Publishing Guidelines

Posting:

A post is a paragraph (at least 8 gorgeous sentences) entry that is published on the front page of the blog. Posts are published in chronological order and are available for commenting. In order to post, you will need to log into www.blogger.com or our blog at: http://73ptifall16.blogspot.com/ OR http://74ptifall16.blogspot.com/ and click on “New Post.” You will be provided with space to type. The title should always start with the reading # and then be followed by a question. Proofread your post carefully before you publish. You can’t make any changes once you’ve published. When you’ve finished your post, click on “Publish Post.”

Post Structure and Content: Choose a topic/question from those assigned. Your post should be at least one well developed paragraph (8 gorgeous sentences minimum).

In order to write a successful post you must:

·      Title your post with blogging/reading # followed by the question you are answering. Include your first name and first letter of you last name in parenthesis.

·      Include a clear thesis statement

·      Briefly provide context for your post (what key scenes from the novel helped shape your answer?)

·      Respond to the question in detail

·      Include at least one quotation (with page #) for support

·      Connect to other ideas/themes/details we've explored

·      Close with a clear concluding statement

Note: Excellent posts not only give complete, thoughtful answers, but also encourage discussion in the comments section, either by asking questions at the end or by providing links to relevant sits/video/imagery that you’d like your classmates to comment on.

Commenting:

You can comment on a post by clicking on the “Comments” link at the bottom of the post or by clicking on the title bar of the post. Don’t forget you must be logged in to get credit for your comment. Comments should be direct responses to the information and ideas in the post OR to a previous comment to that post. Comments let the writer know he/she has an audience, encourage people to write more and better pieces and help people to think more deeply about an issue. It's just like a discussion in class: if you don't "listen" to the post and other comments, the conversation isn't productive. Proofread your comments carefully before publishing.

An excellent comment is four to five gorgeous sentences, which include:

• A strong, clear topic sentence that shows you understand the topic explored and the ideas expressed in the post you just read
• At least two sentences that respond to the post in a thoughtful way that adds information to the post (this can be in agreeing with what’s stated or respectfully disagreeing), complete with specific textual support from the novel.
• A clear concluding statement, and if appropriate, a question that advances the discussion.