Anatomy of Assignment Sheet

Example Response with Comments

 

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Assignment Requirements

            On every assignment I hand out is a section on assignment requirements. Not doing these will result in the specified penalty. Fail to do more than one and the assignment might automatically fail or be rejected entirely. Below is an example of requirements for a response.

• Response must be from 200-500 words. Shorter responses will receive an F. 1/2 length responses are void.
• Max grade of P for responses that do not mark the argumentative thesis in bold type.
• Automatic F for 1st (I, my, we, our, us, etc.) or 2nd (you, your). Write in 3rd person.
• Quotations are required or max grade of P. Please integrate quotations instead of "dropping" them in.
• Please use MLA in-text citations

Requirement categories

• Word Count: You must reach the minimum word count. The maximum word count is more of a guideline (you can go past it without penalty), but every student should strive for the maximum guideline. Doing only the minimum will only get you a minimum grade.
• Thesis in Bold: You need to be aware of your thesis and what your claim is. I want you to mark your thesis so there is no guesswork as to what you are trying to argue.
• Point of View: First person pronouns (I, me, we, our, us, etc.) or 2^nd (you, your) should be avoided in academic writing. These words put the focus on the writer or the reader instead of the topic. More on Point of View
• Quotations: Arguments require support, and I prefer quotations as that form of support. For every argumentative premise, you need support for it either using reason or a quotation. Don’t use only one quote to satisfy a requirement. Use as many quotes as necessary to establish your idea. Do not use quotes to describe what is happening or summarize.
• Citations: Use MLA in-text citations to indicate where your quotations or paraphrases came from. This is an essential skill when it comes to research writing, and proves that you are not plagiarizing. More on MLA

Advice from Past Students

On the first day, I passed out some advice letters from past students. You can read all of the letters (and you should) here. But to make things a little quicker, I've gone through all the letters and assembled the advice in chart form, as seen below.

Response Grade Progression

     Individually, responses are not worth much. Per response you get points as follows: 1.25 / S, 1 / P, .5 / F, and 0 / N (obviously because nothing was turned in. Collectively, however, the Responses are worth more than individual essay assignments. The point of responses is a consistent, good effort that shows you are mastering the material. Do not  underestimate them!
     The points you receive from responses are as follow (when responses are worth 30):
     A = 30
     B = 26.5
     C = 22.5
     F = (total of individual response scores to a maximum of 10.
     So you can see, passing and completing responses is vital to the course.
     The number of responses you need to pass the class depends on the number of class days throughout the term; the syllabus will tell you the exact number, so you should consult it; for the sake of example we'll assume a class with 15 total responses (the progression is largely the same for 10, 12, or 20 responses).
     In a 15 response class the requirement of responses is:
     4 S + 8 P   = A
     12 P (& S) = B
       8 P (& S) = C
     Now, consider Student A, who received the following response scores:    

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
p	p	s	n	f	n	s	f	f	p	f	f	f	s	s

     Student A has 3 P and 4 S grades. Despite having 4 S grades (which is good), Student A didn't reach the required 8 passing scores. As such, his grade for the responses caps at 10 pts, as shown on the chart below.

     The scores are only marginally better than if Student A had failed every single response. Now, consider the scores of Student B:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
p	s	p	p	s	n	p	p	s	p	p	p	p	p	s

     Notice how the score jumps at each level. After 8 passing responses, the score jumps up. After 12 passing, it jumps again. It finally jumps a third time after reaching the required 4 S and & P mark.
     It's also important to note that responses 10, 11, and 12 did not make the score go up at all. This is because the score won't change until Student B reaches the next requirement to jump to the next plateau.

     Also notice that Student B's grade went beyond the 30 point mark. This is because when you pass more than the required responses or get more S grades than required, they automatically generate extra credit.
     The last chart shows how much extra credit can be earned through responses.
     Notice that a student who passes all of the responses can reach a score of 30 without meeting the S requirement. Also, the student who gets all S grades can reach a maximum of 40 (an entire extra letter grade of extra credit!). This is because the bonuses are cumulative.

Importance of Doing Responses

     Every semester, I notice a trend among students. Quite a few don't bother to do the first of the responses. While it is the students' prerogative to choose which responses not to do, I believe that the ones at the beginning of the semester are the most important for the following reasons.

• The first responses allow me as the instructor a chance to get to know the writing style, and allow me to provide feedback on what I'm looking for in future assignments, particularly essays.
  
• I am generally more lenient in the beginning of the semester regarding certain errors as students adjust to the response system.
  
• The responses are designed to incorporate material gone over in class, and give the students a chance to practice assimilation of those skills.
  
• The responses build upon one another. The skills practiced in the responses often require the skills of the previous response to successfully complete it.
  
• As the semester progresses, the responses become more difficult, and require more of the students in terms of writing ability and critical thinking. Skipping the first responses not only means having to do the more difficult responses, but having to do them without first practicing the necessary skills.
  
• Not doing responses early on with the expectation of doing the remainder of them is a bad practice as the future is uncertain. Other school projects can get in the way. Work schedules can conflict. Personal issues can arise. Holding onto a number of responses you can choose to give up when necessary allows flexibility for the uncertain.
  
• There's no guarantee students will get the grades they are looking for on responses. One or more "f" grades can quickly ruin the overall response grade if there are no responses left to give.
  
• Not doing a response means nothing. It's not an F, it's a 0, which contributes nothing to a grade.
  
• Not doing the early responses begins a habit of not doing them, especially as the difficulty increases.
  
• Other classes become more demanding as the semester wears on as well, and sometimes your best effort will be directed to them instead of this class, and your responses may reflect that.
  
• Not doing the early responses sends a message to me that you are not serious about the class, and will attempt to "catch up" later on. It is best to not have to try and catch up at all, but succeed from the outset.
  
• There is no extra credit outside of the responses. Failure to do responses will not result in lenience later on in the form of other extra credit.
  One response can make all the difference. One response is the difference between an F and a C on the overall response grade. The same is true for the difference between a C and a B, or even a C and an A. It is better not to assume that simply doing a response is enough to get you the grade.
  
• It is best to know for a fact that you have the response grade you desire before the end of the semester by getting in all of the responses as early as possible.
  

     Reasons for doing the early responses should be clear, and I encourage students to not only do the early responses but all of the responses. Treating them all as necessary to the grade is the best practice to ensure getting in the requisite number of responses.

About Responses

Responses are most commonly short essay assignments. They should be treated as pieces of analytical, academic writing. As such, responses should have a thesis statement, body paragraphs, and supporting evidence for your ideas.

All responses must follow academic formatting

• 12pt Times New Roman
• Double Spaced
• 1" Margins
• Indented paragraphs
• No extra spaces after the paragraphs.

View an example of Response Format
View an example Response with Grading Comments
See the Response Grade Progression to understand how responses affect your overall grade and the extra credit available through responses.

See a list of Tips for Responses
See The Importance of Doing Responses to understand my thoughts on response assignments

Response Grade Guide

On your responses you may notice one or more stamps with check marks and circles. This page is an explanation for all of those marks. Many of these errors can result in automatically failing a response, so make sure you pay attention to the response instructions to note the requirements.

• Length: The response does not meet the minimum word count or the word count is missing.
• Q: Quotations. You did not use quotations to support your argument.
• IQ: Integrated quotations are missing or not properly formatted.
• C: Citations missing or improperly formatted. Use MLA parenthetical in-text citations to document your sources after quoting them. Make sure you format them properly.
  
• ME #: Mechanical Errors. This tells the number of mechanical errors I've discovered in reading the response. An excessive number can result in a lowered grade.
• Barcode: The barcode is missing, and the response is not accepted.
• Mark Thesis: You need to mark your thesis statement in bold or underlined typed as per response instructions.
• POV 1 / 2 : You have used 1st or 2nd point of view in your response when it has been prohibited.
• Margin: Your margins need to be 1" exactly.
• Space 2x / ¶ : Responses need to be double spaced, and the extra space after a paragraph in Microsoft Word needs to be removed
• TNR 12: The font needs to be Times New Roman 12pt. This is the ONLY font I accept.
• AΔ : You have problems with the structure of your argument. Make sure to follow structure of claim, secondary claims, and support/evidence.
• A?: I don't know what you are trying to argue in this, or the argument is missing.
• T?: Your thesis ends in a question mark. A thesis is a statement, a claim which you are trying to prove. You claim cannot be a question.
• TA: Your thesis statement has no argument. It is entirely factual for an information essay or makes no claim at all.
• T~: Your thesis statement is vague. Use more definite language and make clear what it is you intend to argue.
• Grmly Rpt: You did not include a report from Grammarly.com as required, or your Grammarly.com report did not meet the score requirements.

• [ ] Use brackets to change pronouns, verbs, or other words to make pronoun references clear, fit the tense and flow of your sentence, or to remove 1st and 2nd point of view from the quotation.
• . . . Properly use and format the ellipsis. Never put an ellipsis at the beginning of a quotation. Never put an ellipsis at the end of a quotation. Only use an ellipsis if something is removed from the middle of a quotation so you can indicate something is no longer there. Ellipses must also have spaces between every period.
• IQ Use and properly format integrated quotations
• C Use properly formatted MLA in-text citations
• E? Where is your evidence for this claim? Use quotations and examples to support your point.
• Facts You are getting facts from the story/film/myth incorrect. Pay closer attention to get the facts correct as you are weakening your argument.

Tips for Responses

1. Do all the responses, especially the early ones.

• Get feedback and learn what I’m looking for.
• Give yourself breathing room in case of emergency.

2. Read the directions. Don’t skip to the questions.

• Requirements change. Include them all.
• Overlooking a requirement can fail the response.

3. You MUST meet the minimum word count.

• The question doesn’t count.
• Use the word count in your word processor.

4. Try to do more than the bare minimum.

• Minimum effort (with no mistakes) = minimum grade
• Try to make every response an S response.

5. Responses are critical writing. Essay, not journal.

• No personal likes, dislikes, or feelings about story.
• State and support ideas with reason and evidence.

6. Focus. Responses are short, so stay concise.

• I can tell when you are rambling to fill word count.
• Watch out for repetition. Say it once.

7. Don’t procrastinate! Procrastination = rushing.

• You are more likely to overlook requirements.
• You are more likely to overlook writing errors.
• You are more likely to summarize instead of argue.

8. Allow time for a thorough proofread.

• Spell and grammar check your response.
• Read it out loud to catch mistakes.

Speculative Language

When you use words such as maybe, might be, can be, could be, possibly, perhaps, seems, possibly, probably, etc. you are using speculative language.

You are pointing out the possibilities, but you are not arguing. When you argue, you must provide support for the single most likely answer.

Use definite language. State your ideas like a fact: “Capital punishment is the right of society.” “Genetic modification will ruin society.” Take a definite stand on an idea. Afterwards, you must support the idea with evidence. Then you will have an argument.

If you cannot provide evidence to support your statement, you should rethink your position. No one is ever 100% sure, but you must state ideas like you are. Only then will you be able to convince other people.

Speculative

            Genetic modification might not be a good idea. There could be a lot of drawbacks to genetic modification. It can cause random mutations, which might cause even more health problems. Genetically modifying people might not be permanent, either. The modified genes could revert back, so the diseases could come back. It’s possible that genetic modification might lead to unfairness as people could customize their children, perhaps giving them better traits, and maybe keeping children from choosing their own future.

Declarative

            Genetic modifications are not a good idea. The drawbacks of modifications outweigh the benefits. Researchers are not able to accurately predict all outcomes, so the results of modifications cannot be one hundred percent beneficial to people’s health. There is also no guarantee that changes are permanent, resulting in the reversion of genes to their former state, bringing disease back with them. Genetic modification begins with eliminating disease, but left unchecked they will result in everyday modifications throughout society, meaning parents will feel pressured to customize their children in order to allow them to succeed in a world where genetic modification is not just encouraged, but required. Such pressures force parents to choose their children’s futures in order to customize them for the right career.

Response Requirements

A downloadable, printable pdf copy of this is available here: Response Requirements

The requirements of a response change over the course of the semester. They become more difficult as the semester progresses. You will need to fulfill these requirements or there will be grade penalties. Make sure you read all of a response's instructions.

Word Count
•    The easiest requirement is the word count. The minimum word count must be fulfilled. The minimum word count represents the fewest amount of words for a skilled writer to come to the point. The maximum word count is more of an average. An average writer can make his or her point by the maximum word count.
•    You are allowed to go beyond the maximum word count, but please try to keep it reasonable. I won't accept a response that goes to double the maximum word count. Part of response writing is to keep your answer succinct.
•    CAVEAT. Only fulfilling the minimum word count won't result in a good grade. It's the quality of the writing, not just how much. Make sure you're on topic instead of rambling to meet the word count.

Point of View (POV)
•    1st Person: You cannot write an effective argument in 1st person. You are only able to give your personal opinions and refer to personal experience by using this point of view. Remove all first-person pronouns, and rewrite the sentences from a more objective 3rd person.
•    2nd Person: Likewise, you cannot write an effective argument with 2nd person. 2nd person is used to directly address your reader, whom you really know nothing about and cannot make assumptions about. The reading becomes alienated, and will not longer listen to your argument.
•    For more information on point of view, refer to the blog post Essays and Point of View.

Quotations
•    You will need to use quotations to help support your point. Please make sure that you copy quotes according to the rules. Using quotations is not as simple as plucking a sentence from the story or article and plunking it into your response. See the handout on integrating quotations for more information.
•    Do not start off or end a quotation with an ellipsis (the ...). The ellipsis is used for something else entirely.

Integrate
•    You need to use integrated quotations. This is a more advanced form of using quotations in your response. It's about structuring your argument and the quotation so they work together in a seamless argument with included support. It's a difficult process, so please consult the handout on integrating quotations.
•    Part of integrating quotations is to use brackets [ and ] to replace certain words within the quotations so that they fit with your argument.

Citations
•    You will need to use MLA style in-text citations to indicate where you got the information from. Consult the handout packet or online information such as found at the OWL's MLA in-text citations page.

Mark Thesis
•    You must mark your thesis statement in bold type. The point behind this requirement is that you will carefully consider whether or not this is your thesis statement. Go over the thesis statement handout and review it.
•    CAVEAT. Putting a thesis in bold doesn't make it a thesis. Your thesis needs to be an argument. Make sure that is contains the necessary elements of an argument and is not an informational thesis or simply offering commentary (does it pass the "so what?" test?).

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