Draft 2.0: "Lifelike"

English 101: Introduction to College Writing – Spring 2013

Draft 2.0: writing your draft of a critical interpretive essay and getting ready for our conference

1.     Considering previous assignments, in-class writing, and our class discussions, write a critical interpretive essay draft about Susan Orlean’s “Lifelike.” As you work, remember that you’re writing to communicate, and so you should shape your writing to express a specific purpose. This purpose should explain your interpretation of the text while considering Orlean’s context, audience, and purpose. Make sure you are using the text to explain where your ideas came from so that readers can understand them. 

2.     Email your draft to your group members AND me by 7:00 on Sunday night. Failure to do so will result in one (out of the two) absences for the week.  

3.     Print out your partners’ drafts. Comment on them in ways that will help them revise their essays. Below is a checklist of things to look for and comment on if you do not know where to start. These are all potential moments for you to address with a comment. Remember to stay ethical as you comment, and remember that some of the questions in the list below might be addressed by the student over the course of their essay; do not assume that everything can be written with one neat sentence.

a.     Is the student's CP different from Orlean's purpose?

b.     Does their CP have a clear writerly choice?

c.     Does every paragraph relate to this CP? If not, how could the student expand the CP to include that paragraph OR how could the student alter that paragraph to fit with the CP?

d.     Does the student support their ideas with specific moments from the text and include quotes?

e.     Does the student address what Orleans's purpose could be and how they arrived at that interpretation?

f.      Does the student avoid commonplace and cliches? If not, point out these moments.

g.     How is the student's text organized? Is there a fluent organization? Does every paragraph relate in some way to the ones that surround it? Does the organization make sense? Does the student attempt to transition?

h.     Is the student saying something about the text that is different from what is in the text? That is, does the student analyze and interpret rather than state what is happening in the text? Instead of saying "what" is in the text, they should say "how" or "why" Orlean has made the choice to put that in the text as it relates to her purpose and how it caused them to interpret the text?

4.     Bring these essays to your conference time.