Hi everyone.

Just a friendly reminder that the final draft of Essay #2 is due before class begins on Thursday. We discussed your drafts/strategies for revision in class last Thursday, and I’ve met with some of you individually to discuss your work during my office hours. These brief meetings have been really productive/generative, and I’m happy to meet with others before Thursday if you’d like (but please e-mail me ASAP if you’d like to set up a time to meet).

It sounds as if many of you have not yet actually read the essay assignment that has been on our OpenLab course site, but it is essential that you read the Essay #2 Assignment carefully before revising/submitting your final draft. Also, make sure to review the Essay Formatting Guidelines and the Dropbox submission requirements (all of this contributes to your grade on the essay).

As you revise, keep in mind that your goal is to leave your readers with a clear, vivid sense of what some aspect of happiness means to you. This requires that you focus your discussion (you can’t discuss everything that makes you happy!), and beginning with an example/experience/story/memory/etc. that you then discuss/analyze is a productive strategy. Using this strategy, you first present a “text” (the example/experience/story/memory/etc.) and then you explain/analyze it for your readers (how/why it illustrates some aspect of happiness for/to you, what values it represents, what type of being it promotes, etc.).

Happy revising! I look forward to reading your final drafts 🙂