Discussion Group Mini-Essays (=MEs) and Classmate Responses (=CRs)

You will be assigned to a Polylearn discussion group of 6-8 students.  In your group's Discussion Forum, you will post most of your "lower-stakes" writing assignments.  These ungraded assignments include five mini-essays (=MEs), one on each play, and ten Classmate Responses (=CRs) offering feedback to the MEs posted by two of your fellow Discussion Group members. 

While ungraded, MEs and CRs are scaffolded writing assignments designed to prepare you to do well on higher-stakes, graded writing assignments (a 3- to 4- page expanded and revised Essay and the essay components of the Midterm and Final Exams). 

Additionally, because your posted MEs and CRs put you in dialogue with other members of your Discussion Group, completion of these ungraded assignments counts toward the 20% of your course grade based upon participation, intellectual engagement, and collaboration, and they are required for you to get credit for your 3-4 page graded Paper.  

Write your MEs using the ME Template provided on Polylearn to ensure proper formatting (and to consult the additional ME tips and pointers included on this template).

Mini-Essays are due to your assigned Discussion Forum no later than midnight on the days indicated on the course calendar. (typically, Friday of weeks 2, 4, 7, 8 and 9). 

Start a new "thread" for each Mini-Essay.  The SUBJECT LINE for a Mini-Essay posting should begin with the ME number followed by a colon and the title of your ME, which should make clear what work and topic you are writing about.

MEs are primarily intended to do two things:  get you to engage critically with a one of Shakespeare's plays, and give you an opportunity to practice analytic writing skills through lower-stakes (ungraded) writing that will help prepare you to do well on the higher-stakes (and graded) assignments:  the essay sections on exams (together worth approximately 25% of the course grade)  and the 3-4 page expanded and revised Essay that counts for 15% of the final course grade.  Don't try to dazzle me with something new and original.  Aim instead to demonstrate your grasp of significant issues pointed to in the Study Guides and covered in our class meetings.   Once you have determined your focus, concentrate on articulating your specific claims clearly and explicitly in your opening paragraph and constructing a strong logical argument based upon close reading (analysis of specific passages in the text) to support those claims. Your paper should demonstrate your ability to

• understand Shakespeare's language and analyze it effectively
  
• construct a logical argument (i.e. paragraph order should be carefully thought out)
• support that argument with well-chosen textual passages
• write clear, correct, formal prose which conforms to the stylistic guidelines indicated (and avoids common errors listed) on the the ESSAY EVALUATION CHECKLIST

Use the ME Template available on Polylearn to ensure that your ME is correctly formatted.  Note that this template also includes additional tips and pointers to help you write a strong ME!

Your mini-essay (=ME) should consist of an introductory paragraph which explicitly articulates your claims (it is not enough simply to identify the topic you will explore; tell us what specific claims you will make about that topic)); 2-4 body paragraphs of argumentation based on close reading, i.e. the analysis of lines quoted from the play (aim for 2-4 quotations incorporated into each body paragraph); and a conclusion summing up the argument and, if you wish, offering a final insight that points to issues beyond the scope of the ME (i.e. connecting the focus of the ME to larger issues in the work, making connections to other readings, or speculating about Shakespeare's intentions or how the play may have been received by its original audience).  

Your ME must offer analysis of specific passages (close reading) rather than simply explaining what happens in a play (plot summary).  A good ME should engage Shakespeare's text in a way that demonstrates you have thought about the study questions, read the text carefully, and paid attention during class discussion. 

Citations from the play should be documented parenthetically immediately following the citation, using act, scene and inclusive line numbers, separated by periods.  You may use either roman or arabic numerals for act and scene numbers; use only arabic numerals for the inclusive line numbers of the text you have quoted (e.g. MND 1.2.1-10 or MND I.ii.1-10 are both acceptable ways to indicate "Act 1, Scene 2, lines 1-10"). 

Do NOT quote secondary sources (e.g. text introductions, footnotes, or online readings).  The information they contain is now "yours," and for the purpose of these assignments, you can mention it as relevant to your argument without specific documentation.

MEs should adhere to the two-page target length. (so that you have room to revise and expand the ungraded ME of your choice into the 3-4-page graded essay).  They should be focused, well organized, written in grammatically correct, formal prose (no sentence fragments; no slang; watch punctuation and word choice!), and supported by well-chosen textual evidence (i.e. you must CITE SHAKESPEARE'S PLAY to back up your claims in every body paragraph).  Document your textual support with page numbers (or LINE NUMBERS if the text has individually numbered lines) in parentheses immediately following the quotation.  Include a Work Cited at the end of the ME. 

• offer a close reading of a significant speech or scene and explain its connection to what you see as a key theme or message of the play as a whole;
• choose an image or group of closely related images in the play and discuss how this imagery helps communicate a key idea;
• construct an argument about what motivates a character's actions based upon analysis of the character's speeches;
• analyze a key theme or symbol in the play and explain what message you think Shakespeare intends to communicate;
• or find another way to provide more than merely a surface reading of a portion of the text.

ME SUBMISSION: PLEASE FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY!!

• Create your ME using the ME Template on Polylearn.  Open this template in your normal word processor (so that you can use  the spell check and grammar check functions). Be sure to include your name, the date, and the class number and section at the upper left (the correct, single-spaced formatting is found in the ME Template).   Put the ME number followed by a colon and the ME title (centered) on the next line.  The title you choose for your ME should mention the title of the play you are writing about and give an idea of your focus and central claims.
  
• Save the ME as a .docx file under the filename "[yourlastname]ME1" (or ME2, ME3, ME4, ME5, as applicable).  You will upload this document as a .docx attachment to your Discussion Group posting so that a printable file is easily accessible to peer editors and to your teacher.  (A .docx file (not a .PDF) is required so that MEs may be added to the database used for plagiarism checks.)  
• When you are ready to submit your ME, go to your ME Discussion Group forum on PolyLearn and click on "Add a new discussion topic" to start a new "thread." 
  
• On the Subject line, put the ME number followed by a colon and the ME title. 
• In the "Message" field, use the copy and paste function to post the text only of your ME (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion, and Work Cited) so that your classmates may post responses to it in a discussion thread. (No need to paste in the ME number and title, since you have included them on the Subject line; also no need to paste in your name, the date, or the class number that are at the top of the .docx file, since that information is provided by the posting itself.)  Note that formatting (underlining etc.) may not transfer from your Word Processor, so you will need to proofread your posting carefully and use the formatting tabs at the top of the Message box as necessary to reformat your ME.
  
• Finally, use the "Attachment" function to upload the .docx file of your ME which you previously saved under the file name "[yourlastname]ME#.docx"
• NOTE: There is only a 30-minute window in which you can make changes to your posting, so proofread your ME submission carefully before you click submit!
  

CLASSMATE RESPONSE GUIDELINES:

By midnight on the dates indicated on the Calendar of Assignments (typically, Sundays for MEs posted on Fridays), you must read the MEs posted by the other members of your discussion group and post Classmate Responses (=CRs) to two of them. Your CRs should be at least one thoughtful and substantive paragraph in length (no less than 100 words).  Because a CR is intended to open a substantive conversation with your classmate, begin by addressing the author by name.  Your CRs should either build upon or offer a counter argument to the ME you are responding to; be sure that you address both your classmate's ideas and the Shakespeare's text, WHICH YOU SHOULD QUOTE AT LEAST ONCE, using a citation which was NOT included in the ME to which you are responding.  You must post two CRs in order to receive credit for each of your MEs.

For your CRs, choose the MEs you feel you can respond to most substantively and fruitfully.  As a rule, you should choose the MEs which you find strongest / most interesting -- but you may also respond to an ME with which you disagree, provided that you do so RESPECTFULLY and that you back up your assertions with textual support.

The best CRs are neither mean-spirited nor lazy ("I agree with everything you said") -- it's not about criticizing your classmate's ideas, nor is it about praising them.  The best CRs build on your classmate's ideas or offer another way of understanding the the play.  Be sure that you address BOTH your classmate's ideas AND your own thoughts about the text (which you should cite at least once, choosing a citation that was NOT quoted by your classmate in the ME to which you are responding).

Like your 5 ungraded MEs, your 10 ungraded CRs are "lower-stakes" writing that are not individually graded but factor into the 20% participation, intellectual engagement, and collaboration component of your final course grade.  But while they are not individually graded, please take them seriously.  MEs and CRs are "scaffolded" writing assignments designed to prepare you to do well on the higher-stakes, graded writing that counts for 40% of your final course grade (15% for the 3- to 4-page paper that is a revision and expansion of one ME; one half of exam points for the essay component of the Midterm and Final Exams, which together count for 25% of the final course grade).