Some Comments about your Comments

[sent via email 3/14/09 @ 4pm]

Out of 25 students, only 8 students successfully posted their originality reports to the wiki. In addition, only about half of you received comments on your drafts from your peer review partners. Added to that are the egregious grammatical errors on some drafts that meant I could not comment about the ideas. Some of you are in serious trouble with this essay.

Plagiarism Report:
You did this to see if you had anything plagiarized in your essays. If you received 0% on the report, that means that you had absolutely no quotes!! You must use quotes to substantiate your claims.

Comments:
Of the comments that were on some of the drafts, some were unhelpful with statements such as: "other than 2 or 3 grammatical errors, this looks great!" Please know that if your partner is not giving attention to your draft that is required, I will also NOT post comments to your draft. Some of you also need to remind your peer review partner to comment. It's up to you. Here are examples of effective comments:

http://engl1bharris.pbwiki.com/e2b-fisher
http://engl1bharris.pbwiki.com/E2B-dang

The comments that you provided on the first draft were very lengthy because I gave you a list of things to look for. Now that we've had a class session on the second draft, too, go back and ask your peer review partner to provide full comments. (No points, just something helpful.) Partners, don't be afraid to actually provide interlinear comments -- actually edit the wiki page itself. See here for an example:

http://engl1bharris.pbwiki.com/E2a-Hussaini

My Comments:
I provide interlinear comments but please note that I do not point out every detail. I'm making general comments about your idea and some blatant errors in writing. I'll make a note once and expect you to find it throughout your essay.

Feel free to look through others' essays! This is the reason we have a wiki, to help you see other examples of writing.

Naming your Documents:
Please pay attention to the naming protocols. This makes it easier for others to find your drafts. Also, note that you should replace Harris with your own last name. (I used my last name just as an example.)

Missing Assignments:
As promised, I am not chasing anyone about missing assignments. This is completely up to you. However, if you haven't done any of the work, it will be very difficult to meet the goals of this essay and receive a passing grade.

See you on Tuesday in Clark 111.