442 Matching Annotations
  1. Feb 2016
    1. Zack Matthews Robin DeRosa Composition February 22, 2016 Donald Trump for President?

      I'd get rid of all this stuff. You are writing for the web and for an audience, you are not turning in a paper just to me.

    1. Canceling college and school forever sounds great to me!

      Hmm. Really? This is a pretty serious little essay, and that ending feels too flippant and silly to match up with the kinds of things you cover.

    2. School alone is enough stress for us to deal with trying to please everyone and handle school at once is definitely not something people want to deal with everyday but unfortunately we cant get away from that

      fs

    1. A third political party is honestly a no brainier to me. You on the other hand might be wondering why I know what party I’m with and there is no way I’m changing my thoughts. When I started learning more and more about the election as well as the political parties I realized that I agree with arguments from both sides. Now think about this what if there was a party that you absolutely agreed with every single thing.

      This is not clear. It sounds like you are saying this:

      We need a third political party. But I like one of the two parties we have now and I won't change. But actually I like stuff from both parties.

      I can't figure out what you are arguing in these opening lines... Needs to be clearer.

    1. Sanders also states that the people have a right to be angry at cops

      Link? Also, is this about racism? If so, do you think you need to address that in this paragraph, since I don't think (?) anyone would suggest that the police are scary to white people...

    2. Unsettling incidents such as these make officers become alcoholics, withdraw from society, or need counseling among many other things.

      Maybe back this up with a source and hyperlink? Shouldn't be hard to find...

    3. Police brutality has been a hot topic as of late. I am assuming you have all heard of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott, and Freddie Gray. But, have you heard of Officer Thomas W. Cottrell, Officer Douglas Scott Barney, Sergeant Jason Goodding, Deputy Sheriff Derek Geer, Senior Deputy Mark Logsdon, Senior Deputy Patrick Dailey Major Gregory E. Barney, Officer Jason Moszer or Special Agent Lee Tartt? That is a list of officers killed in 2016 by gunfire.

      Powerfully done--great rhetorical strategy here.

    4. consequences.

      I am thinking there are 2 paragraphs here: one on how the younger generation has lost respect for authority (maybe cite a source on this to add credibility? There should be stuff out there...) and one on how people need to accept the consequences of their actions.

    1. Charter schools are considered "public schools" due to the fact they get public funding. Which will allow children to learn more? Deciding between charter school and public school is tough when it comes to which one will benefit a child more.

      Your revision did not really clarify things. You say charter schools are public schools and then you say they are two different things. I get it, but your "fix" didn't really take away the confusion in the language of your essay. I think the intro probably needed a full rewrite?

    2. Comparatively public schools have somewhere around 20-25 kids in a classroom where charters have less than 20 students.

      Cite your source for this. It seems odd, since I imagine the numbers vary so widely from district to district, state to state.

    1. You don't have comments enabled so I can't comment. That should get fixed when you start correctly posting blog posts rather than pages. This piece has a lot of problems, Laura, but lots of promise, too! The biggest issue is organization. It's like a stream of consciousness ramble about your life. It needs a much stronger structure, and the best way to fix that is by making an outline of your paragraphs. For example:

      1) How my parents shaped me into who I am 2) How my siblings became my first friends 3) How sports made me who I am 4) How trips with friends shaped me 5) How risk-taking shapes me 6) conclusion about how all of these things form you into you.

      Each paragraph just needs one well-developed example. This piece needs lots more focus and tightening up, and topic sentences on paragraphs that only focus on one idea will help.

      The other main issue here is grammar, particularly Run-ons. Keep working on that so we can get it fixed this semester! Remember that if you revise, you will need to follow the revision guidelines on the Policies/Info section of the syllabus. Email me anytime with questions!

    2. Previous summers before I graduated I would go to a lot of basketball camps and games so that I could improve my skill level.

      How does this relate to sky diving? Why are they together in this paragraph?

    1. but its unfair and black students should not have to worry about things like that

      You can't assume your reader has read the article or that she understands what you mean here. This could probably be its own paragraph so you have space to really explain what you mean.

    2. After reading this article

      You need to add something about the article in the intro if you plan to talk about it. And add a hyperlink to it. You can't just toss it in down here without setting it up a bit...

    1. So instead of telling us who we should be

      Maybe that could tie back to the beginning a bit more? Could you link this imagined reader who is berating you for being stressed to your intro somehow? I feel like I lost the poop thread and ended up with this, but it didn't quite come full circle...

    2. As I have already stated, the pressure of a high GPA is at stake. We all live our lives with the dreams that we will someday have a hot spouse, beautiful car, and a nice home that has plenty of food. What if someone is happy without all of those things? Is that not deemed acceptable?

      This is a good example of how your writing would benefit from a bit more organization. You can still sound spontaneous and fun, but you need to plan these paragraphs out a bit more so that each one has a focus and so that essay progresses in a way that the reader can follow. This one feels like it jumps backwards and then all of a sudden veers off in a new direction.

    3. I am in it and what I have learned so far is that it is really easy to pick up the phone and order Chinese food delivery right to your room. Dangerously addicting, but so good. I’ve also learned that it is extremely hard to get motivation to go to the gym . . .  You win some, and you lose some.

      Ok, I totally LOVE the opening, but you seem to lose the thread of the nerves in this section a bit. Seems kind of disconnected?

    1. you wouldn’t ever want to take back.

      Ok so we have to get the ePort set up properly, so I can comment... But this is a solid essay! Lots of stuff has to be cleaned up, and I would like to see a cc-licensed image or two in here to give the post some visual appeal. But the writing is heartfelt and engaging, and I loved reading this!

    1. Like never really knowing what the weather is going to be like from day to day, and some students as you will find they come here specifically for the snow and mountains.

      Confusing sentence...

    1. Climbers should be conscience of their surrounding environment

      This seemed to come out of nowhere. I wonder if a better intro could help this essay, predicting better what paragraphs are coming...

    1. an anti-white group

      Of course, this is very controversial. I am not opposed to you using this, but make sure you mean to be this provocative, since clearly the BP's would not have called themselves "anti-white" at all. If you want to make this claim about them, you'd probably need to back it up more, since it's not something everyone agrees on.

    1. The "new" definition of beauty

      When you post links on the spreadsheet, make sure they are the links to the specific posts, not just to your blog in general (I fixed them this time, but they were not correct).

    1. The short deadlines that you have to meet for that eight page paper due in two weeks. The sleepless nights spent studying and cramming for that huge exam the next morning. The amount of times you have a mental breakdown and want to give up because you just can’t do it anymore.

      These are fragments, but I kind of like them like this!

    1. We hurt others because we do not love ourselves.

      Wait...are the fuckboys depressed and therefore unable to love back? Or are the women that the fuckboys don't love depressed, and that is ultimately why they can't be loved? Maybe needs a bit of clarifying to relate back to the thesis here...

  2. composition2blog.wordpress.com composition2blog.wordpress.com
    1. the better.

      This is a good start, but could use some attention for sure:

      1) Since this isn't a post, there are no comments available here, which is a problem. Make sure we get this fixed. You will probably need to come see me.

      2) You need to cite your sources by hyperlinking key information or by adding in-text citation (at the end of the sentence with the information, you cite the source).

      3) Develop the piece a bit more by splitting it into 4 or 5 paragraphs, each with a topic sentence focused on the one main idea that the paragraph covers.

      There are also some small grammar errors. Reading out loud might help you hear some of those...

      Remember that if you revise, you need to follow the revision guidelines on the Policies/Info site of our Syllabus. Email me with any questions!