3.19 Workshop for Short Analysis Project

In class today we reviewed the criteria for the Short analysis project and created a rubric (pasted in below) for evaluating drafts for this project. We then used the rubric to evaluatea sample draft (posted to the right) and to come up with some clear specific statements of what the writers needed to work on in order to produce a stronger essay.

Short analysis evaluation rubric:
Focus - 40 points: should be set up in the beginning and pulled together in the end.  Focus credit also counts statements within the data presentation and analysis that "refer back to" or explain the relevance of a discussion to the focus.  The introductory focus may include a statement of the research questions + explanation of language features (categories/codes) relevant to the focus, identification of the data that will be analyzed, any relevant definitions, an overview of important categories/findings, etc. The introductory statement of focus, including set up, may take more than one paragraph.

In short: the focus helps the reader to know what the analysis is 'about'. 

Development - 30 points: should provide evidence (detailed examples) of the categories + relationships that connect to the focus; it should also provide evidence of the patterns that "prove" the relationships relevant to the focus.   Development should also include detailed discussion where the writer identifies multiple patterns and explains how they work together - or what they show - with respect to the focus of the paper.

Examples should be used to identify categories and patterns and to explain/discuss the connection of the patterns to the research question. Use of examples is evaluated based on whether the writer has chosen an appropriate example, whether it fully illustrates the point s/he is making, and whether it fits within the focus of the overall papers.

Organization - 30 points:  introduces information in the order the reader needs it so s/he can follow the logic of the discussion.  For example, definitions need to come before discussion of relationships that use the terms that need to be defined; categories need to be set up before statements of patterns that refer to those categories, and so on.

For next class:
Blog 14  post a complete draft suitable for workshopping in class

Attend your conference if you have one. 

The final paper is tentatively schedule as due on Tuesday, March 26.