English 411

Spring Break, Final Papers, and Midterm Grades

I’ll be leaving for a conference tomorrow and I may be “ambiently unfindable” for a few days (I’m not sure how good the WiFi signal will be at my hotel), so I wanted to post one last update to the class blog before spring break. Here’s a quick rundown of where we stand and where we need to be when we meet again on the 24th:

• We won’t be meeting as a class this week, but you should keep up with the reading assignments in Convergence Culture. When we get back, Emily Y. will lead our discussion on the 24th and Emily S. will lead our discussion on the 26th. Watch for email messages from them about where they want to meet.
• The fourth short paper due date is this Thursday, but due to my absence, you can submit your papers to my mailbox (in Ross 206) any time before you leave for spring break. I will pick up the papers on Monday, March 16th. If you have not submitted a short paper yet, you MUST submit one this week.
• Your midterm grades for in-class participation and contributions to our Delicious links will arrive in your email inboxes soon. Please refer to the assignments page for details about the criteria I used to assign these grades. Remember, both of these grades are midterm grades, which means that they only represent half of the semester. If you are unhappy with your midterm grades in these categories, you have plenty of time to increase/improve your comments in class and your contributions to the class website.
• Your final paper proposals are due after we return from spring break, on Thursday, March 26th. These proposals should be approximately one page long (a full single-spaced page, not one double-spaced paragraph) and should 1) outline the topic you want to explore, 2) state the argument you plan to make (this may change as you research and write the paper, but you need a starting point), 3) list the sources you intend to use to support your argument, and 4) address the “unaswered questions” that you plan to research over the second half of the semester. Please see the assignments page for more information about the final paper. If you have any questions about your paper topic, please email me over the break; I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Enjoy your break from English 411 for the next two weeks. I look forward to seeing you on the 24th, rested and ready to discuss Convergence Culture!