Assignments

Now that your narrative or process essay revision has been submitted, you have no  homework aside from preparing for our final, which will be administered on Thursday, December 17.

Note!  Final grades will be submitted to the University by December 28.  Have a terrific winter break!

Due Thursday, December 10:

  • Your narrative OR process essay revision.
  • If you are revising your narrative essay: In addition to addressing any issues flagged by your peer-editor and me, please integrate two quotes into your narrative. You will want to contextualize each quote by citing either the circumstances through which it was originally presented, or by describing why the person who articulated the quote meaningfully relates to the topic you are exploring. Your revision should be 3-4 pages with an additional Works Cited page.
  • If you are revising your process essay: In addition to addressing any issues flagged by your peer-editor and me, please integrate an additional third piece of research into your process essay. This addition should help to address a weakness in your original work. Your revision should be 3-4 pages with an additional Works Cited page.

Due Tuesday, December 8:

  • Keep working on your narrative or process revision, as essays will be due on Thursday, Dec. 10.
  • Bring your work-in-progress with you to class.

Due Thursday, December 3:

  • Decide whether you’re going to revise your narrative or process essay; bring the selected essay with you to class.

Due Tuesday, December 1:

  • Your final argument essay.
  • Note!  Part of your grade will be determined by how well you respond to the constructive feedback you were given. As such, along with your final paper, please turn in your original draft, as well as the notes you were given by both your peer-editor and me. Failure to turn in all requested paperwork will result in an automatic loss of a letter grade.

Due Tuesday, November 24:

  • Read Ross Gay’s “Some Thoughts on Mercy.”
  • Complete your peer edit.  Note!  Your peer edit should consist of your filling out page 1 of the editing guide and writing a letter that addresses the questions posed on page 2 of the guide.  Your letter can be hand-written.

Due Thursday, November 19:

  • Read “Siri, You’re Messing Up a Generation of Children” (Shulevitz).
  • Begin your peer edit, which will be due on Tuesday, November 24.  Note!  Your peer edit should consist of your filling out page 1 of the editing guide and writing a letter that addresses the questions posed on page 2 of the guide.  Your letter can be hand-written.

Due Tuesday, November 17:

  • Argument essays
  • Note!  Remember to bring in two copies of your essay, which will facilitate both a peer-review and my being able to read and respond to your work.

The process essay prompt can be found below.

Due Thursday, November 12:

  • Keep writing your argument essay!  Remember that papers (complete with five pieces of outside research) are due on Tuesday, November 17.

Due Tuesday, November 10:

  • Identify your argument essay topic, capture at least 2 research questions, and begin prewriting.
  • At minimum, you’ll want to record your claim, reasons, and potential evidence and bring them with you to class.  The more prewriting you do, the more valuable Tuesday stands to be.

Due Thursday, November 5:

  • Read our textbook’s “How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis, paying attention not only to what Riis is arguing, but how he makes his argument.  Additionally, consider how the argument Riis puts together is different from, and/or similar to, Carnegie’s argument.

Please visit our “Classwork and Texts Distributed” page should you need to obtain copies of the reading.

Due Tuesday, November 3:

  • Read our textbook’s “The Gospel of Wealth” by Andrew Carnegie, paying attention not only to what Carnegie is arguing (content) but how he makes his argument (delivery).  I’d recommend annotating as you read.

Due Thursday, October 29:

Due Tuesday, October 27:

  • As we are beginning our argument-writing unit, for Tuesday’s class you should be prepared to discuss an argument you recently participated in or overheard.  Note:  I’d recommend jotting down a few notes about the argument — your notes do not need to be typed.

Due Thursday, October 22:

  • Process essays
  • Note!  On Thursday you will turn in a packet that has three components:  (1) the final draft of your process essay; (2) your rough draft; and (3) the process essay editing guide prepared by your classmate during class on Oct. 20.

Please visit our “Classwork and Texts Distributed” page should you need to access a clean copy of the process essay editing guide.  The process essay prompt can be found below.

Due Tuesday, October 20:

  • Continue researching
  • Revisit your pre-writing and outline; revise, expand, and come to class with a full rough draft of your process essay (this draft should include outside research and a Works Cited page).

Due Thursday, October 15:

  • Continue researching and writing your process essay
  • Read the provided excerpt from Travels in Siberia (Frazier)
  • Read our textbook’s “Colossus of New York” (Whitehead)

Please visit our “Coursework and Texts Distributed” page to access the Frazier excerpt.

Due Tuesday, October 13:

  • Bring in 2 pieces of research to support your process essay topic.
  • On Tuesday we are going to work on integrating outside sources into our own writing; as such, I’m asking that you physically bring in the research that you find.  If you find a 14-page journal article and a 25-page chapter from a book, you can bring in all 39 pages OR bring in at least one page from each source.

Due Thursday, October 8:

  • Identify between 2 and 3 potential topics to explore in your process essay and capture at least 2 research questions for each topic.
  • A research question is something that helps to focus your research — for my hypothetical “How to Hail a Taxi” essay, an appropriate research question would be “Where can I find credible research that identifies the most successful way to hail at taxi in NYC?”
  • For reference, here is the process essay prompt.  Papers will be due on October 22.

Reminder: on Thursday we will be going to the library at 8:30 am

Due Tuesday, October 6:

  • Generate a list of 7 topics whose processes you’re knowledgeable about (i.e., you don’t have to be an expert, though you’re not a novice). Note: This assignment does not have to be typed.

Due Thursday, October 1:

  • Narrative essays

Please visit our “Classwork and Texts Distributed” page to access the narrative essay editing guide.  The narrative essay prompt can be found below.

Due Tuesday, September 29:

  • Revisit your prewriting and outline; revise and come to class with a full rough draft of your narrative essay.

Due Friday, September 25:

  • Read “Forced From Home Yet Never Free of It” and be prepared to discuss it during class tomorrow.
  • Read your classmate’s narrative pre-writing and offer feedback by identifying: (a) which narrative category/categories the writing falls into, and (b) what specific characteristics about the author each narrative category emphasizes/highlights.  Note:  your responses may be handwritten and can be recorded directly on your classmate’s paper.

Due Thursday, September 24:

  • Read our textbook’s “Facing Poverty with a Rich Girl’s Habits” (Kim)
  • Write! Begin prewriting your narrative essay. In your prewriting, you should utilize no more than two narrative categories. Bring with you to class at least 2 pages of prewriting, including an outline.
  • For reference, here is the narrative essay prompt.  Remember that narrative papers will be due on October 1.

A note about the narrative essay:

  • You are not obligated to expand either of the pieces that you workshopped during class on Tuesday, September 8.  If you choose to create a new response, you’ll want to make sure that it answers the prompt by focusing either on a time when things did not go your way, or on something that makes you pause.

Due Thursday, September 17:

  • Expand EITHER your “pause” or your “didn’t go my way” piece using at least two of the pre-writing strategies we discussed in class.
  • Read our textbook’s “My American Journey” (Powell).  On September 17 we will be using “My American Journey” to identify and discuss narrative categories.

Due Tuesday, September 8:

  • Write! This assignment has two discrete components and should be between 2-3 pages: write about something that makes you pause (1 page) AND about a time that things didn’t go your way (1 page).  Bring your writing with you to class.

Reminder: review our submission guidelines on page 2 of the syllabus for formatting instructions

Due Thursday, September 3:

  • Buy textbook (if you haven’t already!)
  • Annotate “The Storm,” excerpt from Suburban Nation, and “Lessons From the Virginia Shooting”

Due Tuesday, September 1:

  • Buy textbook
  • Find and physically bring in examples representing narrative, process, and argument writing

 

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