"A"-Level Revision of Papers

If you are trying for the "A" grade in the course, according to the contract, the most important labor addition is to revise Paper One and Paper Two again after I have evaluated the final draft. Note: You cannot begin this revision if you have not first received credit on your Revised Draft and Final Draft when we first did the papers.

The "A"-level revision must be total and complete. You must rethink your paper, change your approach, add content (sentences and paragraphs), refine your word choice and style in any sentences you decide to keep, avoid all generalization, use sophisticated logic, and fix all typos and grammar errors that you might introduce when composing new content.

Do not make the mistake of simply editing your paper "to fix mistakes" or "to make it better." Your paper, in its current version, might already be as good as you can make it, right? But the goal is not just to make it better, but to make it substantially different. Your labor task is to produce a new VERSION of your paper and then to edit and refine that new version. What you are trying to demonstrate is your ability to move on from your earlier product to a new one. If you are not sure how to do this, or you don't feel up to the task, be sure to talk to me today so that you can be on the right track.

Remember, this is for an "A"--and an "A" should mean something.

Final Week and Final Exam Session

This week and next, you have the following responsibilities:

• Finish all missing or incomplete assignments. Whether I have already looked at all of your assignments and you see ZEROS or you still have ungraded assignments that you know are incomplete or missing, you need to complete all of them to have a chance at a "C" or better. After finishing an assignment, please email me to let me know.
• Start and finish you Self-Assessment essay.
• Revise Paper 1 and Paper 2 if you are going for the "A" grade in this course.

Self-Assessment

This self-assessment will explain, in a professional and formal way, what you think of yourself as a student writer and your achievement now that you have finished this course. To do this self-assessment, based on a realistic view of your performance, please compose, revise, and proofread a 1000-word essay on the following topic: "How I Earned an A in this course . . . or not." This topic requires you to look at yourself for responsibility for your grade, how you fell short or measured up. Complaints about the course or any comments blaming the course or your professor will be considered off topic, and you'll then have to redo your self-assessment to earn credit on it. If you are going for the "A" grade in this course, this final task, along with your revisions of Paper 1 and Paper 2, will show me how sophisticated your content, style, and grammar have become. Show me what you can do!

Use this filename: LastName.FirstName.SA.F19

For full credit, 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.

• In your shared folder in Google Drive, create a document and name it based on the example above (2 mins)
• Brainstorm about what you did or did not do to earn or not to earn an "A," depending on your situation (30 mins)
• Write your response according to the instructions above (2 hours)
• Give your piece an intelligent, thoughtful, two-part title that UNIQUELY captures your idea (5 mins)
• Proofread your work carefully after writing (1 hour)

Missing Assignments

If you have a grade of "0" on your grade report in D2L, you need to do that assignment so that it does not count as "ignored" on your grading contract. This includes "Revised" drafts and "Final" drafts. Keep an eye on your grade report in D2L over the next few days so that you can stay up to date on your grade status.

Paper Revision for the "A"

If you are trying for the "A" grade in the course, according to the contract, the most important labor addition is to revise Paper One and Paper Two again after I have evaluated the final draft. This revision must be total and complete. You must rethink your paper, change your approach, add content (sentences and paragraphs), refine your word choice and style, avoid all generalization, use sophisticated logic, and fix all typos and grammar errors.

Here are the steps to take if want to do this revision:

• Open "Paper.1.Evaluated" and "Paper.2.Evaluated" in your Google Drive folder. If you see a grade above "O" in your D2L gradebook for "Paper 1 Final" or "Paper 2 Final," then you should see the word "evaluated" in your document names. A grade of "O" means you have yet to finish your final draft. A "--" means that I have not evaluated the final draft yet.
• "Make a copy" of the evaluated paper. Do not make any further changes in the document. Just "make a copy" of it and name it "Paper.1.Revised" or "Paper.2.Revised."
• This new version will now be in your folder, and this copy is the one you should revise and edit until the end of the semester.
• As you revise, you may ask me for feedback on your original paper or on the new version. When you ask for feedback, be specific about the issue you want advice about.