(1000-word minimum)

Rough Draft Due: Wednesday, 9/25/24

Final Draft Due: Monday, 9/30/24 on our OpenLab site (specific instructions to follow)

Assignment 

So far this semester, we have read texts in which the writers discuss experiences that have shaped their understanding of themselves and/or the world around them and therefore their paths in life. 

You have read these mentor texts as a reader, to understand them and learn from them, and also as a writer, as Mike Bunn describes in “How to read like a Writer,” looking at not only what they have to say but also how they do so, for what purpose, and for what audience, and in what style or with what tone.

For this assignment, you will write an education narrative of your own that illustrates a significant experience that shaped your professional goals—those you will be pursing now that you are starting college. To do so, you will use your personal experience.

Include the following in your narrative and use them to make a point about why and how you have arrived at your future goals: 

  • First reflect on where you hope to be in five years. Think big. Who do you want to be? Where do you want to be? What do you want to be doing? In other words, what do you want your professional life to look like?  
    • Next, tell about a meaningful experience that shaped your professional goals. Tell about when, why, and how the experience was significant for you. 
    • Finally, think about yourself at City Tech and in your major/intended major and discuss how you will achieve your goals. In order to do so, discuss the steps you need to take and things you need to do to achieve your goals. 
    • Additionally, do a little research and discuss any additional extra-curricular steps you can take while in college to help you reach your professional goals.

    Throughout, use specific examples, and include details that help you make your goals and plan on how to achieve them clear, as well as convincingly tell your story of how you arrived at these goals.

    Additionally, as you write about your experiences and draw conclusions, include one or two quotations from our readings and use those ideas either in support of what you’re saying or as a counterpoint.

    Things to think about: In addition to your topic, for your education narrative, you will need to choose

    • what the purpose of your narrative is–other than completing Unit 1, what else can it do? If you shared your finished narrative with people, what would you want them to take away from reading it?
    • who is your intended audience? Are you writing for people who have similar professional goals and/or experiences? People who can’t imagine what your experiences were? People who don’t understand what you need to do to achieve your professional goals? Potential employers?
    • what style or tone do you want for your essay? This will be connected to its purpose and intended audience. Do you want it to be funny? intense? emotional? controlled?
    • what format do you want it to take? Are you writing it as plain text, or do you want to integrate images or other media? If you do, they should work with your chosen purpose, audience, and style/tone, rather than being unrelated.
    • who do you want to refer to? Think about everything we’ve read so far this semester. In your narrative, you will need to quote from one or two of our readings and use/respond to those authors’ ideas either in support of what you’re saying or as a counterpoint.

    Here are the grading criteria for this project, which you can use as a checklist:

    • development of an overall point/significance for your narrative
    • use of concrete, significant details rather than generalizations
    • focus on one event or a connected series of events for the experience you’re writing about
    • integration of one or two ideas from our course texts into your narrative
    • organization of ideas into paragraphs and paragraphs into a coherent order
    • use of tone, language, grammar, and sentence structure as appropriate for your genre, audience, and purpose
    • appropriate choice of language: you can write with whatever diction (style of language) you choose, but it must be the best language for the job– as you see it– for your audience and purpose
    • construction of a narrative that serves a purpose for a particular audience
    • meet the scope of the project: aim for 1000 words, without padding or unnecessary repetition.
    • attention to finishing touches, in terms of proofreading, formatting, submitting, etc.
    • timely submission of the assignment

    If you have any concerns about this project, its subject, your ability to complete it or to submit it, please communicate with me–we can start with email or scheduling a meeting or meet during office hours