So What & Who Cares

Part of your Week 17 assignment is to answer the questions "so what" and "who cares"? 

Here are some template ideas taken from They Say, I Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing by Gerald Graff & Cathy Birkenstein  (pages 95 - 96, 98-99). 

"Who Cares"= Who does it Matter to?

• This interpretation challenges the work of earlier researches, who have long to assume that _______.
• These findings challenge the work of earlier researchers, who tended to assume that _______.
• At first glance, teenagers might say __________, but on closer inspection __________.

"So What" = Why it Matters

• Although _______ may seem trivial, it is in fact crucial in terms of today's concern over _______.
• If we are right about ________, then major consequence follow for ________.
• Although ______ may seem of concern to only a small group of _______, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about _________.

Week 17 - Outlining

Due Date: FRIDAY, February 3, 2012

Assignment:  Building upon your skeletal outline of Week 14, develop an outline of significant detail that is able to support a 3,000 word paper.  Be sure to include: thesis question, thesis statement, "so what" and "who cares", cover arguments that develop and support your thesis.  Everything should be in proper Capstone Format.

You do not need to turn your final outline in to me and your advisor will give you an actual numeric grade on this week's assignment.  As always, the advisor will need to explain how you exceeded the expectations to receive higher than an 85. 

Look back at Week 14 if you need to see previous samples, and I've attached the one we started to work on in class to give you an idea of how to expand your skeletal outline.   You can view it here:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/79840536/Week-17-Sample

Online Journals

The link below includes a great list of Open Access (i.e. free!) peer-reviewed journals on a lot of different subjects.  It doesn't have any kind of search engine, so students will have to search in each journal - but still, for those kids who are having a hard time finding scholarly journals, this is another source.

Ms. Bergstrom

http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/dean/peer_reviewed.htm

Also this one is open access  http://www.doaj.org/

Week 16: Notecards

This is your last week of official note-taking.  You obviously can take more if you find later that you need more information.  Find 3 more new academic sources as well as add 8 cards (100 words each) to your pile of notecards.  This assignment is due on Monday, January 23rd.

I will be back in school on Tuesday, inshallah.  Week 15 is due on Tuesday, be ready with your rubric COMPLETELY filled out.

Week 15: Notecards & Sources

This is your third week of note-taking.  You need to find 3 more academic sources as well as add 9 cards (100 words each) to your growing stack of notecards.  Since I will be in Prague with our MUN Club on Monday, this assignment is due on Tuesday, January 17, 2012.  Plan wisely this week, remember there is a school holiday on Wednesday, January 11th.

More on Outlining

Some of you have some questions on outlining, so I have uploaded two documents for you. 

The first is a sample skeletal outline like what we went over in class.  http://www.scribd.com/doc/77012850

The second is the outline that I had to do for my graduate school course.  This is more like what we will do in a few weeks.  This one obviously is more detailed and the direction we are heading in the future, not this week.  http://www.scribd.com/doc/77012902

The end is in sight!

Here is our plan/schedule for most of the rest of the year.

Week 14 (Jan 2) - Week 1 of Outlining
Week 15 (Jan 9) - Week 3 of Note-taking
Week 16 (Jan 16) - Week 4 of Note-taking
Week 17 (Jan 23) - End of 1st Semester - EXAM WEEK
Week 18 (Jan 30) - Week 2 of Outlining
   (Feb 6) - Mid Winter Break - NO SCHOOL
Week 19 (Feb 13) - Week 1 of Writing
Week 20 (Feb 20) - Week 2 of Writing
Week 21 (Feb 27) - Week 3 of Writing
Week 22 (Mar 5) - Week 4 of Writing
Week 23 (Mar 12) - Draft Due
Week 24 (Mar 19) - Final Revisions
Week 25 (Mar 26) - Presentation Rubric
  *FINAL Bound Capstone Paper Due, Monday, March 26th
Week 26 (Apr 2) - Presentation Rubric
  (Apr 9) - Spring Break - NO SCHOOL
Week 27 (Apr 16) - Presentation Night 1 [Night TBA]
Week 28 (Apr 23)- Presentation Night 2 [Night TBA]

Week 14: Outlining

This week you are going to start outlining. We will do a second week of outlining later, but this is to help you narrow your focus and guide you as you are working on your note-taking.  You are to complete a skeletal outline of your Capstone paper.  It should include your thesis question, thesis statement and then the main ideas you plan to cover in your paper.  This assignment is due on Monday, January 9, 2012.