Week 12 Objectives - Feedback

Week 12 Objectives
1. Read the grading update about plagiarism.

2. Check your first draft grade (If it's ready) and feedback from me and Agnes T. We will finish grading your first drafts by Friday. Check these lists for your grades.
Sam Teacher's classes
Agnes Teacher's classes
DON'T CHANGE YOUR FIRST DRAFT! Make changes in your second draft.

3. Check out your Grammarly reports. Kim Jinyoung T has been very kind and used a program called Grammarly to assess your first drafts. Please find your essay and look at the revisions. Remember, Grammarly is a robot, not a human, so it will make mistakes. If you think Grammarly is wrong, it probably is wrong.
Sam Teacher's Grammarly reports
Agnes Teacher's Grammarly reports

4. Finish your self evaluation.

5. Read this post about common problems.

6. Read an example of an AWESOME first draft (The confirmation does not have enough research, but it's still a great start).

7. Start your second draft. Continue researching and writing research posts to improve your research grade.

(Optional) We will do peer review after the second draft, but if you like, feel free to get input from peers now. It is always useful.

As I read your first drafts, I am noticing some common problems. Look at this list and see if these things apply to you.

1.
PLAGIARISM -
Some of you are plagiarising a little, some of you are plagiarizing A LOT. It doesn't matter if it is a lot or a little, it is a serious problem. Please start citing your sources appropriately. Your first draft is not penalized for plagiarism. In your second draft, if you plagiarize one point will be subtracted. If you plagiarize in your final draft, you will receive 0 points for the final draft. 

Here are some resources to avoid plagiarism

What is plagiarism?
How to avoid plagiarism

2.
Follow the format of the classical argument. There are five parts. There is not a fixed number of paragraphs. Please review the blog posts about each part to make sure you are familiar with them and using them correctly.

3.
Thesis must be PERSUASIVE. A thesis like, "Crime is bad" is technically a thesis, but it's not a very good thesis because no one will argue with you, and it is not interesting. Everyone already agrees, or no one cares. A thesis like, "Crime is bad, but we must ensure the dignity of criminals while they are being punished," is interesting and debatable. Make sure your thesis is strong, or your whole essay will be weak.