Instructions
Short Comments
On Monday (2-1) and Wednesday (2-3), the professor will write one post on the major readings for class. Every student should write 1 comment after the professor’s blog posting on the reading for the day.
Beginning on Feb. 8, teams will write Primary Comments and students who are not on the team responsible for the week, should write regular short comments to each post for the day (there could be more than one posting depending on how many readings there are). Short Comments should be at least 3 sentences and can be longer. Responses are due by 8:30 am the day of class.
Your comment should offer responses and/or questions for today’s readings and/or guest speakers. Your comments and questions can be anything that you’d like to discuss. As you read the articles, ask yourself, does the author mention something that surprised you? Was the author unclear with an idea or comment? Did the author not prove the argument well? Did you think the examples cited made sense for the article’s thesis? Or, are there questions you have in particular for our guest speaker for the class?
Primary Comments & Class Discussions
The class will be divided into 3 teams. Each team will be responsible for different classes throughout the semester (see the class schedule and the schedule posted in the blog), to post about the readings, and to use those posts and students’ comments & questions to run the class discussions.
Primary Comments should be made for each reading in the class schedule with two red asterisks next to it (**). Each team member should create at least one post during the week the team is assigned. Each team can determine how best to allot writing and scheduling posts.
Primary Comments should be a 2-4 paragraph entry that either 1) responds directly to the textual readings due for that day, or 2) ties the readings to something that has happened in the world.
Teams posting for the class periods can use the content in the blog to lead class discussion. Note: leading teams may not have read all of the short comments prior to class, so the rest of the class should be prepared to share their comments including what they put in the blog as well as other ideas regarding the readings and for the class guests.
For tips on what to write about in Primary Comments, consider the following, but note that you don’t have to address these if you don’t want to:
1) Locate and discuss the author’s main argument.
2) Identify and discuss the evidence the author provides to support her/his points.
3) Play the believing and doubting game. What parts of the argument do you believe and what parts do you still have questions about/would like more evidence for?
4) Make a connection to previous course materials.
5) Apply the author’s argument to a relevant text for this class.
6) Feel free to connect the writings with other things in your posting, such as museums, videos, TikToks, whatever helps with your thoughts on the piece. Feel free to add in links.
How to Post
Throughout the semester the professor will create a post for each reading with two red asterisks next to it (**). You should be able to login to WordPress and add a comment to the post (Primary Comment or short comment). For technical assistance, please refer to the tutorial videos for student-led discussion on UR Blogs.
Grading
You are being graded the following:
– posts and responses are published on the website according to the deadline schedule
– the thoughtfulness and completeness of your entries and comments (see above on “responses” and “postings”)
– each post will not receive its own grade. Instead, the professor will keep a record of who has/hasn’t posted/responded, by team and by individual student, and will reach out to teams or students if posts aren’t meeting expectations.
– you are not being graded on your grammar or style, but do try to keep an eye out for spelling errors.
Let me know if you have any questions or problems with this, eschlatt@richmond.edu
[instructions above adapted from UR’s “Leadership and Humanities Class Blog,” run by Dr. Kristin Bezio]