This is a reminder that your essay is, by definition, an expression of your opinion. Your goal as a persuasive writer should be, through the authority of your voice and the soundness of your reasoning, convince your readers that they are reading facts, not opinions. Reminding them that you’re just another knucklehead who read a book called “Declarations for Dummies” undercuts your authority.
Click here to see how constantly qualifying your claims turns a Declaration of Independence into a Weak Suggestion of Independence.
Professor Conferences
- The first of three is mandatory by MON FEB 15
- Permanent link to the Teleconference Chart is in the Syllabus Plus menu
- Here’s a direct LINK
A Good Hypothesis
- Essay writing is like the scientific process, designed to test hypotheses with experiments, not prove preconceptions.
- Research is “the targeted search for evidence to test a hypothesis.”
- “Analyze Data and Draw Conclusions” (not “Prove Hypothesis”) is the payoff step.
- “Communicate Results” not “Defend your Original Thinking” is the final mandate and guideline for the Research Position Paper.
Hypothesis Illustrated:
Self-Directed Lecture (with Task)
- Brief Introduction
- USAID tested the theory that direct aid to the poor would improve childhood nutrition more than trying to engineer nutrition programs for them, on the theory that the poor know what to do; they simply lack the resources.
- Link to the “Give Directly” article
- Contains a Brief “Discussion Exercise”
- Link to the “Give Directly” article
Writing Workshop (Analyze “My Hypothesis” Posts)
- First check out the “Hypothesis Feedback” post.
Study Task:
Resources for your “Stone Money” Task
For MON FEB 15, you’ll listen to and reflect on the 1-hour NPR broadcast, “The Invention of Money” and come to class ready to contribute to the discussion.
Other resources that will prepare you for the Stone Money assignment are found on the blog at these links:
- This post contains lecture material, demonstrations of the “Cows and Chips” technique in action, examples of advice I have given other student authors for enlivening their posts with livestock, and the details of a simple exercise.
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- This post is a graphic demonstration of an essay that fails in every way to capitalize on the power of illustration, anecdote, and the persuasive appeal of visual, auditory, and other sensory details.
- Includes an Exercise to be completed whenever you access this resource.
Writing Task
- Non-Portfolio Essay on the Stone Money topic.
- Find the assignment at: Stone Money
- DUE before midnight TUE FEB 16
- Give your essay a Title
- Incorporate the lesson of Purposeful Summary
- Use Informal In-Text Citation and References Page (APA style)
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Counterintuitivity 
Reminder
-words are important, don’t waste them on fluff
– do NOT use “in my opinion” “it appears”, be confident in your opinion
Hypothesis
-you cannot have a hypothesis without formed sentences and a specific question
-make sure you are analyzing the data you research not necessarily proving your hypothesis
-you want to communicate your results NOT defend what you originally thought
-figure out a different way to answer the question, it’s OKAY for your thesis to change as you draw conclusions based on your hypothesis
-follow new concepts, new ideas and new leads that encapsulate big concepts
-after you find conclusions based on your hypothesis, you have a thesis (this is what you want to happen)
-find out what opinions or solutions already exist and reject them
-don’t expect your hypothesis to work, you want to track the results that will help you change the experiment the next time
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Beautiful work, Honeysuckle.
It reads like a series of “takeaways.”
3/3
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No need for the use of phrases that clearly suggest opinion (I believe, It seems to me, What if)
Schedule Conference to review hypothesis
DO NOT BLOW OFF END OF YEAR CONFERENCE
Difference between TOPIC and HYPOTHESIS (Topic: Broad Hypothesis: Concentrated Point)
If results of research dot not align with hypothesis, go back and create a new one
Phrases that you have never heard before are great ways to find new routes to take in your research and help to gather more
Give Directly hypothesis task (Open to interpretation when looking at results and success/failure)
Picking apart Hypotheses (Sometimes a step #6 can really be a step #1)
As you progress down your 6 step hypothesis, the topic should be narrowed more and more
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Good work. Surprises me that two students can take good notes that are so different. Referring to your and HoneySuckleLilac’s, the first two I have read.
3/3
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-Instead of having a final exam, we have a grade conference to agree on our final grades.
-A minimum of 3 teleconferences are required.
-The “January exception” is when a president can technically do whatever they want in their last month of being in office because they aren’t necessarily being held accountable since they are on the way out.
-If you expect to be instantly gratified with conclusive results when conducting an experiment, you will probably be disappointed.
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The “January exception” doesn’t exist. It’s a concept the Democratic impeachment team coined to describe what WOULD or WILL happen if the Senate declares that no President can be tried for impeachment AFTER he leaves office. If they do, they’ll be creating a situation where, as you say, the president will suffer no consequences for any abuse of power he engages in during the last month (or so) in office.
Your Notes are lacking in several important aspects. Want to score better on these little grades? Read some of the Notes that are earning 3/3.
2/3
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2-10-21
Today we talked about a brain teaser “How to water down self-evident truths”
Professor Conferences- The first three is mandatory by MON FEB 15
Then we talked about, how a good hypothesis is supposed to go like you must have a question and must do research on that question. After that conduct a hypothesis, and test the experiment; Is the procedure working yes or no. Then analyze the data and draw conclusions. Results align with hypothesis or results align not at all with the hypothesis. Then finally communicate results with your readers.
The topic is generalized idea and you can’t have a question which makes it a hypothesis. Writing essays are like a scientific experiment. “Analyze Data and Draw Conclusions” (not “Prove Hypothesis”) is the payoff step.
Did a brief discussion exercise under a article and there was a question about our thesis Then we looked at Hypothesis feedback about the wildfire in California last year.
Finally, we looked a different student’s Hypothesis about racism and medical Marijuana.
.
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Christianity, your middle paragraphs do a good job of identifying the core lessons of our classwork today.
The last two paragraphs don’t do that at all. You can take Notes like those to remind you what we did (but the Agenda does that job). If you learned something important in the Wildfire exercise, or if you had an insight during the discussions of racism or marijuana legalization, THOSE belong in your Notes.
You’re showing improvement. Keep it up. The benchmark for 3/3 will keep getting higher as the semester progresses.
2/3 so far for this one.
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-All essays we write are opinion essays, so don’t waste words by saying “in my opinion” “i believe”
-The authority of our voice, our rhetoric, and our research is all we’ve got
-we have to state our claims as if they have already been proven to be true (it’s all about confidence)
-first mandatory conference is soon
-a topic is a generalized idea that can be about anything that does not make a claim or ask a question- a hypothesis is asking a question and finding out if it is true or not
-a good hypothesis is like a scientific experiment, we start with a question and then we conduct research
-after gathering early summaries of research, analyze research and see what is true
-hypothesis has done it’s job, time to create new thesis with all that new information
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That covers the basics very nicely, CC.
3/3
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Today in our warmup we looked at how to water down self evident truths. This shows us that we should use the authority of our voice in our papers instead of saying in my opinion, It seems to me, I believe. Don’t waste language on these non important words.
The topic is the generalized idea but our hypothesis is our narrowed topic.
We start by asking a question, then doing research, and finally we come to a hypothesis. It is a good thing for our hypothesis to fail because then we know we are actually making quality work. We did a writing workshop answering questions. These questions pertained to testing a hypothesis in Rwanda which had to do with giving people money to see if they choose to give themselves proper nutrition. The test was a failure which was actually good because they found that they should not give the people cash. They should not give the people cash because they did not spend it in proper ways.
We need to focus on the narrowing of our hypothesis instead of building it.
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We don’t agree that the test was a failure, but we’re allowed to disagree. I’m glad to see your reasoning, and it’s more important that you record your reactions than that they concur with mine. These are good Notes.
3/3
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Notes
Use authority of your voice
Goes over thesis and hypothesis
Topics you can write about anything you want
Want to create a good thesis from your topic
We follow sources where they lead us
Find something you don’t know, dig deeper
Worked on a discussion assignment
Learned about the effects of using programs and money to low income people
A good example of a real life experiment that sounded deeply intriguing and ended in a result that at first feels less that satisfactory but depends on what you expect to get out of the experiment
Topic, narrower topic
Racism is a social construct to keep American people divided
I don’t see color is not valid
See it, appreciate it, celebrate it
Want to have your own topic. You don’t want to find your essay topic on a number of articles on google
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You’ve got your own style, RR! 🙂
3/3
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Make sure that writing sounds convincing. Versions of the Declaration of Independence. Hard to convince people when you do not know the information yourself. Three mandatory professor conferences. The first is this week about hypotheses. Must meet by Mon 2/15. Can meet in person or remote. The third conference is a grade conference. Topics are broad. A hypothesis is something that is believed to be true. Writing essays is like a science experiment. You experiment with different hypotheses and figure out which one is the best. Generate curiosity. January exception is when the president can do what they want when their term is about to expire. Decisions on what is true are your thesis. Communicating results go into the portfolio. Reviewed the “Give Directly” hypothesis. The experiment failed and was to able to be proven successfully because of the lack of other sources and evidence. 1000 word essay on Stone Money. Use huge stones as currency. Listen to 1 hour broadcast by Mon 2/15.
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These Notes have enough strong content for a 3, but I do wonder if some might be so brief that they won’t communicate anything to you in a couple of weeks. What will you make of the two words: Generate curiosity?
3/3
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When writing avoid using things like I think, instead say it how it is.
Professor conferences are starting next week on either Monday or Wednesday. They are two more conferences left after, one in a month and another at the end of the semester.
Topics: A general idea that can be used for anything(sports, music, movies, videogames)
Hypothesis: A specific point within the topic
Research is the targeted search in order to find your hypothesis.
Follow new leads like gold, they are the most effective way to change the pace of your research. However they may be different from your hypothesis, once you start writing abandon your hypothesis, for you are no longer searching for an idea but rather you have found your conclusions and thesis.
My hypothesis: take my number six and bring it back up, narrow the idea even more. At this moment you look like you have three hypothesis rather than 1. Focus of a specific part of it.
Make sure that on Monday is to preview the material( the one hour broadcast) which can be found on stone money.
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I like your Research paragraph best.
3/3
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A good hypothesis starts off with a good question to ask
After we figure out the question at hand of course there needs to be some research to be able o understand our question a little better
After we figure out the answer to out question we create a hypothesis to try and give our solution to the question at hand.
To follow up with our hypothesis we try a procedure to experiment and se if our hypothesis proves to be true.
If it doesn’t work we need to look at our hypothesis again or look at the procedure again.
Once we have a working conclusion we need to be able to draw the conclusions necessary to make our hypothesis work.
Once the results align with the hypothesis we came up with we can communicate our results with others because we don’t want to share false data.
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Notes 2/10/21
Started with not leaving in fller words that are expressing your opinion-sinceYOU”RE writing it, that should already mean that its YOU”RE opinion.
Grade Conferences- 3 times in the semester, once now, once in a few weeks, and a final conference during finals week to decide final grades.
Simply stating facts about a topic is NOT a hypothesis- you need to come up with something that can be proven. It must start by asking a question. It must be tested by an experiment and seeing what works and what doesn’t. Hypothesis is only temporary, once you have a conclusion, or a thesis, than the hypothesis has served its purpose. With some people’s current”number 6″ in their hypothesis, there’s often a further path down that rabbit hole.
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Stop when you find a rabbit. Better yet, when you find a mole in the rabbit hole.
3/3
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-All writing is opinionated.
-We discussed professor grade conferences.
-You can schedule appointments on the google doc he posted.
-You can send him a text when you are on your way to the conference.
-Not caring which way the question is answered is how a research paper should be written.
-Using unique rhetoric helps put a research essay on the write path.
-Your thesis can be at the beginning or the end of a research paper.
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Sorry I missed seeing these the first time through the feed. What does “Unique Rhetoric” mean?
When I requested a text to confirm an appointment, I actually meant WHEN you make it, so I don’t miss seeing that there’s something new on my schedule.
2/3
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2/10/21
How to water down self-evident truths.
– Eliminate “I believe…” or “in my opinion…” type language when writing.
– It’s a given that what you choose to write is your opinion already, no need to remind the audience and waste language. Write declarations!
– After a topic is found, a thesis and claim must be made. Writing essays is more like a science experiment than a writing assignment. The outcome doesn’t matter, as long as what is true comes from the process. “Nothing is more successful than realizing that your hypothesis is false.” Follow new concepts, phrases, ideas, etc.
– When writing, abandon your hypothesis. It will guide you to research, but don’t rely on it and seek to prove it while searching for answers. Trust the process and aim to reveal the truth.
Side notes:
– Consider narrowing hypotheses even more- take 6 back to 1, see if progress can be made.
– Grade Conferences: There are three in the semester; rather than a final, there’s a final grade conference. Feb 15, Mar 22, May 1-7 (finals week)
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I’m pretty sure you said most of that better than I did. Thank you for making my lecture sound intelligible.
3/3
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When you are writing, make use of your writing to you, then it will be convincing to others.
We went over what professor conferences are and what will be deduced about. We will just be going over our paper the first two meetings, the final meeting will be discussing our paper but also our grade for the class.
We talk about how a topic is a common idea that can be about anything that does not make a claim or ask a question
We did an in-class assignment analyzing how a hypothesis will work in a real-life example.
We looked at some of the hypotheses, one was on racism and the other was on medical marihuana. We discussed as a class if the hypothesis was good or if it could have been more specific.
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After several classes, you’re still relying on “talked about” language to write your Notes, Iced. I’m not sure how to persuade you to name the RESULTS or the LESSONS learned by all that talking, but I can’t grade you higher than 2 out of 3 unless you do.
2/3
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2/10/21
– Don’t include I believe or in my opinion type language when writing.
– It’s given that what you choose to write is your opinion already.
– We did an in-class assignment to show how a hypothesis works in a real-life example.
– We looked at some of the hypotheses, one was on racism and the other was on medical marihuana.
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Present.
1/3
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Everything we summarize is our opinion.
DONT skip grade conferences.
Professor talked briefly about the importance of the conferences and how it can make or break your grade.
Professor taught us how to make appointments.
Briefly talked about the January exception and how in January the president can do whatever the hell he (or potentially she) pleases in the month of January.
Racism is implemented in society to divide us as people.
Narrow hypothesis.
Dig deeper , get out if your comfort zone.
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Kobe, when I’m really on my game and getting grades out promptly, I grade class Notes shortly after class, to give prompt feedback and move along. If you’re taking Notes during class, it should be easy to post them as soon as class ends.
2/3
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