Assignment due Monday, August 31: Read pp. 18-21 in Saint Martin's Guide to Writing. In your journal, write an approximately one page response to the following prompt.
People tell stories about themselves for different reasons. Describe a situation where you told stories about yourself (or others) and explain why you did so. Was it to fit in? Was it to stick out? Was it to help someone get to know you better?
Assignment due Wednesday, September 2:
Read the pieces by Annie Dillard and Tobias Wolff in Saint
Martin'sGuide to Writing, located on pp. 22-23 and 26-28.
In your journal, write a response to the following prompt.
How do Dillard and Wolff tell different stories within the same genre? What strategies do each of them use to make their writing unique and to make their stories compelling? (To answer the second question, it may be helpful to look over the analysis that Axelrod and Cooper give to each essay on the pages following it.)
Assignment due Friday, September 4:
Read "Calling Home" by Jean Brandt, which starts on page 35 of SMG, and
Chapter 14 (pp. 481-490), which deals with different ways of structuring
and presenting narrative. In your journal, make a list of the different
narrative structures that Brandt uses in her essay and give examples.
Assignment due Wednesday, September 9th: Read over writing assignment one. Choose a topic for your
paper. Then read Chapter 11 in SMG (pp. 429-440) and use the
strategies of clustering and listing (pp. 430-431) to brainstorm a set
of ideas about your topic. Bring this set to class on Wednesday.
Assignment Due Friday, September 11th: Read pages 40-41 and 46-49 in SMG.
Write out the minimal story of your essay. Ie, "This happened,then this happened, then this happened because of this." Pay attention to the connections between the events, and make sure that they are causally related. The pentad we do in class should help you focus it. Then write two or three sentences that express the significance of this event to you. Start thinking about ways to include them in the essay, either by showing or telling.
Start drafting, based on this minimal story and your invention materials. The draft does not have to be finished, but the earlier you start it, the earlier you can get feedback from me as well as your peers on it. If you want to share the draft in class on Friday and get ideas, there will be time for that. If outlining helps, outline. If just sitting down and writing helps, start writing. Bring your minimal story and any draft materials to class on Friday.
Assignment Due Monday, September 14th: Your first draft along with three copies is due. I will be giving you the names of your group members in class.
Assignment Due Wednesday September 16th: Written comments on the drafts of your two group members, and participation in the workshop.
Assignment Due Friday, September 18th: Your final draft of writing assignment one is due.
Assignment Due Monday, September 21st: Read the first two pages of the chapter entitled "Proposing a Solution" in SMG. Read the Salon article about college, and in your journal, explain what Karabell is proposing, and whether or not you agree or disagree with his proposal.
Asignment due Wednesday, September 23rd: Read "Birth Control in the Schools" by Joshua Weisman, located in SMG, and prepare a brief outline of his proposal, solution and arguments. Then state whether or not you agree or disagree with this proposal.
Assignment for Friday, September 25:
Proposing a solution is a genre that can be seen in all aspects of our
society. Your assignment for Friday is to find some examples of this
genre in the culture around you. I would like you to watch television and
read a newspaper or magazine to find these examples. (The Exponent
counts, so this assignment should theoretically cost you nothing.)
Watch at least an hour of television, and pay attention to the
commercials. Find two commercials that propose a solution to a problem,
and docment the following in writing:
What the commercial is selling (a product, a service, a
company, etc)
What the problem they propose is.
What the solution they propose is.
How they justify this solution (ie, how using their product/service will
solve your this problem.)
Then read the paper or any kind of magazine, and find an article that
proposes a solution to a problem. (You can usually find a lot of these on
the editorial page, but news articles may also contain people advocating
solutions to their specific problems.) Cut out or make a copy of the
article, and document the following in writing:
What the problem is.
What the proposed solution is.
How the author justifies this solution (what arguments do they use to
support their proposal?)
Bring all of this written work to class on Friday, where we will use it for class discussion and then it will be collected.
Make two separate lists. One list will be for the film, and the other for the reviews.
Make a list of the ways in which the reviews use comparison and contrast to evaluate the film. Some of the comparisons and contrasts you will want to look at are:
Pick an urban legend of your own (if you can't think of one on your own, try either www.snopes.com or www.urbanlegends.com) and come up with a list of possible explanations for a) where it could've originated, b) why people started circulating it, c) why people continue to circulate it, d) why people believe in it, and d) why people have trouble being convinced that it's not true. Read the Classifying chapter in SMG, and attempt to classify your lists of causes by common features that they might share.
Write a speculation as to how you think the story resolves. Who do you think has the correct explanation? Scully? Mulder? Neither? Which explanation of the events do you think our culture would find the most "acceptable?" Which one do you think they would find the least "acceptable?"
Write a list of possible reasons that can explain why this genre is so popular, especially as to why it is popular among certain viewers. Be as specific as possible.