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Anatomy of a Post
by
Peter T. Struck
Here are two TOTALLY FICTICIOUS! examples of posts, one good one bad, concocted as examples to help guide you on how to do web posts. Generally, you should consult the webinfo page to get a sense of the overall requirements. As is stated on Blackboard, the basic criteria for evaluating posts are: 1) depth of engagement with the reading, 2) originality of insight, 3) depth of engagement with the other students in your section. Posts should be targeted on the *readings* and contain specific citations from the readings for the week. The examples below highlight a few common strengths and weaknesses. They are meant to present rules of thumb rather than hard and fast requirements.
In general, a writer can almost always benefit by remembering that good writing:
  • has a THESIS (another name for a point)
  • and demonstrates or explores that point with
  • EVIDENCE (direct citations from the reading)
  • and ARGUMENTS (a string of logical ideas that connects the evidence and makes the point),
  • and does all this in a crystal clear style of arrangement and presentation.
Further, we will grade your writing based on:
  • How ORIGINAL and INSIGHTFUL your thesis is
  • How well you use evidence, in the form of direct citations from the readings to support your thesis
  • How carefully you construct your argument to lead logically from the evidence you cite to your (original, insightful) point.
  • Finally, we will look at the care with which you present your ideas -- do the ideas flow easily from one to the next? do you use language well? is your writing free from grammatical and spelling errors?
Finally, you can almost always benefit from keeping in mind these mantras:
  • get to the point
  • cut out the fluff
  • stop writing paper-ese
  • is this original?
  • THINK before you write.
 
To get a bit more specific, let's look at a couple of examples. Suppose that this week's assignment is to write a short paragraph that considers whether Odysseus measures up as a hero.
Anatomy of a not-so-good post, written by Peter T. Struck
a check minus webpost
 
 
Anatomy of a pretty good post, I'd probably give myself a "B," but you can do better, written dutifully by Peter T. Struck
a check plus webpost
 
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