English 1006
Prompt #18
8 October 2013
Going even deeper

You've had the experience of reading a dozen or more of the reports on preliminary investigations into what's out there about Private Lives. You've read them with the two preliminary questions --
  1. To what extent does the report actually say what it found, as opposed to simply saying there's something there to be found?
  2. To what extent does the report tell you what the document was that it found -- that is, who wrote it, where it was published, what its title and date were (as opposed to telling you how to find it on Wikipedia or in Google)?
-- in mind, and had a chance to assess your own in the light of those questions (and perhaps in the light of comments or questions people added to your printout, and maybe even comments groups made when they mentioned yours as one of their top three choices (you can see those by clicking here).

Your job now is to post a better version of your report. This will mean going back to your sources, possibly even finding new ones, and, mainly, making more explicit what was implied, and explaining exactly what the document you're reporting on had to say (so that your reader now doesn't have to go read it to understand what you're saying is worth knowing about it).

You should do that by posting your new and improved version as a Reply to the one that's already there (unfortunately, the way Moodle forum work you can't editing postings after the 45-minute limit). I suggest you do this by copying the existing text into a word processor, making your changes there, saving it, and only then pasting it into the editing window that opens up when you click on Reply. Post your revised version before 1:00 on Thursday. Be prepared to tell the rest of us what the major changes you made were, and why.

In general, it's a good practice when dealing with online programs like Moodle to compose and save your work locally, on your own computer, before you post it. It's also a good idea to check back and make sure your posting has actually appeared in the right place and is correctly formatted. If something happens to internet connections while texts are in transit they can easily get lost. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

And remember to buy your tickets for Private Lives. If you don't have a credit card, I think you probably have to get to the Playhouse box office, with a $10 bill. It's not hard, and the rest of the week is, I'm told, going to be great weather for walking down University Avenue, turning left at the river, and walking past the New Brunswick legislature and the Beaverbook Art Gallery.


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