There are several opportunities to receive extra credit during Writing 2; they are listed below. (This list will 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 extra credit 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 this quarter are:
14 May, 4:00–5:00 p.m.: Starting Lines reading in the McCune Conference Room, 6th floor of HSSB.
Propose productive additional interview questions for writing project 2 that are broadly applicable to students from multiple fields and that help students to find productive information that gives them a useful view of their chosen field of analysis. To attempt this extra-credit assignment, send me an email no later than 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, 26 April proposing questions to be added to the Interview Questions document. If I agree with you that they are likely to be productive questions, I will add them to the document and give you a bonus to your total grade for the quarter of up to 2%: 1% if I accept one of your questions; 2% if I accept three or more proposed questions. You are only eligible to receive extra credit for these questions if you submit them before other students submit essentially the same question — someone else who beats you to the punch here will disqualify you from receiving credit even if their version of the question has not yet actually been posted to the course website.
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.
On 29 April, we produced a group-generated outline of the first two sections of David Bartholomae's article Inventing the University. For up to 2% extra credit, produce a paragraph-by-paragraph reverse outline of the last two sections of Bartholomae's article that is neither substantially more nor less detailed than our group-generated outline of the first two sections. You must turn in this extra-credit assignment by the beginning of class on Wednesday, 3 June.
Take a draft of a WP assignment to a CLAS writing tutor, and turn in the paperwork that the writing tutor gives you (the blue slip) as the top element in a WP portfolio or as the top element in a WP packet that you turn in as part of your final portfolio. Some caveats to be aware of for this assignment:
CLAS attempts to accommodate drop-in students, and does a pretty good job most of the time, but if you go by during a busy part of the quarter, they may not be able to seat you with a tutor immediately. It is your responsibility to ensure that you manage your time well and manage to actually sit down with a tutor; for this reason, it's wise to schedule an appointment in advance.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you walk out of CLAS with the necessary paperwork to prove that you were there. If you don't get the paperwork, you won't get any extra credit. You should be sure that you leave with the necessary paperwork at the time that your appointment occurs.
CLAS's services end several days before your final portfolio is due, so make sure that you check their schedule (available online) if you're planning on taking this extra credit opportunity.
You may take this opportunity up to twice, if you wish: on WP3, and/or on either or both revised WPs that are included in your final portfolio. If you take this opportunity twice, you must turn in paperwork for both sessions with your tutor(s). Each blue slip will be worth up to 2% extra credit; exact scoring will depend on how well you use the writing tutor's advice to make productive changes to your draft.
This extra-credit assignment is due when the writing project or portfolio assignment that you have the CLAS tutor look at is due. I will not accept paperwork after the assignment itself is turned in, so make sure that you properly include it as part of your packet.
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.