Assigned Reading Responses

Based on your reading of Understanding Comics, you will compose intelligent responses that show your understanding of the content and your interest in discussing what the author is trying to achieve as an instructor. You will write these responses on Google Drive. Make sure the two paragraphs you write are equal in length and that their total length is 200-300 words. "Equal length" means that the two paragraphs "look" equal (within one line of each other).


For the first Assigned Reading Response, use LastName.FirstName.ARR.1.S20
For the second Assigned Reading Response, use LastName.FirstName.ARR.2.S20

For full credit on this assignment, follow these steps (times are guidelines, not requirements). If you find yourself writing quickly and finishing soon, chances are strong that you could think harder and produce better content. Please take this into consideration instead of assuming you cannot do any better:

1. In your shared folder in Google Drive, create a document and name it based on the examples above (2 mins)
2. Read the portion of the book that you plan to write about and choose one panel for focus (5 mins)
3. Brainstorm about the ideas the author is presenting to you, and then brainstorming about strategies he used to present them (15 mins)
4. Type the full citation of the chapter in the book in which you found the panel (5 mins)
5. Write your first paragraph according to the instructions below (15 mins)
6. Write your second paragraph according to the instructions below (15 mins)
7. Proofread and revise your work carefully after writing (10 mins)
8. Give your piece an intelligent, thoughtful, two-part title that UNIQUELY captures your idea (5 mins)

Your "revision history" in Google Drive should show that you typed out your response and took ample time to go back and revise. Brainstorm, write, and revise in the Google document so that I can see your progress. Do NOT type your response in some other place or copy and paste into your Google document. Always do all of your typing in the Google document itself.

Your finished assignment (i.e., two paragraphs) should total at least 200 words but no more than 300 words. Make sure the paragraphs are the same length as each other.

Guidelines for Content of an Assigned Reading Response

1. First paragraph
   
   1. Start with a striking moment from a panel to highlight ONE idea that intrigued you and cite it.
   2. Explain this idea that the author is presenting. What is the author trying to get across to the audience?
   3. However, avoid explaining your own ideas or your opinion of the author's idea.
2. Second paragraph
   
   1. Start by identifying ONE technique (artistic or rhetorical) that the author uses to make this idea clearer to you.
   2. Describe the technique you identified using examples from the panel you chose to discuss.
   3. Explain why the technique helped you understand or accept the idea more readily.

Peer Responses

As your peers make progress on their own papers, you will offer advice about their content to help them (and you) continue to improve. On the day a revised draft is due, you will comment on paper of a classmate (and one will comment on yours). Arrange with your group how you will distribute the sharing evenly.

For full credit, follow these steps (times are guidelines, not requirements)

1. Share your paper with everyone in your group (2 mins)
2. Decide as a group who will comment on whose paper (2 mins)
3. Read the paper all the way through, multiple times (15 mins)
4. Make at least 5 comment boxes and fill each one with detailed suggestions for improvement: one comment for the beginning, three for the middle, and one for the ending (30 mins)

Your comments should be about ideas and logic, not grammar and style. As you read, ask yourself, "How can the writer help me see the meaning better? How can the writer improve connections in the paper?" Remember, the standard is effective communication, and that means strong connects within and between paragraphs. Embrace what Keith Hjortshoj tells us: "Effective writing, therefore, facilitates continuous reading from beginning to end" (115).

Self Responses

When you submit papers for evaluation, you will also submit your own evaluation of the struggles and achievements you've encountered in the writing process. Create a new document in your Google Drive writing folder for this course

Use these filenames:

LastName.FirstName.Paper.1.SR.S20
LastName.FirstName.Paper.2.SR.S20

The content parameters of this assignment are pretty wide open, but your discussion should revolve around your impressions of your experience working on your paper. Points might include what you felt successful doing, what you felt frustrated by, areas in which you needed help but did not ask, and areas in which you felt confident. What was it like to write this paper, and how can you apply the lessons you learned to future papers? To what extent have you improved yourself as a writer through the process of writing this paper?

Like all responses, be sure that your two paragraphs total 200-300 words.

Center a thoughtful and intelligent title at the top that accurately reflects your attitude about your performance on your paper.