Week 1: Course Overview & Annotating Texts
Texts:
- Read “How to Read like a Writer” by Mike Bunn.
- Review “RWL” (Reading like a Writer) Power Point by Laura Westengard.
Writing:
- Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.
Week 2: Understanding the term “Education Narrative”
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2022
Texts:
Before Class on Monday:
- Read “The Memory of My Grandmother” (City Tech student essay) by Anita Jiang.
- Read “Chapter 7” from the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass.
In your journal, answer the following questions for the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass:
“Chapter 7” by Frederick Douglass
What is the author’s purpose for this piece of writing?
Who is the intended audience?
How effective is the language the author uses? Is it too formal? Too informal? Perfectly appropriate?
What kinds of evidence does the author use to support his/her claims? Does he/she use statistics? Quotes from famous people? Personal anecdotes or personal stories? Does he/she cite books or articles?
How appropriate or effective is this evidence? Would a different type of evidence, or some combination of evidence, be more effective?
Are there places in the writing that you find confusing? What about the writing in those places makes it unclear or confusing?
How does the author move from one idea to another in the writing? Are the transitions between the ideas effective? How else might he/she have transitioned between ideas instead?
What is the technique the author is using here?
Is this technique effective?
What would be the advantages and disadvantages if I tried this same technique in my writing?
Before Class on Wednesday:
- Read “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X.
- Watch “Understanding Genre Awareness.”
Writing:
- Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.
Week 3: Reading Plato and Working with Writing Strategies
Texts:
- Read “Allegory of the Cave” (Book VII) from The Republic, by Plato.
- Watch “The Cave: An Adaptation of Plato’s Allegory in Clay.”
- Watch “Plato’s Allegory of the Cave” by Alex Gendler.
Writing:
- Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.
Week 4: Drafting the Unit 1 Assignment
Texts
- Read “The Fourth of July” by Audre Lourde..
- Review “Narrative Basic Features” Power Point by Laura Westengard.
Writing:
- Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.
Week 5: Drafting (cont’d.) & Peer Review
Texts:
- Review “Citation and Formatting Guide” (City Tech Library).
- Review “MLA Style Introduction” (Purdue OWL).
- Review “Writing Transitions” (Purdue OWL).
- Review “What’s a Paragraph?” by Carrie Hall.
- Read Amy Tan “Mother Tongue” https://www.umsl.edu/~alexanderjm/Mother%20Tongue%20by%20Tan.pdf
Writing:
- Specific instructions will be announced in class and/or our class site.
Week 6: Ending Unit 1 & Starting Unit 2
Unit 1: Education Narrative due
Texts
- Read “A Talk to Teachers” by James Baldwin.
- Watch “Writing an Annotated Bibliography” (City Tech Library).
- Review “Annotated Bibliography Breakdown” (Purdue OWL).
- Read the Declaration of Independence.
- Listen to the Declaration of Independence.
- Read The Declaration of Independence Annotated by Randy Barnett.
- Read “38” by Layli Long Soldier.
- Review “Quotation Handout” by Carrie Hall.
Writing:
Week 7: Research & Research Questions
Texts:
- Review the City Tech Library’s Guide to Developing a Research Question.
- Review “What Is Research?” by Carrie Hall.
- Review “Reflective Annotated Bibliography” Power Point by Laura Westengard
Writing:
Week 8: Drafting Annotations
Texts:
None for this week!
Writing:
Week 9: Ending Unit 2 & Starting Unit 3
Unit 2: Reflective Annotated Bibliography due
Texts:
Writing:
Week 10: Considering Different Genres
Texts:
- Read & listen to “Louise Erdrich On Her Personal Connection To Native Peoples’ ‘Fight For Survival’” (NPR interview).
- Read & watch “Native American elder Nathan Phillips, in his own words” (CNN interview clip) by Sara Sidner.
Writing:
Week 11: Drafting Unit 3
Texts:
- Students review their individual mentor texts, which you will choose as part of our Unit 3 preparatory work.
Writing:
Week 12: Drafting Unit 3 (cont’d) & Peer Review
Texts:
Read “Shitty First Drafts” by Anne Lamott
Writing:
Week 13: Reflections & Revisions & Portfolios
Unit 3: Writing in a New Genre due
Texts:
None for this week!
Writing:
Week 14: Revisions
Texts:
- Read “The Maker’s Eye: Revising Your Own Manuscripts” by Donald M. Murray
Writing:
Week 15: Conclusion
- Final Reflection and Portfolio due (including revised work)
