WRTG 150 (2)

3.15: Rhetorical Analysis Draft, Dear Reader Letter and 3.16: Feedback

For this assignment, you will submit a draft of your conference paper for review from your instructor and two of your peers. You will also submit a Dear Reader letter with your draft for the instructor and students to use when grading your draft. This assignment will be completed within a week's time but in two different lessons:

  • Lesson 15: submit a draft of your RA (3 points)
  • Lesson 16: peer review (3 points)

Instructions for Lesson 15 Submission

Submit a draft of your RA to this assignment for feedback from your instructor by Wednesday at 11:59 p.m. (Mountain Time). Review the RA assignment instructions and the RA rubric before you submit.

At the beginning of the draft, include a letter to your instructor and peers called the Dear Reader letter that they will use when grading your assignment.

"Dear Reader" Letter

Write a Dear Resder letter to your instructor and peer group, using key terms and ideas from the Feedback section of MW chapter 3.

  1. Tell them what you're trying to accomplish. Give them answers to questions like the following: Why am I writing? Who is my audience, as I imagine them? What am I trying to do, and why?
  2. Give them a brief self-assessment of your draft. Tell them what you think you're doing well ("I feel like my organization is clear and my transitions are effective . . .") and where you're most unsatisfied with the draft as it stands (". . . but my conclusion is weak--I don't suggest any meaningful implications and my wrap-up seems too obvious, too boring."). This exercise will help you learn whether your assessment of your own work agrees with your readers' assessment of it.
  3. Give them specific tasks as readers. Give the reviewer some directives, like "Please look at page three where I try to do X" or "Please feel free to cross out any material what you think is redundant," or ask questions like the following. How does my organization work for you? Where are you the most confused or bored? Have I sufficiently persuaded my audience of X—why or why not? What's your favorite part of my paper? Notice how these questions avoid simple yes/no answers. You can also tell them what not to pay attention to (e.g. "Ignoew the way I've cited the sources; I'm still working on my APA formatting").

For more detail and information about feedback, see your text book.

Instructions for Lesson 16 Submission

Review 2 of your peers' op eds that were submitted in lesson 15. Canvas will automatically assign two of your group members' op eds for you to review on Thursday at 12:01 a.m. (Mountain Time).

  1. You will see whose paper you are to review on Thursday when you click on this assignment.
  2. Use the attached rubric to rate your peers' op eds and leave comments in the provided text box.

Submit your reviews by the end of lesson 16 on Saturday at 11:59 p.m. (Mountain Time).