The assignment sheet is now up for the Researched Argument assignment. I will a printed version of this for class, but for those of you who want a little jump on things, you can print it yourself here.
There should not be any surprises here, as we have talked about how this works for the entire [...]

Thesis statements are sorely misunderstood by beginning writers, often exacerbated by well-meaning but inept high school English teachers.
And that is where this horrible Thesis Generator comes in
http://ozline.com/electraguide/thesis.html
Remember, to be truly useful, a thesis must be based on a research question that is problematic and specific. Yes/No questions are much less interesting and result in much [...]

We are meeting at the library on Wednesday evening, so go there first.
We will be in room LC 218.
You need to bring a completed printout of the 5 questions available in the PDF for the Intermediate Research lessons. To get the PDF, do the following:

Go to the library home page.
Click on the Course Materials tab [...]

I’ve found a few interesting sources that talk about research. As usual, I’ve also linked to these on the Resources page.
Here they are, in no particular order:

Pew Study on Information-Finding Behavior - This blog talks about an interesting study on how and where people get information. You may be surprised by the results!
Beyond Wikipedia: 20 [...]

I’ve mentioned these tools in class, but I am finally putting links on here for everyone to use. You can also find these on the Resources page.
The first is Zotero, a Firefox extension for organizing, tracking, and annotating source.
Next is NoodleTools,  a site with a couple tools for APA style, and a nice guide to [...]

Well, looks like our schedule has to change again folks! There was no class tonight because of a power outage.
I’ll just have everyone turn in their papers on Wednesday in class.
However, I am still expecting everyone to have done the reading for today. So, here is what is due on Wednesday:

Read Norton chapters 17 and [...]

I have banned the following topics. This is not because there isn’t anything good to say, but that I have read too many of them, and most beginning writer papers do not say anything new in these kinds of papers.
I may add to the list if I see the same thing in other topics.
Banned:

Abortion
Capital Punishment
Gun [...]

[ April 21, 2008; 5:30 pm; ] This is the big kahuna, folks. The portfolio is worth a total of 500 points (half your grade).
Your portfolio should be in a big manilla envelope. You will include the following:

The grading sheet for the portfolio.
Page telling what you changed (or didn’t change) in your paper from the first [...]

[ April 7, 2008; 5:30 pm; ] Peer review draft due. However, because of the time limits of the course, and to ensure that I can comment on it and get it back to you in enough time for you to make changed for the final portfolio, you are also turning in the teacher draft today. Therefore, in order to get draft [...]

[ April 24, 2008; 7:00 am; ] This is the big kahuna, folks.  The portfolio is worth a total of 500 points (half your grade).
Your portfolio should be in a big manilla envelope. You will include the following:

The grading sheet for the portfolio.
Page telling what you changed (or didn’t change) in your paper from the first version, [...]