Blogging+Project

**Up to this point…** We’ve read several praiseworthy arguments and analyzed the techniques an author uses to draft a convincing argument (see Writer’s Checklist to review these techniques). We’ve practiced responding to another’s argument by agreeing, disagreeing, or qualifying. The next step is to practice drafting an argument of your own on a topic of your choosing.

If you haven’t noticed, good writers are avid readers with voracious appetites. They devour fiction and nonfiction and poetry and current events and editorials and political cartoons and photo essays and anything else they can sink their teeth into.

A convincing argument is an informed argument. An informed argument requires background knowledge. Background knowledge requires you being hungry—hungry to read the world around you, both past and present. **I hope you’re all hungry. The world awaits, ready for your devouring.**

**To feed your appetite…** We’re going to tap the power of a few digital tools (and some old-fashioned ones) that will help us bring a banquet of reading materials to our communal table: • **Google Reader** will allow you to subscribe to web content to have it delivered directly to your table, without your having to lift a finger, spend a dime, or scrounge a single cabinet. Start by cleaning out your Reader, deleting subscriptions that don't really interest you. Then, locate a few solid reading sources, including at least a couple subscriptions to quality editorials. Subscribe to a particular editorial section or columnist of a quality publication, the kind we've been reading. Then start reading! Try to scan your Reader daily: spend a quick 10-15 minutes, skimming and scanning, locating articles that look promising.

• **Delicious** will allow you to bookmark your yummy favorites and jot notes to capture your reactions and ideas, and share with your peers. Think of it as a digitized note card. Read more to learn how to use Delicious as a quick, efficient bookmarking, note taking, networking tool

**Reading/Writing Journal** will encourage you to read actively those non-digital morsels you tackle. You can organize your journal however you'd like. We'll use Penzu, a digital notebook that allows you to share with me so that I can peek inside notebook and your head. If you absolutely love a pen/paper journal, you may use it, just make sure you really use it and bring it with you to class every day. Read more about keeping meaningful Writer's Notebook.


 * Blogger** [[image:write.png width="92" height="107" align="left"]] will serve as your own publishing platform—a banquet table if you will--allowing you to publish your arguments to the world and to have others, via comments, pull up a chair and enter the conversation, challenging, defending, or expanding your ideas. Visit the blogging page for deadlines and details.

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