January 2015 WPE Workshop

January 2015 WPE Workshop
Portfolio Reading Set: Family in America
Writing Proficiency Office
Academic Support Services and Undergraduate Studies
Website: http://www.umb.edu/wpe
Elements of Proficiency
Handout:
Link: A Brief Version of the Elements of Writing Proficiency
The Elements of Proficiency are the criteria that faculty readers use to evaluate your proficiency
in critical reading, thinking, and writing. The Elements are directly related to particular aims of
the General Education program (Gen. Ed.). The Gen. Ed. program is based on the premise that
frequent consideration of complex problems helps you to develop the specific capabilities most
often used in critical reading, writing, and thinking.
You are not expected to have mastered all of the capabilities completely; rather, you are expected
to “demonstrate intermediate proficiency in writing.” This means that your writing will not be
graded as a “retake” merely because it contains a few spelling or punctuation errors. However, it
is unlikely that you will pass the exam without demonstrating an intermediate mastery of the higher
order thinking criteria outlined in the Elements of Writing Proficiency.
The elements are separated into three categories: critical thinking, critical reading, and
effective writing. Each of these categories is assigned a percentage weight in evaluating your
essay. The categories and elements are listed below in an abbreviated form; there is a printer
friendly version of the full descriptions called, Elements of Writing Proficiency and Evaluation
Rubric, in the menu of the WPR website.
Reader’s Report
What Happens on Submission Day?
• If you have previously submitted a portfolio
• If you have not previously submitted a portfolio
What you should and should not do
in your essay
• DO answer the question directly and
unmistakably FIRST (not in the last paragraph).
• DON’T summarize unless it’s for a directly stated
purpose that relates to how you are answering
the questions.
• Whether or not you quote, summarize, or
paraphrase, DO give credit. Always.
The writing prompt (or question)
What is it asking you to do? How can you use the writing prompt
to help you figure out your approach?
Karen V. Hansen writes, “Overall, the Crane network illustrates
the centrality of kin as care providers. The Cranes demonstrate
that networks centered around care for children typically involve
the exchange of many things besides child care, and involve
caring for individuals of different ages, not just children” (p. 14).
How does Hansen’s report allow us to build a concept of family in
America?
As part of your answer state and explain the parts of this concept
of family.
The Answer
Employ phrases from the question into your position
statement (thesis)
• Hansen’s report allows us to build a concept of family in
America by ____________________________. Parts of this
concept that I will discuss in my essay include
_______________________________.
Key terms
• Use as many of these key terms as are relevant to your paper.
• The first time you use a key term, define it.
Primary among these key terms is “family.” Other key terms that
might help you with your argument are: decline; familism; deficit
comparison model; voluntary kin; social constructionism;
kinscription.
Family: Popenoe defines family as: “a relatively small domestic group of
kin (or people in a kin-like relationship) consisting of at least one adult and
one dependent person” (1). He continues that “it is important to
distinguish a mere intimate relationship between adults, no matter how
permanent, from the group that results when children or other dependents
are present” (2). But as I considered the Crane family described in
Hanson’s essay, I came to disagree with this definition…
Grid Notes
Hanson
Popenoe
Coontz
Braithwaite
Concept of
family? (Ideas I
would focus on)
Network of independent care
providers
Dependents, not just
intimates
Myth of family; no one
model
Voluntary kin; no one form
Parts of
concept? (Ideas
I would focus
on)
Resources and needs
Domestic group, cooperative
unit, fulfils functions
White, middle-class ideal.
Families are “talked into being”
without formal roles or types
family
Is this a family?
1 (def)
Decline
Is this what a family in
decline looks like?
3 (def), 1, 4, 2, 5
familism
Is family a cultural value for
the Cranes? What is their
family cultural value?
5 (def),
Deficit
comparison
model
Does deficit comparison
make this family seem
illegitimate?
3
Voluntary kin
“I consider her part of my
family” (17)
Social
constructionism
Is the Crane family socially
constructed? (19, 14:
obligations and
responsibilities)
kinscription
19 (def) “constellation of
resources”
12 (def)
10-11 (def), 12
8
11 (def)
11 (def), 10
January 2015 WPE Workshop
• Questions?
• Contact us: [email protected], 617-2876330, Campus Center 1st floor room 1300.
• Next: How can critical reading generate critical (and
organized) writing?
The Readings
•
Constructing family: A typology of voluntary kin by
Dana Braithwaite et alia.
•
“Introduction.” The way we never were: American
families and the nostalgia trap by Stephanie Coontz.
•
Not-so-nuclear families class, gender, and networks
of care by Karen V. Hansen.
•
American Family Decline, 1960-1990: A Review and
Appraisal by David Popenoe.
Why am I not using the order used in the reading
set?
Critical Reading and Writing
You are writing an analytical essay.
What are the parts of an analytical
essay?
Critical Reading and Writing
In very broad terms, an analytical essay consists
of six parts:

Introduce the problem

Describe how the problem manifests itself, which can
include a history, real-life examples, etc.

Propose a solution

Describe how the solution will help solve the problem
using supporting evidence

Acknowledge opposing views and debunk them

Conclude
Critical Reading and Writing
Do the readings follow the pattern of an
analytical essay?
Let’s explore how they do it.
Critical Reading and Writing
Part 1 of an analytical essay:
 Introduce the problem
Critical Reading and Writing
Part 2 of an analytical essay:
 Describe how the problem manifests
itself, which can include a history, reallife examples, etc.
Critical Reading and Writing
Part 3 of an analytical essay:
 Propose a solution
Critical Reading and Writing
Part 4 of an analytical essay:
 Describe how the solution will help solve
the problem using supporting evidence
Critical Reading and Writing
Part 5 of an analytical essay:
 Acknowledge opposing views and
debunk them
Critical Reading and Writing
Part 6 of an analytical essay:
 Conclude

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