Ten Ways To Think About Writing & Finding The Good Argument
Humanities
Discussion Board Posts (at least 350 words, but no more than 450)
you’ll be assigned readings. The goal is to come together and talk about what you learned from the authors. When posting to the board, please do the following:
A. Write a 1-2 sentence summary of each reading you complete. Put this in your own words rather than copy the author’s statements.
B. Follow it with 2-3 sentences of connections. You may connect the reading to something happening in your own life, something you have read before, or something happening in the world today. This part also helps us get to know you.
C. Pose a research question that is open ended. In other words, what things does the reading uncover that you want to learn more about? (avoid yes/no questions here—use open ended questions like “What forms of theory help students best?” vs “Should we teach theory to everybody?”)
EVALUATION OF POSTS: out of 100 points
90+—spectacular insight into reading, ability to make the audience think differently, summary and research questions are on point, connections help us get to know you
80—excellent insights, new thinking, summary, and research questions
70—nice work on following instructions and dealing with the readings, you start to make some interesting points about your own experiences and how these readings connect
60—adequate response to the week’s assignment, ability to stay on track, may not make deep or sustained connections in places but works to understand the material
50 or below—post is missing important parts of the assignment, does not engage the material in a way that suggests the reading was completed
