agenda for wednesday 1 april 2009

Reminder (as if you would forget): We will NOT be meeting during our usual class time on Wednesday. Instead, your draft of the Letter to the Editor must be uploaded to your group's section on eCollege DocSharing by our usual class time (2pm on Wed).

The guide for the Letter to the Editor Workshop is available on eCollege, but I'm also including the instructions here:

[1] Read author’s note. Highlight or underline the key items you need to address during the workshop.

[2] Read over letter to the editor. Pay attention to and/or mark the following items as you are reading:

• Mark places that are well-written, powerful, or effective
• Mark places that are confusing
• Mark places where the author used Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
• Mark places where the author’s style is especially effective

[3] Write a response to the Author about your overall reactions. What did you enjoy? What was effective? What suggestions do you have? Be sure to specifically discuss the following aspects of the Letter:

• What does the author do to develop ethos in the early parts of the Letter? How can this be stronger?
• Discuss the organization of the Letter. Is there a reasonable/logical method to this? How else does the author use logos?
• How does the Author develop pathos in the Letter?
• How does the Author use style to make his/her points more effectively?
• Does it have basic qualities of a Letter to the Editor (formatted as a letter, addressed to an editor, signed by the author, initial reference to the original article)?
• What was especially effective or interesting about the Letter?
• What suggestions do you have for making the Letter more effective?
• Don’t forget to respond to the questions or requests included in the Author’s Note.

It's entirely up to your group to coordinate the workshop. You are welcome to complete the entire workshop online without meeting in person, but your workshop feedback must be given (probably through email) to the other members of your group no later than 5pm on Friday. I'll also be sending you feedback on your letter to the editor based on the draft that you post on Wednesday.

Though we aren't having an official class meeting, I will still be on campus and available to meet with you to discuss any questions or concerns you have. Just send me an email. I'll also post the agenda for next Monday sometime later this week, but the main thing for next Monday will be discussing the qualities of the genre and beginning work on your Op-Eds.

Have a great week!