Today in class we read through the remaining sample essays and used the rubric to get a feel both for how "good" the essays were, and for how we would work on strengthening that essay if it were ours.
Tou demonstrated your excellent reading/assessment capabilities and while some groups were perhaps a little more demanding than I was, when we talked about what writers needed to work on and how they could strengthen their work = we were all pretty much on the same page. That's awesome! And - each time we assessed an essay => our scores had a smaller spread. Also AWESOME.
So I am hoping that went some distance to give you a clear understanding of how this essay will be evaluated.
As you write, I strongly suggest the following.
1. Do some more analytic writing (pulling out quotes or sections that look like you could use them for your focus + analyzing them => connecting them to cultural discourses, examining the way the speakers use language, thinking about positioning and agency and how those features of the talk shape the meanings in your material).
2. Ask yourself questions about what you see in your analytic writing as a way to identify a focus for your analysis. Ask - what does it mean that she said . . . after he said. . .? Why did she keep repeating. . . ? When did she repeat (whatever it was)? and so on. Sooner or later you will come up with something that will pass the "so what" test.
3. Do some more analytic writing (include writing about at least one example which seems to contradict what you want to show).
4. Write the middle of your paper (the analysis => the what is going on part). This will probably be in several different sections or paragraphs, each of which approaches your "question" in a slightly different way. It is OK if it doesn't hang together at this point.
5. After you've written all you can write about what is going on, identify what point you are making in each section/paragraph.
6. Decide on the best order for your points.
7. Write an intro + a conclusion.
This is a suggestion not a formula. And for lots of people, the order of these points won't work. For example, I often do the first 3 steps, then write my intro, then do steps 4-6, and write my intro again. You will find what works for you. The takeaway for this discussion is: you need to spend time with your data.
For next class:
Blog 15: Short analysis essay.
Come to class eager and ready to talk about how you are going to build on what you did for your short analysis (or not) and turn it into a full research project.
Have a great weekend!
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