Midterm Project

Part One:

You and a group member each bring a paper to class for conferences next class. 

• The essay can be an old one or “live” one for this semester of at least 1000 and no more than 5,000 words. 

• Bring the assignment (or recreate it if you don’t have a copy).

• You will exchange drafts and discuss the assignments and concerns you have/had when writing the paper.

Part Two:

In subsequent classes you will:

• Return commentary you’ve written on your partner’s paper

• Compare the work you did to the sort of advice Grammarly and Generative AI provide

• Conduct a writing conference using active-listening techniques and take notes

• Send me an e-mail (not our online summary) briefly summing up your conference, goals met, work still needed.

Part Three:

A reflective essay of at least 1000 words. You may use Grammarly and Generative AI to help you shape the document (suggesting structure of your argument) or to help polish the style. I doubt that AI could create a good draft for the topic, but if you try to engineer a prompt, include it with the essay you submit.

Does this essay "have a thesis"? Probably so, in its introduction, focusing on which idea most influenced you so far, in terms of giving and receiving feedback in writing and in person.

• Identify, and cite, any concepts from the readings that shaped how you wrote commentary or conducted the one-on-one meeting with your partner. Materials authored by me for the syllabus, such as "The Art of Good Commentary," do not count as readings, though you are free to include them too. I want ideas from theory, as espoused in our readings from outside sources.

• Reflect on how it felt to receive feedback from a human and from software, also citing any necessary concepts from our readings.

• Look ahead to your biggest challenge doing this sort of work when students you don't know who walk into the Center. Again, cite any readings we have done.

• If  you used AI or Grammarly, discuss that and why it helped or hurt.

• Any system of documentation for readings works just fine. Cite any AI use with the guidelines here.

• It provided this advice to us:

For this kind of task, I typically:

1. Analyze the overall structure and flow of the essay

2. Look at sentence variety and paragraph construction

3. Examine word choice and tone

4. Check for clarity and coherence of arguments

5. Suggest areas for improvement or expansion

To make the most of this exercise, you might want to:

1. Provide students with specific areas to ask about (e.g., thesis statement, use of evidence, conclusion)

2. Encourage them to ask follow-up questions based on the feedback they receive

3. Remind them to critically evaluate the advice given and make their own decisions as writers.