Get Ready for Your Presentation

Your 20-hour project log is due Monday, Oct. 8. It's time to get off your tush and Do Something! If you are still at a loss as to what to do, see the Do Something link on this blog. This week we will be practicing our presentations in front of the class, Monday through Thursday. On Friday we will have a guest speaker from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising on The Psychological Impression of Dress. See the practice presentation schedule I distributed on Friday and be prepared to have a 5-minute presentation ready. I will videotape them and then those students can watch the tapes to see how they appear to the audience.

Research Paper Final Draft due Monday

Congratulations, you're nearing the finish line. Your typed final drafts are due Monday. If you have any questions about format, see your Writer's Choice textbook, or an MLA sample research paper online (the OWL website is a good one). Unfortunately, if you have not turned in a rough draft as of Wednesday, it is too late. Without a rough draft, you may not turn in a final draft. Therefore, you will have failed the class and will need to make it up in Adult School. Let me remind you again about the consequences of deliberate plagiarism: a grade of fail in the class. Everyone wrote a definition of plagiarism in the letter of intent and promised not to do it. Remember that if you are tempted to take a short cut! That said, I'm sure I will have no problems with plagiarism and I look forward to reading your fascinating research papers.

DIY

Congratulations to those who turned in the research paper rough drafts on time! A couple people (Michelle, Eder) only have a few minor corrections. A few more, (Miguel, Fernando) just need to add their interview. Others need to add a Work Cited page. The most troubling part seems to be the format, which seems odd, since there are so many examples online. (Look at the OWL page link from HH Library, or search for the words "MLA sample research paper.") NEXT STEP: Your final draft is due Friday. In the meantime, you should be finishing your 20 hours (due Oct. 8). This is the DIY part. If you are still at a loss for what to do, sign up for a community college class. LACC has community classes on various topics that are no-credit and are one Saturday, or two weeknights, or something like that.

Show Me the Notes

This week we will be learning how to cite sources MLA style and writing the rough draft of your research paper. Your 20-hour project should be well underway. You should have scheduled an interview for your research paper, if not conducted it already. Your note taking should be complete. NO NOTES = NO RESEARCH PAPER ACCEPTED NO RESEARCH PAPER = NO PRESENTATION NO RESEARCH PAPER + NO PRESENTATION = FAIL Bring your Writer's Choice textbook on Monday. We will meet in the library Tuesday, (both classes) Wednesday (Period 5), Thursday (Period 6) and Friday (both classes), so you can type your research paper. RESEARCH PAPER ROUGH DRAFT DUE AT THE END OF CLASS ON FRIDAY.

It's Crunch Time

There's only five weeks until your Senior Presentation! Time to get moving!! You should have turned in a total of 40 note cards by now. If not, turn them in, as I will not accept a research paper without first having seen the notes. You should have also turned in your 10 questions that you will ask the person you are interviewing for your research paper. I will return those to you on Tuesday. This week we will write a compare-and-contrast essay tied to your research paper topic. Bring your textbook on Wednesday. Thursday is a minimum day, so class will not meet. Your compare/contrast essay is due at the end of class on Friday. Both the cause-and-effect essay and the compare-and-contrast essay can be used as sections in your research paper, depending on how well it fits with your topic. Next week we will begin writing the rough draft of the research paper. I will instruct you on how to turn your notes into a rough draft and how to cite sources in your paper, MLA-style (author's last name and page number). I have reserved the library for three days that week. Your rough draft is due at the end of class on Friday, Sept. 14. Everyone should be working on their 20-hour physical project. Your project log is due Monday, Oct. 8, the day before your presentation. Remember, the research paper accounts for the majority of your grade. The 20-hour project and the presentation account for 10% each, so don't get stressed out about that. However, no student will be allowed to give a presentation without having turned in a research paper.

Taking Notes, Writing Outlines

Now that you have turned in your 10 sources on index cards, which will become your Work Cited page, you can begin taking notes from your sources. See your textbook or the handouts I've given you if you are still unclear on how to take notes on index cards. We will also be learning how to write a sentence outline. We will go to the library as often as possible to take notes. On the days the library is unavailable, you should bring your sources with you to class to take notes.

Senior Project Letters of Intent

You should have turned in your typed letter of intent on Friday. If you haven't, please do so on Monday. The Senior Project Committee will meet on Tuesday after school to review letters from all five Expository Composition classes on B and C tracks. I have read all those turned in on Friday and overall, I am very pleased. This should be an exciting semester. Some of you have great ideas. Others are still mulling their ideas. Remember, bring your lunch to Room 233 on Wednesday if you want to talk to other students about each other's projects. This week, we will be working on the thesis statement and writing note cards for your Work Cited page. You will need to buy some index cards.