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You have until today to submit a revision, based on what you gained from the in-class peer review activity.

There is no final exam in this course.

Grades for graduating seniors are due to the university on Monday.  Anyone planning to graduate in December should submit the final paper revision on this date. (There is no final exam.)

The instructions are the same as Portfolio 1, but I would like to encourage reflection and assessment -- I'm asking for a reflective portfolio, not just a list of links.

This portfolio should present the work that you didn't present as part of a previous portfolio.

If you have a reason to include an entry from the first part of class (maybe you have expanded it, or a new discussion has emerged on an old entry) feel free to include it -- just explain why you think it belongs in this portfolio

A 2-3 page essay, in which you assess two drafts written by your peers, and conclude with an informal evaluation of your own peer-review process.

We will spend time in class (Wednesday Dec 2) coming up with a rubric and guidelines.

For guidelines, use the questions that were part of the Turnitin.com peer review.

To find the papers you've been assigned, complete the "PR 1" exercise underneath the Paper 3 slot in Turnitin.com.

The instructions are the same as Portfolio 1, but I would like to encourage reflection and assessment -- I'm asking for a reflective portfolio, not just a list of links.

This portfolio should present the work that you didn't present as part of Portfolio 1 or Portfolio 2.

If you have a reason to include an entry from the first part of class (maybe you have expanded it, or a new discussion has emerged on an old entry) feel free to include it -- just explain why you think it belongs in this portfolio.

The assignment is the same as the presubmission for Paper 2. The only difference is that this paper is longer -- 10-12 pages.

(It's also the only major assignment we'll do for the rest of the term.)

I do not expect to be able to discuss each paper individually with you during class, but I will aim to get you some quick feedback right away, and encourage you to come to sign up for longer consultations.

Feel free to take risks for this assignment; if you hit a dead end or change your topic, that's a good sign -- it's better that you make those changes now, than after you've written 6 or 8 pages.

Book banning? Library budgets? Bookstore prices? Copyright and intellectual property rights?

Write an 800-word editorial on an issue related to literature -- broadly speaking. Submit by uploading to Turnitin.com. (You are welcome to blog your editorial, or submit it somewhere for publication, including The Setonian.  Most publications have "submission guidelines" that will help increase your chances of being published.)

An editorial is a form of journalism. Write shorter paragraphs than you're used to writing for academic papers. Feel free to interview experts and people on the street.

Prefer current events and widely-known examples to old, obscure ones.  (If you want to write about freedom on Huck Finn's raft, can you somehow tie it to lessons we've learned from Balloon Boy's box?  If you want to write about the fool in King Lear, can you somehow tie it to Saturday Night Live's recent spoof of Obama?)  This does not mean you should dumb down your thesis, but it does mean you are writing for the general reader, one who has not sat through the lectures and seminars you've sat through.

About Editorials

My goal in this exercise is to give you some guided practice in research skills, at a phase when there isn't a looming draft assignment.

You will present your findings in a 2-3 page bibliographical essay, that describes your research process and evaluates your findings. I am looking for evidence that you can identify and evaluate how your authors are using their sources, that you can use the library's holdings effectively, and that you can assess your own results.  You are welcome to get help from reference librarians, or come to me for guidance, or give each other advice (but this is not a group project; I am asking everyone to demonstrate individual mastery of these important research skills).

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