I’ve had some difficulty with this last paper, no doubt, but I finally think I’m on the right track. However in my oral presentation, I wanted to include some goals, not only for this paper, but also to outline what I hoped to take from this class, once it’s over. —Matthew Hampton —Achievable goals for Paper III (MatthewHampton)

Matt is a student in my writing-intensive American Lit II class. I’ve been impressed by the quality of work all the students are producing in the class, but this list of goals (part of a handout he created for an oral presentation) really impressed me. One of my favorite is “To be able to look at a series of work by an author, analyze and remove the ideas I need, assess that information and then possess the ability to recognize a critical perspective from which I can write.” That goal is so much more advanced than “remember key quotes” or “summarize the stories we read” or “apply the stories to my own life.”