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Course name
The Research Paper: Octavia Butler's Fledgling
Institution
LaGuardia Community College--CUNY
Instructor
Ximena Gallardo C.
Subject
English/Composition
Course dates
2015-03-06 – 2015-06-12
Approximate number of student editors
28


This course focuses on the investigative and evaluative process required to write effective research documents. Students will learn to collect, analyze, and use sources as well as to develop ideas by drafting, revising, citing and documenting sources, critiquing their work, and editing final drafts.

This particular section will emphasize the difference between types of research writing by having students collaborate in creating a substantial encyclopedic entry in Wikipedia as well as writing individual thesis-based research papers.


Timeline

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Week 1 (March 6-13): Introduction

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In Class

1. Overview of the course and how Wikipedia will be used. Example of the page we will attempt to emulate: Octavia Butler's Kindred. (WP Basics slides 1-3).

2. Online privacy; choosing a username; the advantages of using a pseudonym. (Do not know the meaning of the word? See a definition HERE. Note: To be effective, the pseudonym should be different from your name, nicknames, or your regular usernames. For more information on usernames, see "Guidance for new users" in Wikipedia's Username policy.

3. Use the handout "Welcome to Wikipedia" to complete the "Welcome to Wikipedia" quiz on Blackboard.

4. Create a Wikipedia account (class packet p. 1). If you are having trouble creating the account, talk to me.

5. Submit your username information to THIS FORM.

6. Enroll in the class by clicking "Enroll" above.

7. Create your Userpage ("Welcome to Wikipedia," p. 14 or class packet, p.1) by writing a short introduction of yourself to other Wikipedians. This introduction can be as revealing as you want to make it. For example, here is the "About me" section of my Userpage. Remember you can always make your Userpage more elaborate as you learn more about editing Wikipedia. Preview the page before clicking "Save page."

8. Create your Sandbox (WP Basics slides 4-10): Go to your Sandbox, click on Edit, and create a Level 2 Heading titled "Citation Practice." Here you will compose a References section with two footnotes for secondary sources on Octavia Butler’s work:

a. Butler's entry at the Encyclopedia of SF: http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/butler_octavia
b. Butler's essay entitled "Birth of a Writer" (searchable through EbscoHost). Let's create a reference in MLA style.

9. Go to your Sandbox, click on Edit, and create a Level 2 Heading titled "Research Journal Entries." Take a few minutes to write Research Journal Entry #1 on what you did and learned today.


Assignment due March 13 by the beginning of class (March 20 if you missed the first class meeting)

a. Buy a copy of Fledgling. (Available at the LAGCC bookstore).
b. Complete Research Assignment 1: Read and annotate
  • Butler, Octavia E. "Positive Obsession." Bloodchild and Other Stories. New York : Seven Stories, 2005. 123-136.
as well as the biographical information on Octavia E. Butler assigned to you:
  • Gant-Britton, Lisbeth. "Butler, Octavia (1947– )." African American Writers. Ed. Valerie Smith. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. 95-110. Gale Virtual Literature Collection. (read pp. 97-99).
  • Pfeiffer, John R. "Butler, Octavia Estelle (b. 1947)." Science Fiction Writers: Critical Studies of the Major Authors from the Early Nineteenth Century to the Present Day. Ed. Richard Bleiler. 2nd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999. 147-158. Gale Virtual Literature Collection. (read pp. 147-148).
  • Butler, Octavia E. "An Interview with Octavia E. Butler." Charles H. Rowell. Callaloo 20.1 (1997): 47-66. JSTOR. (read pp. 50-53).
  • Butler, Octavia E. "Octavia Butler's Aha! Moment." O, The Oprah Magazine. May 2002. Oprah.com. Web. 03 Mar. 2015.
  • Logan, Robert W. "Butler, Octavia E." Black Women in America: A Historical Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. Ed. Darlene Clark Hine. Oxford: Oxford U P, 2005. Oxford Reference. 2005.

(Lose your copies? Find them on Blackboard).

c. Review the handout "Wikimarkup cheatsheet" (also on class packet, p. 2).
d. Log on to Wikipedia. Go to your Sandbox, click on Edit, and create a Level 2 Heading titled “My Impression of Octavia Butler.” There
  • Write a 250+ word account of what you have learned about Octavia Butler from her essay and the biographical information assigned to you. What are some aspects of her life and personality you think should be highlighted in a Wikipedia article about her?
  • Using the "ref" tags, compose two footnotes, one for each of the two readings (the full publication information is listed above). Preview the page and fix any problems before clicking "Save page."


Student Banner

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Note: To mark you as participating in this course, I will add this banner to the top of your Wikipedia userpage


Week 2 (March 13-20): Butler's Backgrounds

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In Class

If you missed the first class, please complete steps 3-7 of the Week 1 class meeting during class today. Steps 8-9 as well as the assignments for Week 1 are due March 20 before class. Check the presentation "Wikipedia Basics" on Blackboard to figure out how to do citations in your Sandbox.

1. Swift review + more background information:

a. Why Wikipedia?
  • With its global reach and circulation, Wikipedia is one of the current social experiments where people who care about making knowledge accessible to everyone can help disseminate information that is presently available only to a minute part of the world.
  • Because editing Wikipedia is
  • implementing and practicing 21st Century writing, which may be defined as a) web-based; b) social and collaborative; c) a work in perpetual progress; d) immediately visible, thus prompting immediate feedback; e) easily available and accessible.
  • shifting from being knowledge users to being knowledge creators on the Internet
  • experiencing the pleasure and pain of real-world publication
  • becoming involved in a community of smart, caring, helpful, sophisticated people
b. Why Butler?
From Wikipedia's page on its systemic bias:
The Wikipedia project strives for a neutral point of view in its coverage of subjects, but it is inhibited by systemic bias that perpetuates a bias against underrepresented cultures, topics and groups within society....[resulting] in an imbalanced coverage of subjects on Wikipedia.

2. What to expect from the novel Fledgling: Class brainstorm on vampire narratives HERE. Responses HERE.

3. Organizing the sandbox

4. Editorial Work: Prewriting

a. Individually, read two sections of Octavia E. Butler's biography as they appear on Wikipedia: "Life and education" and "Death," marking any ideas you think need revision. As you read, consider these questions (and others you may have):
  • Are there important aspects of Butler's identity or any life events missing? If so, what are they? Where should this information be added? Should this information be added in the form of a summary, a paraphrase, or a quote? (Not sure? Check the packet, p.11 for help).
  • How well does the second paragraph of "Life and education" follow the first paragraph? Is there a better way to make the information in these two paragraphs go together?
  • Check references 1-11 on the online version of the article: Octavia E. Butler. How reliable and authoritative are the references used? If some of the references are not good, should they be deleted, replaced, or should more references be added to provide more authority to the text?
b. Now get together with your team and discuss what you think should be modified about these two sections.
c. As a team, create a list of suggestions of aspects of Butler’s life that need to be revised. If you want to add something, cite the source(s) you are using. If you want to delete or modify something, explain why. Post your list to your group's workspace below:
|| Team 1 Workspace || Team 2 Workspace ||
|| Team 3 Workspace || Team 4 Workspace ||
|| Team 5 Workspace || Team 6 Workspace ||

::d. Read the suggestions from every other team. Leave a comment and sign it with your username.

::e. Use the discussion to make any changes to your team's suggestion list.

f. Log on to your Wikipedia account. Review the handout "Wikimarkup cheatsheet" (also on class packet, p. 2).
g. Have one group member post the team's suggestions as a new section on the Talk page of Octavia Butler’s biography. Preview the page, sign it, and save it. Then everyone else in the team should go into the section and sign the list of suggestions.

5. Go to your Sandbox. Under the section "Research Journal Entries," write Research Journal Entry #2 on what you did and learned today.


Assignments due March 20

1. Read Fledgling, chapters 1-6 (pp.1-55). If you do not have the novel yet, you can download these chapters from our Blackboard class. Otherwise, it is available at the LAGCC Bookstore.

2. Complete the Quiz for chapters 1-6 on Blackboard.

3. a. Review the handout "Wikimarkup cheatsheet" (also on class packet, p. 2).

b. Log on to Wikipedia. Go to your Sandbox, click on Edit, and create a Level 2 Heading titled "Fledgling Summaries," then a Level 3 Heading titled "Chapters 1-6." In your own words ONLY, write a summary of what happens in these chapters. Do NOT quote. Do NOT closely paraphrase summaries from outside sources, as this is against Wikipedia policy, as explained in the handout "Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia." Preview the page and fix any problems before clicking "Save page."

4. a. Read the handout "Using Wikipedia talk pages."

b. Now, practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia by introducing yourself to THREE people on their Talk pages: our Wikipedia Campus Ambassador Mozucat (talk), our Wiki Education volunteer Ryan (Wiki Ed) (talk), and one classmate (The class list is at the bottom of the page). A hello/ thank you in advance/ question or comment about the class or some other nicety will suffice--Don't forget to sign your posts!


Ongoing assignment (due March 27)

Read "Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting Sources" (packet, p. 11) and "Signal Phrases" (packet, p. 16). Complete the Paraphrasing Quiz (handout; copy on Blackboard). Turn it in at the beginning of class on Friday, March 27.

Week 3 (March 20-27): Butler's Notability

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In Class

1. Editorial work: prewriting. Complete Research Assignment #2:

a. Individually, read and annotate the articles assigned to you (digital copies also available on Blackboard). As you read. consider the following question: What, according to these writers, makes Butler and/or her work notable, significant, or outstanding?
Article Reader
  • Logan, Robert W. "Butler, Octavia E." Black Women in America: A Historical Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. Ed. Darlene Clark Hine. Oxford: Oxford U P, 2005. Oxford Reference. 2005.
  • "Butler, Octavia E." American Ethnic Writers, Revised ed. Vol. 1. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2009. 168-175. Gale Virtual Literature Collection.
  • Pfeiffer, John R. "Butler, Octavia Estelle (b. 1947)." Science Fiction Writers: Critical Studies of the Major Authors from the Early Nineteenth Century to the Present Day. Ed. Richard Bleiler. 2nd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999. 147-158. Gale Virtual Literature Collection.
 Andyyecua, Mona's Mistake, apache50, NajahLovesPink, OwenZeph, Beautiful Soul22, Princessmishell, Unconsciouseclecticism, X Rush.
Gant-Britton, Lisbeth. "Butler, Octavia (1947– )." African American Writers. Ed. Valerie Smith. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. 95-110. Gale Virtual Literature Collection. ElzeyBurg, divergentforever, Purple lover0516, sportsfan00, Houston Jay, Mazuyuki Eizoku, james.johnson21, liberateminds.
Kilgore, De Witt Douglas and Ranu Samantrai. "A Memorial to Octavia E. Butler." Science Fiction Studies 37.3 (November 2010): 353-361. Estebanvrgs09, Dr.Droog, Lagccstudent, Japanize myself, Santuros, NeverFall MVR, LajEvelyn.
Leads from encyclopedic articles on Butler Everyone
b. As a class, read and discuss the difference among encyclopedic leads. What does each author choose to highlight about Butler? What parts read as subjective evaluations of Butler on part of the author(s)?
c. Get together with the rest of your team. Check the "Career" section of the article: Octavia E. Butler, focusing on the subsection "Themes of social criticism." This is one of the sections we aim to revise and expand. Discuss what aspects of Butler's contributions to literature and society you think should be highlighted.
d. As a team, create a list of suggestions on Butler's importance to literary and cultural studies to be added to her biography. If you want to add something, cite the source you are using. If you want to delete or modify something, explain why. Post your list to your team's workspace below:
|| Team 1 Workspace || Team 2 Workspace ||
|| Team 3 Workspace || Team 4 Workspace ||
|| Team 5 Workspace || Team 6 Workspace ||
e. As a class, discuss aspects of Butler’s importance to add to the Wikipedia biography.
f. Use the discussion to make any changes to your team's suggestion list.
g. Have one team member post the team's suggestions as a new section on the Talk page of Octavia Butler’s biography. Preview the page, sign it, and save it. Then everyone else in the team should go into the section and sign the list of suggestions.

2. Go to your Sandbox. Under the section "Research Journal Entries," write Research Journal Entries #2 and #3 on what you did and learned last class and today.

3. Review the draft photo permission letter.


Assignments due March 27

1. Read Fledgling, chapters 7-15 (pp. 57-165).

2. Complete the Quiz for chapters 7-15 on Blackboard.

3. Review the handout "Wikimarkup cheatsheet" (also on class packet, p. 2).

4. Log on to Wikipedia. Go to your Sandbox. Under "Fledgling Summaries," create a Level 3 Heading titled "Chapters 7-15." In your own words ONLY, write a summary of what happens in these chapters. Do NOT quote. Do NOT closely paraphrase summaries from outside sources, as this is against Wikipedia policy, as explained in the handout "Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia." Preview the page before clicking "Save page."

5. Read "Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Quoting Sources" (packet, p. 11) and "Signal Phrases" (packet, p. 16). Complete the Paraphrasing Quiz (handout; copy on Blackboard). Turn it in at the beginning of class on Friday, March 27.


Wikipedia Milestone

All students who have Wikipedia user accounts and userpages, have practiced posting on their sandboxes and on talk pages, and are listed on the course page by March 20 at midnight receive 25 points.

Week 4 (March 27-April 2): Drafting Butler's Biography

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In Class

1. As a class,

a) Review "What is encyclopedic style?" on page 9 of the handout "Welcome to Wikipedia."
b) Read "Can I combine information from more than one source?" on pages 2-3 of the handout "Referencing on Wikipedia."
c) Read "Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia."
d) Complete the Quiz on encyclopedic style, paraphrasing, and referencing.


2. Editing in teams.

a. Get together with your team. Gather your instructions and materials. (Copies of handouts are on Blackboard)
b. Get a cookie. Follow my instructions to revise the section of Butler's biography assigned to you:
|| Team 1 Workspace ||
|| Team 2 Workspace ||
|| Team 3 Workspace ||
|| Team 4 Workspace ||
|| Team 5 Workspace ||

3. Go to your Sandbox. Under the section "Research Journal Entries," write Research Journal Entry #4 on what you did and learned today.


Assignment due April 17

1. Read Fledgling, chapters 16-21 (pp. 167-229).

2. Complete the Quiz for chapters 16-21 on Blackboard.

3. Review the handout "Wikimarkup cheatsheet" (also on class packet, p. 2).

5. Log on to Wikipedia. Go to your Sandbox. Under "Fledgling Summaries," create a Level 3 Heading titled "Chapters 16-21." In your own words ONLY, write a summary of what happens in these chapters. Do NOT quote. Do NOT closely paraphrase summaries from outside sources, as this is against Wikipedia policy, as explained in the handout "Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia." Preview the page before clicking "Save page."


Assignment due April 24

Complete Research Assignment # 3: Read and annotate pages 1-23 of Dr. Joy Sanchez-Taylor's dissertation chapter "Octavia Butler’s Fledgling and Daniel Jose Older’s "Phantom Overload: the Ethnic Undead" (copy on Blackboard). Then, complete THIS QUESTIONNAIRE.


NO CLASS April 3 or 10

Week 5 (April 17-24): Drafting Butler's Biography II

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1. Read my instructions for your team's work today (in blue at the top of your Workspace document). Ask me questions.

Sandbox for Team 5


2. Get a cookie. Work on your section of Butler's article. Get another cookie. Work some more.

3. Go to your Sandbox. Under the section "Research Journal Entries," write Research Journal Entry #5 on what you did and learned today.


Assignments due April 24

1. Read Fledgling, chapters 22-Epilogue (pp. 231-310).

2. Complete the Quiz for chapters 22-Epilogue on Blackboard.

3. Review the handout "Wikimarkup cheatsheet" (also on class packet, p. 2).

4. Log on to Wikipedia. Go to your Sandbox. Under "Fledgling Summaries," create a Level 3 Heading titled "Chapters 22-Epilogue." In your own words ONLY, write a summary of what happens in these chapters. Do NOT quote. Do NOT closely paraphrase summaries from outside sources, as this is against Wikipedia policy, as explained in the handout "Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia." Preview the page before clicking "Save page."

5. Complete Research Assignment # 3: Read and annotate pages 1-23 of Dr. Joy Sanchez-Taylor's dissertation chapter "Octavia Butler’s Fledgling and Daniel Jose Older’s "Phantom Overload: the Ethnic Undead" (copy on Blackboard). Then, complete THIS QUESTIONNAIRE.

Week 6 (April 24- May 1): Drafting Butler's Bio III/Beginning Fledgling

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1. Team 1 will pair with Team 4 and Team 2 with Team 3 to proofread completed sections. You should go to Blackboard, download the completed sections for both teams, and print them out.

2. Copyedit and code your completed sections using wikimarkup. Copy coded sections to your team's sandbox.

Sandbox for Team 1
Sandbox for Team 2
Sandbox for Team 3
Sandbox for Team 4
Sandbox for Team 5

3. Search or download the critical essay assigned to you for Research Assignment 4. Download the questions to answer for the essay from Blackboard.

4. Go to your Sandbox. Under the section "Research Journal Entries," write Research Journal Entry #6 on what you did and learned today.


Assignment due May 1

Complete Research Assignment 4:

Search or download your critical essay on Fledgling. Annotate it and then go to your Sandbox. Create a Level 2 Heading titled "Research Assignment 4." Type the answers to all the questions for your assigned reading. (Questions on Blackboard)

  • Bast, Florian. “I Won't Always Ask”: Complicating Agency in Octavia Butler's Fledgling. Elzeyburg, Sportsfan00, Santuros, X Rush, Mona's Mistake
  • Brox, Ali. "Every age has the vampire it needs”: Octavia Butler's Vampiric Vision in Fledgling. NajahLovesPink, JamesJohnson, NeverFallMVR
  • Evans, Shari. From “Hierarchical Behavior” to Strategic Amnesia: Structures of Memory and Forgetting in Octavia Butler’s Fledgling. (On Blackboard) Adyyecua, Lajevelyn, BeautifulSoul22,
  • Morris, Susana M. Black Girls Are from the Future: Afrofuturist Feminism in Octavia E. Butler's Fledgling. OwenZeph, japanizemyself, divergentforever, HoustonJay
  • Nayar, Pramod. Vampirism and Posthumanism in Octavia Butler’s Fledgling. Apache50, ebeastmond, princessmishell
  • Shaviro, Steven. Exceeding the Human: Power and Vulnerability in Octavia Butler’s Fiction. (On Blackboard) Mazuyuki Eizoku, liberatedminds, purplelover0516
  • Strong, Melissa J. The Limits of Newness: Hybridity in Octavia E. Butler's Fledgling. Dr. Droog, unconsciousecelcticism, lagccstudent

Week 7 (May 1-8): Working with Sources

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1. Review the paraphrasing handout. In pairs, play the extra credit exercise The Ultimate Paraphrase

2. Research Assignment 5, Part I (20 points of the 40): Get together with the other people who read the same article as you. You will have 30 minutes to prepare your group's presentation of the article by answering the questions in your workspace on the course's Talk page.

3. As a class, review Butler's biography on Wikipedia and vote on what sections to keep as they are.

4. Working in teams, post your revised section from your team sandbox to Butler's Biography (except for Team 5, which needs to wait).

5. Read the quotes in Team 5's sandbox. Browse the revised article. Vote on where in the article the quotes should go so Team 5 posts them.


6. Go to your Sandbox. Under the section "Research Journal Entries," write Research Journal Entry #7 on what you did and learned today.


Assignment due May 8

Complete Research Assignment 6: Annotate the review of Fledgling assigned to you. In your Sandbox create a Level 2 Heading titled "Fledgling review." Then

  1. Provide a summary of the reviewer's main points and her/his evaluation of the novel
  2. Copy or type up to 3 quotations from the review that you think could be useful for the "Reception" section of our article
  3. List up to three themes in Fledgling this review mentions (if there is a theme not covered on this list, just write it up):
  • Agency
  • Mutualistic symbiosis
  • The revision of the vampire figure
  • Hybridity/ cyborg identity
  • Racism/speciecism
  • Afrofuturism
  • Feminism
  • Difference as a means to survival
  • Alternative sexual relations/ sexuality/ family relations
4. Create an MLA-style citation for the review


Fledgling Reviews

  • Review by Sandra Y. Govan. (On Blackboard): Santuros, jamesjohnson21, lagccstudent, Xrush, ebeastmond
  • Review by Charles L. Crow. (On Blackboard) divergentforever, OwenZeph, Mona's Mistake, princessmisshell, NeverFalMVR
  • “Living the Undead Life.” Susanna Sturgis. (On Blackboard): apache50, Japanize myself, elzeyburg, NajahLovesPink


Extra Credit : Using the instructions and information provided in Blackboard under "Extra Credit: Point of View," write the section "Point of view" for Butler's biography and submit it to Blackboard by Friday, May 15 by 11:30 PM. Submissions will be anonymous. The two best versions of the section will each receive +40 points.

Week 8 (May 8-15): Working with Sources/Planning the article

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In class

1. Research Assignment 5, Part I (replay): Get together with the other people who read the same article as you. You will have 30 minutes to prepare your group's presentation of the article by answering the questions in your workspace on the course's Talk page.

2. a) Research Assignment 5, Part II (20 points of the 40)--Article presentations : You will have up to 10 minutes to present your article to the class. b) Revise synopsis of the article based on the oral presentation and discussion.

3. Vote on the importance of themes using THIS FORM.

4. Research Assignment 6: Get together with the other people who read the same review as you. You will have 20 minutes to answer the questions in your workspace on the course's Talk page.

5. Go to your Sandbox. Under the section "Research Journal Entries," write Research Journal Entry #8 on what you did and learned today.


Assignment due May 15

1. Submit your first, second, and third choice for an Editing Team using THIS FORM.

Editing Team 1. Article sections: Characters; hybridity; agency
Editing Team 2. Article sections: Reception; the revision of the vampire figure; difference as means of survival
Editing Team 3. Article sections: Background; the construction of race; racism/speciecism/supremacism
Editing Team 4. Article sections: Plot; mutualistic symbiosis; alternative sexualities


2. By 11:30 PM, complete the Quiz "Acknowledging Sources" on Blackboard.


If you did not complete Research Assignment 3: In preparation for the visit of Dr. Joy Sanchez-Taylor next class, you may submit your late answers to to THIS QUESTIONNAIRE for half the original credit (+15 points). Dr. Sanchez-Taylor's chapter on Fledgling is on Blackboard under Research Assignment 3.


Extra Credit : Using the instructions and information provided in Blackboard under "Extra Credit: Point of View," write the section "Point of view" for Butler's biography and submit it to Blackboard by Friday, May 15 by 11:30 PM. Submissions will be anonymous. The two best versions of the section will each receive +40 points.

Week 9 (May 15-22): Drafting sections for Fledgling

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1. Submit your first, second, and third choice for an Editing Team using THIS FORM.

2. Creating topic sentences for your section and lecture/discussion with Dr. Joy Sanchez-Taylor.

Submit your topic sentences HERE. Class responses HERE.

3. Editing sections for Fledgling article. Please sign your contributions with your usernames.

Editing Team 1 Workspaces

james johnson, lajevelyn, mona's mistake, mazuyuki eizoku, purplelover

Editing Team 2 Workspaces

lagccstudent, owen zeph, princessmisshel, beautiful soul, japanize myself, divergent forever

Editing Team 3 Workspaces

houston jay, dr. droog, ebeastmond, xrush, sportsfan, Najahlovespink

Editing Team 4 Workspaces

liberatedminds, unconsciouseclecticism, santuros, elzieburg, apache50

4. Go to your Sandbox. Under the section "Research Journal Entries," write Research Journal Entry #9 on what you did and learned today.


Assignment due Wednesday, May 20 by 9:00AM

1. Submit a complete first draft of your section to your workspace (25 points). With the exception of Characters and Plot, which have their own rules, your submission must be

  • at least 150 words and not more than 500 words
  • written as paragraphs, each with a clear topic sentence and supported by evidence paraphrased from sources; the sources must be acknowledged using parenthetical citations.

2. Thinking about the upcoming Reflective Essay. See online copy of instructions HERE. The first draft of the essay will be due on Blackboard by midnight, Friday May 29.

Week 10 (May 22-29): Drafting sections for Fledgling II

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In Class

1. Editing sections for Fledgling article. Please sign your contributions with your usernames.

  • Check which section has been assigned to you.
  • Copy the section to a MSWord document
  • Revise the section. This will be Draft #3.
  • Copy/paste Draft #3 at the TOP of the other two drafts of the section on your workspace document.
  • Print Draft #3.
  • Call me over so we can find readers for the new version of the section.
  • Following the advice of your readers, revise the section again. This will be Draft #4.
  • Copy/paste Draft #3 at the TOP of the other three drafts of the section on your workspace document.


Fledgling bibliography


Editing Team 1 Workspaces

Editing Team 2 Workspaces

Editing Team 3 Workspaces

Editing Team 4 Workspaces


2. With my permission, transfer the section to your team's sandbox. Format it so the paragraphs breaks show, and code it so that the references show as footnotes and the links go to the wikipages or website they should.


3. Go to your Sandbox. Under the section "Research Journal Entries," write Research Journal Entry #10 on what you did and learned today.

Assignment due May 29 by midnight

Submit the first draft of the Research Reflection Essay (1000 words) to Blackboard. (75 points) Copy of Instructions HERE.

Week 11 (May 29-June 5): Drafting III / Posting to the Fledgling article

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In Class

Team Read and revise before posting to the live article on Fledgling Continue composing
Team 1
  • Hybridity
  • Characters
 Agency
Team 2
  • Reception
  • The revision of the vampire figure
 Difference as means of survival
Team 3 None
  • Backgrounds
  • The construction of race
  • Speciesism as an allegory of racism
Team 4
  • Plot
  • Alternative sexualities
 Mutualistic symbiosis


Fledgling bibliography


Editing Team 1 Workspaces

Editing Team 2 Workspaces

Editing Team 3 Workspaces

Editing Team 4 Workspaces

2. Revise the Research Reflection Essay.


Assignment due Monday, June 8

By 9:00AM, submit the last draft of the Research Reflection Essay (1000 words minimum) to Blackboard. Under the area "Text Submission," explain what changes you have made to this draft that distinguish it from the previous draft. Please use bullet points. (150 points)

This draft will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  • Follows instructions and fulfills all requirements
  • Ideas are organized
  • Paragraphs correlate general observations with specific evidence
  • Analysis and commentary on the evidence is thoughtful
  • Expression is clear in terms of diction, grammar, and syntax

Week 12 (June 5-12): Reviewing and revising

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In Class

1. A. Creating the "Further reading" section.

Find the articles assigned to your team--most of them are in EBSCO, Artemis, or JSTOR. Copy the citation information and paste it in Team 2's sandbox under the section "Further reading." The entry must be in the correct place using alphabetical order by last name and must be formatted correctly (quotation marks for titles of article, italics for titles of books, journals, websites). For those items that have a website link, please add the link to the title of the article.

Team 1

  • Maria Aline Ferreira. Symbiotic Bodies and Evolutionary Tropes in the Work of Octavia Butler
  • Theri Pickens. “You’re Supposed to Be a Tall, Handsome, Fully Grown White Man”.
  • Marty Fink. AIDS Vampires: Reimagining Illness in Octavia Butler's "Fledgling."

Team 2

  • LOST MEMORIES: MEMORY AS A PROCESS OF IDENTITY IN THE FICTION OF OCTAVIA BUTLER.
  • Lauren J. Lacey. Octavia E. Butler on Coping with Power in Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents, and Fledgling.
  • MADHU DUBEY. Octavia Butler's Novels of Enslavement.

Team 4


1. B. Finding suitable quotes for Fledgling

Your team should submit at least two quotes from the novel that it deems worthy of adding to the article. Please include the page number where it can be found and add a short explanation of its importance. I strongly encourage the teams to find quotes connected to their sections, but other types are fine as well.


2. A. Responding to Comments.

Read the comments posted by Dr. Sanchez-Taylor's class on Fledgling's Talk page. For any suggestion to make a change in the article, type an answer either saying that you have made it or explaining why it cannot be done.

A reply to another user requires that you

  • respond directly below the person's comment
  • indent your response (the wikimarkup for indent is a colon at the beginning of the response)
  • copy the person's username
  • If you followed the suggestion and made the change, use the template {{done}} to create a green check:  Done


2. B. Giving WikiLove.

Now go to the talk page of each user who commented on the article and give them some WikiLove for their work, whether you followed the suggestion or not.


3. Making the last changes to the article on Fledgling


4. Discussion of grades and extra credit activities.


Assignment due Monday, June 8

By 9:00AM, submit the last draft of the Research Reflection Essay (1000 words minimum) to Blackboard. Under the area "Text Submission," explain what changes you have made to this draft that distinguish it from the previous draft. Please use bullet points. (150 points)

This draft will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  • Follows instructions and fulfills all requirements
  • Ideas are organized
  • Paragraphs correlate general observations with specific evidence
  • Analysis and commentary on the evidence is thoughtful
  • Expression is clear in terms of diction, grammar, and syntax

Last Meeting (June 12)

[edit]

In class

1. Wikipedia last words

a. Article statistics
b. Translating articles from the English Wikipedia into other languages.
c. Attending or presenting at WikiConference USA 2015
d. Attending the Training the Trainers editathon sponsored by Afrocrowd at Brooklyn Public Library Main Branch (10 Grand Army Plaza) on 6/20. Training the Trainers is an advanced editathon for students who have already received instruction with Wikipedia. It will allow Afrocrowd to meet and get to know potential candidates for the Afrocrowd Project Manager position. For more on Afrocrowd, visit their Wikipedia meetup page: Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC/AfroCrowd
-Training Registration Form
-Detailed venue directions from the Brooklyn Public Library website


2. Reviewing your grades


3. Completing extra credit

--Adding references and quotes to Kindred and Fledgling (depends on assignation; some were not completed)
--Adding "Point of view" and "The creation of alternative communities": unconsciouseclecticism
--Uploading an image of the book's cover to Fledgling: andyyecua
--Uploading Leslie Howle's donated photograph to the Butler article. Use Wikipedia:Picture tutorial
--Adding footnotes to "The survivor as hero" in the Butler article


4. Depositing your Research Reflection Essay into Digication

a. Download a copy of your revised Research Reflection Essay from Blackboard onto the computer's desktop.
b. Open the essay and delete the header/heading. Save it on the desktop again.
c. Read the instructions on how to deposit an artifact in Digication HERE.
d. Deposit your revised Research Reflection Essayin the Digication site at https://intranet.laguardia.edu/eportfoliosso/
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