BIS 361

Studies in American Literature: The 1930s

David S. Goldstein, Ph.D.

Word Journals Assignment

• As a formal piece of university writing, your word journals should be typed and double-spaced throughout, using a standard font (like Times New Roman) in 12-point size, and with margins of one inch all the way around each page. Provide an MLA-style header and essay title as explained in #20 and #22 in "Tips for Better Prose" at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Prose.html >. Please do not use a cover page or footnotes. If you wish to quote, do so only after reading Becky Rosenberg's document, "Using Direct Quotation" at <http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/Quotation.html>. If you paraphrase or quote your author, you can provide just a page number if it is obvious that it is your author whom you are citing.
• After your paper is carefully written, it will be time for editing and proofreading. Because all teachers have their own idiosyncratic preferences for writing, you should learn what mine are by reading "Tips for Better Prose." Reading this document is a required part of the assignment. I recommend printing that document, and, after you finish writing your paper, check the items off one by one to make sure your paper is as mechanically sound as you can make it. Although the mechanics of writing are less important to me than the ideas expressed, the mechanics inevitably improve the effectiveness of your communication of ideas, which, after all, is your ultimate goal with each piece of writing that you do.
• Needless to say, your work must be entirely original. Using another person's ideas or words without proper attribution, whether intentional or accidental, constitutes plagiarism, and will result in a zero on this assignment. Please re-read "Policy on Academic and Behavioral Conduct" at <http://www.uwb.edu/students/policies/academicconduct.xhtml >.

To submit your paper in the Blackboard Dropbox, carefully follow these instructions:

1. You must have an electronic copy of your paper on the computer you use to submit the paper electronically. That means the paper needs to be a Microsoft Word document located on your computer's hard drive (if you have Internet access at home or work) or on a floppy disk, flash drive, or CD that can be inserted into a computer on campus. Allow time for that. (If you do not own Microsoft Word, you can purchase a deeply discounted copy through ASUWB <http://as.uwb.edu > or else use one of the campus computer labs.)
2. This is important:  Name your Word file exactly in this format: LastnameFirstinitialWJ1 (for word journal #1) or LastnameFirstinitialWJ2 (for word journal #2). For example, if you name were Susan Husky, your filename would be HuskySWJ1 for the first word journal and HuskySWJ2 for the second word journal. Note that there is no spaces anywhere in the file name.
3. Log onto the BIS 361 Blackboard area at <http://bb.uwb.edu/>.
4. Click on the "Tools" button.
5. In the "Tools" area, click on the "Digital Drop Box" button.
6. Click on the "Send File" button (not the "Add File" button).
7. In the box labeled "Title," type your last name (with only the first letter capitalized), then a space, then your first initial (capitalized), then a space, and then the word "Word Journal" (capitalized but without the quotation marks). For example: Husky S Word Journal 1 for the first word journal and Husky S Word Journal 2 for the second word journal.  Note that for this title, you need to use spaces, unlike the name of your Word document, which cannot have spaces in it.
8. Use the "Browse" button to find your computer file that contains your paper. Leave the "Comments" box blank (unless, for some reason, you need to tell me something about your document).
9. Press the "Submit" button. You should then arrive at "digital receipt" page.  Required:  Print and save this receipt page.
10. After your document is submitted, log out of Blackboard and close the browser window to protect your Blackboard account.

Criteria for grading: Please carefully read "Criteria for Assessing Writing" at < http://faculty.washington.edu/davidgs/WritingAssess.html> for an explanation of these items:

Content	50 percent
Organization	10 percent
Reasoning	20 percent
Rhetoric	10 percent
Conventions	10 percent
TOTAL	10 percent of course grade (5 percent per word journal)

Let me emphasize that I expect your best effort in this and every exercise. It is worth the investment of your time and effort to do the best you can.

Some additional advice:

• Get in the habit of saving your work often (maybe every ten minutes) so you do not lose everything when your computer freezes. It also is a good idea to keep multiple copies in different places, such as on a different computer, on diskettes or flash drives, or in your electronic "shell" on UW student computer server. I usually e-mail important files to myself at the end of the work day, so if my computer blows up, I still can retrieve my work.
• Visit the Writing Center (see <http://www.uwb.edu/writingcenter/>). They are professionals trained to help you become a better writer, so visit them! Remember that their goal is to help you become a better writer, not to make this particular paper better, so you are responsible for applying what they teach you to this paper and others that you will write.
• I do not have time to read rough drafts except as described above, but I am very glad to discuss your paper as you work on it. You would be wise to visit me during office hours (see syllabus) to make sure you are on the right track, to see whether your thesis makes sense to me, and to get advice about any particular difficulties you might be encountering.
• Re-read this assignment sheet just before submitting the final copy of your paper to make sure it meets all of the requirements.
• If you are an Interdisciplinary Studies major, remember to keep your graded paper, with my comments, for the graduation portfolio that you will complete in your senior seminar (see <http://www.bothell.washington.edu/IAS/degrees/BLS/requirements.html#graduate>).

This page last updated January 10, 2007.

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