WP Three Schedule, Tips, and Extra-Credit

We’re starting Writing Project Three this week. Before I discuss the assignment and the points where students stumble, I want to give you a rough schedule of the final weeks of the course and a general description of the work you’ll be completing each week. Review this, cut and paste it into your own schedule, and make it part of your planning for the rest of the semester. If you have questions, or don’t understand any of the assignments when they’re posted, email me immediately! As WP Three is worth three hundred points (thirty percent of your final grade), it can make or break your grade. Ideally, WP Three is an opportunity to boost your grade, or keep it high.

• March 15-March 21—Intro to WP Three
• March 22-March 28—Choosing Your Topic
• March 29-April 4—Finding Sources
• April 5-April 11—Drafting WP Three
• April 12-April 16—Conferences and Revising WP Three
• April 17-April 25—Spring Break!!!
• April 28—WP Three Due (Wednesday)
• April 26-April 30—Reflection

I’ve made WP Three an argument that recommends (or evaluates) a significant purchase or life choice because this task requires you to make an argument. You’ve analyzed different arguments; now you’ll make your own argument, ensuring that it’s credible and appeals to the audience’s sense of reason and their emotions. As a bonus, you can choose a topic for which you have a personal interest. For example, if I were writing this assignment, I would choose to recommend a vacation to Paris to first-time European travelers.  If you’re really happy with your major, you could make your argument that it’s a great major for college students.

Another benefit for this paper is that it’s easier to choose an audience for this paper than for the traditional “comp paper” arguments. Who would you direct your paper about global warming to? World leaders? Which ones? However, if you’re making a recommendation, you can easily discover who might be interested in that topic: who has to make that choice (buy that product)? How can you build an argument that will be persuasive to them?  

I require a significant purchase or life choice because these topics need a developed argument. If you recommend a bad movie, that only affects someone for a couple hours at most. However, recommending a college major, an expensive vacation, a place to live, or a type of automobile require thought and good reasons for someone to make the investment in those choices. Think carefully about your topic as we do some practice this week. Next week, you’ll be choosing a topic.

Finally, if you’ve made it this far, I’m going to offer you some extra credit. Reply to this blog post before midnight on Wednesday, March 17 and I’ll add 10 points to your final score in the course. I have to approve comments, so you may not see your comment right away, but rest assured, if you comment on time you’ll receive the points at the end of the semester.