Q4: Week 2 - Posts for 3/21

Just one post this week! + Reading Details

Please read a current political article from the source of your choice and respond to it in a 2-paragraph blog post.  Because of the reading element, this post will be worth 20 points instead of 10.

You must:
- Include a link to the article (Hint: selecting your text and pressing ctrl / cmd -K allows you to insert a link without it looking like an ugly link)
- Summarize and explain the author's main point(s) fairly
- Provide your opinion / response.  You may want to acknowledge issues that you don't have enough background knowledge to adequately respond to and consider how you might learn more.
- Explain how you chose your article, both the topic and the source (website or newspaper)
- Stay focused on the issues in the article.  Resist the temptation to dive into a rant.
- Be civil and understanding of people who may have different views (this applies to comments, too) while being clear.

As we enter the fourth quarter, a few general reminders for blogging:
- We blog because frequent, low-stakes writing is critical to your development as writers.  Blogging takes the place of multiple formal essays in our class.  It offers you an opportunity to explore your ideas and writing voice in a supportive environment and to build your fluency as a writer.
- Missing blogs, not completing comments, or not including reading details can substantially impact your grade.  Four weeks of blogging is generally the equivalent of a paper or test.  It adds up fast.
- A complete blog post is at least two developed paragraphs, meaning a minimum of 5 strong sentences.  Yes, it is possible to write short sentences about nothing, but that won't help you as a writer, and it may negatively affect your grade.
- While blogs are informal, they are academic-informal.  That means you need to capitalize appropriately, use apostrophes and punctuation consistently, and consider the appropriateness of your remarks for a school audience and assignment.
- I want you to do your best but not agonize over these.  Consider the topic, then set a timer for 15 minutes, and write the best post you can in that focused time.