There are several opportunities to receive extra credit during Writing 2, and this page lists them. (It may also change periodically if new opportunities become available. If this happens, I will announce new opportunities both on the course Twitter stream and in class.)
There are two important caveats for extra credit that you should be aware of:
No matter how many of these projects you engage in, you cannot receive a total bonus of more than 5% to your overall term grade during the quarter.
Extra credit cannot lift your overall grade for the quarter into the A+ range. You can only get into the A+ range naturally, i.e. by performing very very well throughout the quarter.
List of opportunities
Attend a reading from the Starting Lines series and write two (double-spaced) pages on the aspects of the verbal performance that differ from the written text. This two-page paper must be turned in no later than one week from the date of the reading you attend and, if you do a reasonably attentive job, will result in a bonus of 2% to your overall term grade. You may take this option up to twice during the quarter if there are enough readings.
Currently scheduled reading dates are:
13 November, 4 p.m.–5:30 p.m.: Starting Lines reading in the Multipurpose Room in the Student Resources Building.
Propose improvements to the grading rubric: This opportunity is only available for a short period after WP assignments have been returned. May result in up to 2% extra credit; may be taken up to twice. Requires that both I and the rest of the class approve the changes. See the assignment description for more information.
Propose improvements to the peer-review guidelines: This opportunity is only available for a short period after peer review occurs. May result in up to 2% extra credit; may be taken up to twice. Requires that both I and the rest of the class approve the changes. See the assignment description for more information.
Participate extensively in National Novel Writing Month: This is certainly the hardest way to earn extra credit, but I believe it to be a worthwhile experience, and I will reward you if you would like to do so. Worth up to 5% if you complete all of the following tasks:
Sign up for an account at nanowrimo.org, and show me proof that you have done so (send me a link to a publicly accessible profile on their website, forward me a confirmation email, or send me a screenshot that proves you've signed up);
Follow both @W2_48637 (the course Twitter account) and @nanowrimo (the National Novel Writing Month account) from a Twitter account that I can reliably associate with your real identity in some way; and
Write at least 20,000 words in a novelistic form by November 30th, and send me a copy of your document by email no later than December 1. (NaNoWriMo asks participants to aim for 50,000 words or more, and while this is a theoretically possible goal and some people do reach it, I think it's quite a high bar to set for extra credit.)
If you complete some but not all of these tasks, you will get some extra credit. If you write some text but not 20,000 words, you will get some extra credit. I believe that this is a worthwhile exercise, and will reward you for attempting to complete it even if you are not fully successful.
If you would like feedback on your novel (or novel-ish project), please say so explicitly, and I will do my best to provide honest feedback ... but not until grades for everyone have been submitted for the quarter. I do realize that writing a novel is an intensely personal process that can be agonizing, and I promise that I will be thoughtful and sensitive in dealing with your document. (However, I cannot avoid reading it entirely, because, at the very least, I need to be able to check that the text that you submit is not plagiarized.)
Write two thoughtfully considered double-spaced pages on the implications of Facebook's recently announced changes to their privacy policy, which take effect on January 1st. Be sure that if you rely on someone else's analysis, you properly credit that analysis (and provide a Works Cited page ... which does not count toward the two-page length.) This assignment is due at the beginning of class on 10 December.
If you have other suggestions for extra-credit opportunities, I want to hear them! I will consider all reasonable suggestions that (a) have a legitimate educational goal, and (b) are not merely attempts to get credit for something that you're already going to do anyway. If you propose an idea that I accept, I will add it to this page so that everyone can benefit from the opportunity.