Student Blogs
The three screenshots of selections of the students’ blogs are all in response to the third prompt, “What role does the past play for Offred? What might Atwood be saying about the ways in which people engage in the present?” At this point in the unit, the class had discussed the previous two blogs and gone over blog conventions and their incorporation and how to generate strong thesis statements.
Nicole’s blog reads,
Nicole’s blog reads,
Nicole seems to have made some improvement in this blog post. She has a clearly stated argument (“Aunt Lydia and Offred dearly miss how society used to be and really treasured the freedom they once had”) and a reflection on authorial intent (“Atwood is trying to tell our society that the world is going to change in ways that we may not agree with”). What she is missing, however, are specific details in her quasi thesis paragraph.
While she finds great quotations (this blog continues below the screenshot), and links her analysis back to her argument, she doesn’t actually reference the specific language of her passage in order to make her point. Finally, though she inserts an extremely interesting image that ties in thematically to her argument, she struggles with making her blog visually stimulating.
Anastasia’s blog, unlike Nicole’s excels in incorporation of visual conventions of blog posts.
While she finds great quotations (this blog continues below the screenshot), and links her analysis back to her argument, she doesn’t actually reference the specific language of her passage in order to make her point. Finally, though she inserts an extremely interesting image that ties in thematically to her argument, she struggles with making her blog visually stimulating.
Anastasia’s blog, unlike Nicole’s excels in incorporation of visual conventions of blog posts.
Interestingly, while Nicole had an argument and a reflection on authorial intent but lacked specific details in her introductory paragraph, Anastasia includes specific details ("Offred's hope for Moira to not live solely for survival" and " her hope that her mother is still the spunky woman that she remembers) and a reflection on authorial intent ("Atwood's way of showing that having faith and being hopeful is fruitless in America unless people work to protect their individuality") but lacks an argument.
Like Nicole, Anastasia finds great quotations but her analysis of them focuses on the meaning rather than the relevant language or grammar.
Like Nicole, Anastasia finds great quotations but her analysis of them focuses on the meaning rather than the relevant language or grammar.
Finally, Nem’s blog includes all three important elements in her quasi thesis paragraph. Her specific examples (her recollections during the Night chapters of "the cute clothes her daughter wore on the first day of school, her recalling the lively arguments and dialogue with Luke and her mother, or her trying to cope with the brutal reality of their failed attempt to escape"), an argument (the past plays a huge role in shaping Offred and the way she handles the grim reality of her present") and authorial intent ("Atwood is making a statement of how people's respective pasts greatly influence the way they choose to engage in the present").
She finds great passages as well but, like her two classmates, explores the passages’ meaning without a focus on the relevant language.
She finds great passages as well but, like her two classmates, explores the passages’ meaning without a focus on the relevant language.