This week, class is suspended for STAR testing and conferences. You are expected to use the extra time that comes with minimum days to push through and finish the first draft of your American Author paper.
A complete first draft (roughly ten pages) is due when you return to class next week: May 6–7.
As we discussed in class, it is okay at this point in the writing process to privilege quantity over quality (one of the few times you will hear me say this). Your goal is to gather on paper all your current thinking and textual support, even if it is disjointed, so that you can get valuable feedback from your peers and teacher. Without a rough draft, it is difficult to get help.
Don’t delete any writing. Don’t feel like you have to write sequentially. If you hit a dead end, skip a few lines and start in a new place. Yes, your draft needs to be readable, but it doesn’t have to be cohesive.
Ten pages may seem overwhelming, but you have written to this detail before. Don’t forget that you have read the equivalent of three novels for this project. That’s a three-page paper for each novel, plus some room for an intro and conclusion. You have been writing three-page papers on novels all year.
Break it up in chunks. Two pages a day, fives days in a row, and voilà: you have ten pages.
Meeting this deadline brings a great reward: The major labor of the project will be behind you, and May becomes a month of unstressful polishing
Good luck.
Posted by Justin Wells : 04/30/2008