You are required to submit an original post for part one, and then two responses to what other students posted for part two.
Discussion Posts General Instructions:
You are required to submit an original post for part one, and then two responses to what other students posted for part two. Using the worksheets, How to Analyze (found under the How to Analyze tab for each section), you are to prepare a minimum of 300-310 (maximum) word post on one of the documents found under the documents for discussion tab for each course section. The worksheets should form the basis of your post, do not turn in your worksheet. By the end of the term, you will have completed three posts based on a written primary source and three on an illustration (cartoon, illustration, painting, photograph). This first post must be posted before you see the discussion stream and the following week you are responsible for responding to two other students posts on two different documents that you did not use for your original post. Response posts should be 8-10 sentences.
Step 1: Select the document you want to write about from the tab, Documents for Discussion. Read the document.
Step 2: Find the appropriate How to Analyze worksheet. Use that worksheet data as the basis for your discussion post.
Step 3: Write your discussion post in paragraph form, making sure that you address the requirement elements from the How to Analyze worksheet. I suggest you write your discussion text in your word processor, and then cut and paste into the discussion board.
Step 4: Check your word count, make sure that your post is between 300-310 words. Make sure that you have followed all instructions regarding quotation and citation. Also check your grammar and word usage. Edit accordingly.
Step 5: Upload your discussion to the discussion board, make sure that you include the salutation.
Step 6: Read and respond to two students who have written on two different documents and not what you wrote about in your original post. Count your sentences and make sure that your responses are 8-10 sentences (not lines), and follow the formatting instructions, and have a salutation.
Also, response posts should respond to the substance of what another has posted and not the form of the post, do not include extraneous information (such as, Great post Ashley. I like what you say. It was very detailed. or You have an incomplete sentence and misspelled words in your post.). Instead focus on what you found interesting or meaningful in their post. Salutations will not count in the word count. Points are deducted from response posts that include sentences like the ones mentioned above.
Watch grammar and spelling. The original post should be structured as a couple of paragraphs with topic sentences and complete sentences. Each posting should provide an explanation and specific examples (with an indication from where in the source you have drawn the information). No outside research (that even means lectures, textbooks). Citations do count in the total word count.
How to provide proper citation: When you are writing your discussion post and using specific examples from the sources you must introduce and identify the source you are using, provide the paraphrased or quoted material and then provide the paragraph number (for written sources) from where that material is drawn at the end of the sentence in which it appears. It would look something like this: For instance, Lucretia Mott, concerned with women’s rights, argued that “…” (par 5). Constructing your examples this way ensures that the reader knows that it is a specific example and exactly from where that material is drawn.
Limit use of quoted material in your discussion post. No long quotations, which are more than two lines. I am interested in what you are able to get out of the material and not that you can drop a quote into a paragraph. Use no more than one short quote per paragraph. Paragraphs that string together a series of quotes are not acceptable. If you are using multiple examples from different sources in your paragraph, you will need to choose your quote carefully and paraphrase other material.
