Monday, March 20 - Please submit a paper proposal, by e-mail. This should be a text of about 2-3 double-spaced pages (with 1-inch margins) that lays out the questions you are interested in pursuing and the main texts you expect to be looking at - i.e., narrowing down what primary texts by Heidegger/Derrida you will focus on, and any secondary sources that are either helping to inform your questions and approach, or which you plan to consult. If possible, you should give a sense of the steps with which your paper will proceed in accomplishing your goal.
Please add a note that tells me when is a good time to reach you by phone, and remind me of your phone number. Alternatively, you can mention some good times for you to phone me. Ideally, I would like to talk by phone on Tuesday, March 21 to give you feedback on your proposal.
Friday, April 7 - Please submit a draft of your paper to me by e-mail and in hard copy to your peer review partner. For ease of marking, make sure to use 1-inch margins, and full-size type for block quotes and footnotes (one empty line space between individual footnotes), and number your pages.
Thursday, April 13 - Deadline for student-to-student feedback. Feedback should be given orally - plan to meet for about 1 hour for each paper - and should be accompanied by some written comments, a report that summarizes the main questions you are posing to the author and the main suggestions for revision. These comments should also be submitted to me by e-mail.
Checklist for student-to-student feedback. Here are some things for you to pay attention to (which some of you will recognize as things I've asked you to pay attention to in your own writing):
effective framing of the topic in the opening. Does the opening of the paper clearly announce what the paper is going to do, in a way that is borne out by what the paper actually does? Does it draw the reader in, by stimulating curiosity about what is coming up?
effective structuring of the paper, in the opening and elsewhere. Does the paper give a good orientation as to the steps that are being taken, and clearly flag/construct the transitions from step to step? As you read, do you have a good sense of where you are in the presentation and of where it is headed?
Are key terms defined and important ideas explained?
Claims are backed up by effective evidence from the text, using quoted material that is accompanied with sufficient elucidation of its meaning and significance for the argument.
Quoting is accurate, and true to the meaning of the original.
Unnecessary repetitions are avoided; the paper feels like it is moving forward.
Appropriate use of secondary sources, i.e., no reliance on secondary sources as a substitute for a reading of a primary source.
Bibliographical referencing is complete, economical, and easy to follow, e.g., use parenthetical page references, with compact abbreviations if necessary, for primary texts or any work that you are citing frequently.
For students who are able to, please give Heidegger/Derrida page references to both the original-language and English editions.
Stylistic and technical matters, e.g. (to name some of the most common problems),
precision of expression and usage
active verbs used wherever possible, and nominalization/impersonal verbal constructions avoided
effective transitions/logical connectors between sentences and paragraphs (see this handout for some ideas: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_transition.html )
avoidance of comparatives that stand by themselves: e.g., “more” should always be “more than . . . ”
all pronouns have unambiguous referents
effective and sufficiently varied lead-ins to/framing of quoted material
gender-neutral language
numbered pages
(and, of course,) grammar, punctuation, etc.
Friday, April 21 - submit final paper to me, plus a short summary of revisions undertaken in response to the student feedback received - e-mail and hard copy please.
Note that the portion of the course grade based on "written work" (50%) will also be based on your work in the feedback and revision process.
posted/distributed March 3, 2006