Extra-Credit Opportunities for Writing 2

Teaching Assistant: Patrick Mooney
Writing 2
Winter 2015

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:

1. 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.
2. 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:

  • 20 February, 3:30–5:00 p.m.: Starting Lines reading in Theater & Dance 1701.
• 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.
• Write two pages on the nature of truth that Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Ernest for up to 2% extra credit. For an additional point, also attend a performance of The Importance of Being Ernest of the play on the UCSB campus in February and consider the non-written aspects of the play that do not appear in the original play text, and write three pages on the topic. Whichever option you choose, you must submit your write-up by no later than the beginning of class on 2 March to receive credit.
• On 4 February, 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, 11 March.

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.