Category: Entering the Conversation

Deepen our collective understanding by responding to your classmates’ second posts on “The Flight from Conversation.”

Expectations:

• Respond to at least two different classmates’ posts.
• Use the fundamental They Say/I Say structures in your paragraphs.
• Quote one other classmate in at least one of your replies.
• Use voice markers to mark the shift from one voice to another in at least one of your replies.
• Use pivotal words to connect sentences.
• Use signal verbs.
• Use the So What? Who Cares? moves in at least one of your replies.

Deepen our collective understanding by responding to your classmates’ first posts on “The Flight from Conversation.”

Expectations:

• Respond to at least two different classmates’ posts.
• Use the fundamental They Say/I Say structures in your paragraphs.
• Quote one other classmate in at least one of your replies.
• Use voice markers to mark the shift from one voice to another in at least one of your replies.
• Use pivotal words to connect sentences.
• Use signal verbs.
• Use the So What? Who Cares? moves in at least one of your replies.

Use what you learned reading “Skeptics May Object” to engage your classmates in written conversation about “What Is It About 20-Somethings?” and “The Limits of Friendship.

Deepen your understanding of the connections between Henig and Konnikova by composing lengthy paragraph responses to your classmates’ posts.

Expectations:

1. Respond to at least two different classmates’ posts.
2. Use your response to deepen our collective understanding of and thinking about the connections between “What Is It About 20-Somethings?” and “The Limits of Friendship.”
3. Use the fundamental They Say/I Say structure in your paragraphs.
4. Use templates from They Say/I Say to incorporate at least one naysayer in each response.
5. Incorporate quotes from “What Is It About 20-Somethings” and “The Limit of Friendship” in each response.
6. Use pivotal words to connect sentences.
7. Use well-chosen signal verbs.

In this activity you are going to use what you learned reading “Yes / No / Okay, But” to engage your classmates in written conversation about “What Is It About 20-Somethings?”

Compose chunky responses listed below to your classmates’ posts here. Your responses should meet the expectations below.

Expectations:

1. Respond to at least two different classmates’ posts.
2. Use your response to deepen our collective understanding of and thinking about “What Is It About 20-Somethings?”
3. Use the fundamental They Say/I Say structure in your paragraphs – which means using what you know about summarizing, paraphrasing and quoting to summarize what your classmates say before responding to their points. Look back to Entering The Conversation – 2 for review.
4. Use templates from They Say/I Say to incorporate at least one “Yes” or “No” moment in each response.
5. Use templates from They Say/I Say to incorporate at least one “Okay, But” moment in at least one response.
6. Incorporate at least one quote from “What Is It About 20-Somethings” in at least one response.
7. Use pivotal words to connect sentences.
8. Use well-chosen signal verbs.

In this activity you are going to use what you learned reading “The Art of Summarizing” and “The Art of Quoting” to engage your classmates in written conversation about “The Limits of Friendship.” You’ll post your replies here, but keep reading.

Your responses to classmates’ posts should start by summarizing their overall view and then narrow down to to some specific point they make. Remember, as Graff and Birkenstein told us, good summaries “play the believing game” by fairly and accurately representing the views of other writers (31). They also have “a focus or spin that allows the summary to fit with your own agenda” (34). When summarizing and quoting, be sure to choose effective signal verbs from pp. 40-41 or 39-40 (depending on which edition you have) to introduce your summary.

As you narrow into your classmates’ more specific point, choose relevant quotes from their posts and frame them to set up your consideration of what they say and your response. They Say/I Say addresses quote framing on or around pp. 45-50 depending on which edition you have. As you work to confirm, complicate, or challenge some of your classmates’ ideas, use some of the pivotal words in this list at the beginnings of your sentences to connect your points to theirs.

Expectations:

1. Respond to at least two different classmates’ posts.
2. Use the fundamental They Say/I Say structure in your paragraph
3. Use specific templates drawn from “The Art of Summarizing” and “The Art of Quoting” to frame your quotations
4. Use pivotal words

Activities like this one contribute to your Integrating Your Ideas with Those of Others grade (10%), Writing Process grade (10%) and your Active Reading Process Grade (10%)

In this activity you are going to use what you learned reading “Entering the Conversation” to engage your classmates in written conversation about “The Limits of Friendship.” You’ll post replies to your classmates here, but continue reading this post to get a sense of my expectations.

By doing so, you will be practicing skills essential to three of the most important course learning outcomes: 1. Approach Writing as a Recursive Process, 2. Integrate Ideas of Your Own with Those of Other Writers, and 3. Active Reading Process.

First, turn to the end of the “Entering the Conversation” chapter of They Say/I Say and find the exercise that starts with the following sentence: “Read the following paragraph from an essay by Emily Poe, a student at Forman University.” Depending on which edition of They Say/I Say you have, it will either be Exercise 1 or 2.

Study the Poe paragraph carefully in the way Graff and Birkenstein suggest, paying careful attention to the italicized phrases that Poe uses to structure her paragraph around the They Say/I Say template. You are going to use similar phrases to structure long-paragraph length responses to 3 of your classmates’ first posts on “The Limits of Friendship.”

Notice how Poe’s paragraph doesn’t stop after just one They Say/I Say exchange. Nor does she move on to an entirely different point. Instead, the back and forth between what They Say and what Poe says develops and deepens readers’ understanding of the idea being discussed. Your paragraphs should do the same thing.

Your responses to classmates’ posts should start by referring to some specific point they make, considering the merits of what they say and then respond to it with your own view.

Expectations:

1. Respond to at least two different classmates’ posts.
2. Use the fundamental They Say/I Say structure in your paragraph
3. Use specific templates drawn from “Entering the Conversation”

Confused about how to submit your responses to other students’ posts? Watch this video.