Announcement #4: Canvas Is Back + What You Need to Do Now

Dear students,

Good news—Canvas is now operational again. We are officially returning to our normal course schedule and routines.

First, please log in to Canvas and confirm that any recent submissions (if you attempted any during the outage) have been successfully uploaded.

Rough Drafts & Peer Review Credit

Here’s how I will handle the work affected by the outage:

• If you uploaded your rough draft, you will receive credit.
• If you complete your assigned peer reviews, you will also receive credit.
• If you were unable to complete one or both of these during the outage, you will not receive a grade for those components, so your overall course grade will not be negatively affected.

What You Need to Do Now

Please complete your peer review assignments by Sunday night if you were assigned, as originally scheduled.

Now that Canvas is back:

• We are returning to normal deadlines
• All coursework will proceed as planned
• Final exam schedules remain unchanged

I understand this disruption may have caused some stress or confusion, so continue to reach out if you have specific concerns. Let’s stay focused and finish the term strong.

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Announcement 3: Access to Tannen Article (Use This Version)

Dear students,

Here is the third update during the Canvas outage, and this one will help you move forward with MLA Essay 3.

Since Canvas is still unavailable, you should use the following link to access Deborah Tannen’s article:

👉 https://and-if-not.blogspot.com/2006/03/talk-in-intimate-relationship.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Please use this version of the article. It is the same version that I originally posted in Canvas, so you can rely on it for your reading, summaries, quotes, and analysis.

This will allow you to continue working on MLA Essay 3 without interruption.

As always, keep checking the course update page for any additional changes or instructions.

Announcement 2 on May 8, 2026: Final Exam + Final MLA Submission Plan (Yes, It’s Still On) + What You Need to Know

Dear students,

Here is the second official update during the Canvas outage, and this one is important for planning ahead.

Even though Canvas is currently down, you should still plan on completing and submitting your final exam essay and MLA Essay 3 on your assigned final exam day:

• Eng 1060A-13 → May 12
• Eng 1070A-06 → May 13
• Eng 1070A-19 → May 11
• Eng 1070A-62 → May 12
• Eng 1070B-01 → May 11

Right now, the big question is: How will you submit these assignments? I am working on that and will update you soon—so stay tuned and keep checking the course update page.

Final Exam Essay Topic

Your final exam essay will respond to the following question:

“Should people be required to get the Coronavirus vaccine? Why or why not?”

Requirements:

• 450–550 words
• Clear position (yes or no)
• At least one concrete detail per paragraph

Helpful strategies:

• Start with a focused introduction that clearly answers the question
• Use 2–3 body paragraphs, each with:
  • A clear topic sentence
  • A specific example (real-world situation, statistic, or personal observation)
• Consider addressing a counterargument briefly to strengthen your position
• End with a short but clear conclusion

MLA Essay 3: What You Need to Include

This is your MLA Multi-Draft Writing Project 3: Differences in Men’s and Women’s Talk, based on Deborah Tannen’s article.

Your essay should be 6–7 full pages and organized around a clear central idea.

Suggested structure:

• ½-page introduction with a thesis that previews all four parts
• Part 1: Meta-Messages
  • One academic definition paragraph
  • One informal (colloquial) version
• Part 2: Summary
  • About one page, using key quotes from Tannen
• Part 3: Bias Analysis
  • Evaluate whether Tannen is fair using two quoted examples
• Part 4: Extended Response
  • Your personal experience
  • Survey results (at least 6 peers)
  • 3 scholarly sources (literature review)

Required Components

Your submission should include:

• 6 full pages of essay content
• An Appendix with your survey questions
• A Works Cited page (10 total sources) including:
  • Tannen’s article
  • Your peers (as personal interviews)
  • 3 scholarly sources

Example MLA citations:

Tannen, Deborah. “Talk in the Intimate Relationship: His and Hers.”

Smith, John. Personal interview. 5 May 2026.

Final Editing Checklist ✅

Before submitting, make sure your essay:

• Has a clear introduction and strong thesis
• Fully addresses all four parts of the assignment
• Uses specific examples (not vague generalizations)
• Includes at least 6 peer responses
• Integrates 3 scholarly sources effectively
• Clearly distinguishes your ideas from source material
• Uses correct MLA in-text citations
• Includes a properly formatted Works Cited page
• Flows logically from paragraph to paragraph
• Uses varied sentence structures (not repetitive)
• Has minimal grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors

More updates are coming soon—especially about submission procedures. Keep checking the course update page regularly so you don’t miss anything.

We’ll get through this disruption smoothly as long as you stay informed and keep working.

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Announcement 1 on May 8, 2026: Central Update Page During Canvas Access Problems

Dear students,

Canvas is currently down, and many students are unable to submit assignments. Since it is uncertain how long the learning management system will remain unavailable, this web page will serve as the central location for class announcements until Canvas is working again.

Please check this page frequently for current updates about the class, assignment changes, deadline adjustments, and any other important information. To help reduce the number of individual emails, I will post updates here instead of responding separately to every message about the outage.

Because most students were unable to submit the required rough draft of the final MLA Writing 3 assignment, that rough draft will not count toward your overall grade.

Please continue checking this page for further updates.

Thanks,

Michael Buckhoff