would like to have to look over
as you revise.

17. It’s also useful…
1) To locate the thesis statement, even if it’s only
―implied‖ and not specifically stated.
2) To think about the ―voice‖ of the writer in the
essay. That is to say does each paragraph
sound as if it belongs with the one before it, or
are there places where the writer’s language
choices and style start to change?
3) Remember that an essay has an introduction,
a body, and a conclusion, and try to get a
sense of how those three things are coming
together for the author.
4) Note places where you might be confused; it
will be good for the author to look back at
those.

18. For today’s workshop
I want you to do the following five things to your
peer’s paper:
1) They should provide you with a question.
Answer that question.
2) Look for the thesis statement. Is it clear, and
does it truly predict the essay?
3) Check their focus: does the essay stay on
topic?
4) Check to see if the voice is consistent
throughout
5) Think of one thing you would change, if you
had to go revise. Offer that, with your
reasoning.

19. Let’s practice, as a group…
Using one of the two essays from CCM.
Let’s pick one, then I will provide you with the
student question.

20. Now we do yours.
Prompts again in the
next slide.
Please break into
groups of no more than
4, no less than 3.

21. For today’s workshop
I want you to do the following five things to your
peer’s paper:
1) They should provide you with a question.
Answer that question.
2) Look for the thesis statement. Is it clear, and
does it truly predict the essay?
3) Check their focus: does the essay stay on
topic?
4) Check to see if the voice is consistent
throughout
5) Think of one thing you would change, if you
had to go revise. Offer that, with your
reasoning.

22. Homework
Read for class: Lessnar and Craig ―Finding your
way In‖ (online– under ―resources‖ on Niihka) and
Staples ―Just Walk on By‖ (online--same)
Forum prompt: Respond to one post from the
previous week (with actual comments—don’t just
say ―I agree‖ or something short) and invite a
response from the original poster by asking a
thoughtful question or two.