| Week | Topics | Assignment Due for Next Monday | |
| Week 1 | Introducing ourselves
Discuss the syllabus, course policies, and learning goals Lab: Sentence completion – Chapter 2 of Writing for Success |
Post a photo of yourself to OpenLab and, next to it, write 350 words about a person or place that means a lot to you
Watch Get Out at the library or by streaming it |
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| Week 2 | Film: Get Out
Lab: Effective punctuation – Chapter 3 of Writing for Success |
Write a 500 word response to Get Out and hand-in a hard copy | |
| Week 3 | Closely ‘reading’ Get Out
Lab: Word choice – exercises on page 170 of Writing for Success |
Write a 500 word response to Boys Don’t Cry and hand-in a hard copy | |
| Week 4 | Film: The Aggressives
Closely ‘reading’ The Aggressives Lab: Thesis statements and writing paragraphs; Chapter 9 of Writing for Success |
Write a 4-5 page analysis of one of the two films | |
| Week 5 | Peer Review/Conferences
Lab: Identifying metaphor and making revisions – “Notes of a Native Son” and Chapter 7 of Writing for Success |
Revise and complete your film analysis; and read “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin | |
| Week 6 | Interpret and respond to “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin
Lab: Transition words – Chapter 7 of “They Say / I Say” |
Begin constructing your personal essay (two pages)
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| Week 7 | Analyze Anna Journey’s lyric essay, “Isabelle’s Tongue”
Lab: Creating associative writing |
Write three pages of your personal essay
Read “Afterlife” by Joan Didion |
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| Week 8 | Discuss Joan Didion’s piece “After Life.”
Film: Joan Didion – “The Center Will Not Hold.” What are her subjects and how does she engage with them? Lab: Practicing insights and descriptions |
Complete a rough draft of your personal essay | |
| Week 9 | Film: Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird”
Peer review and Conferences Lab: Personal narrative of “Lady Bird” and its conclusion
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Complete your personal essay | |
| Week 10 | Library days: learn and apply research strategies | Finish your annotated bibliography
Read Thomas Chatterton Williams’s article “How Ta-Nehisi Coates Gives Whiteness Power” |
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| Week 11 | Create a thesis statement; practice quoting and analyzing your sources
Lab: “The Art of Quoting” They Say / I Say, page 42 |
Complete a half draft of your essay | |
| Week 12 | Conference and peer review
Lab: “And Yet” – page 68 of “They Say / I Say” and extending body paragraphs |
Complete a full rough draft
Read Scott Korb’s article “The Soul-Crushing Student Essay” |
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| Week 13 | Creating a reverse outline
Lab: The ‘So What’ question; They Say / I Say, page 92 |
Revise your essay!
Read Sherry Turkle’s article “Let’s Talk” |
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| Week 14 | Preparation for the final
Practice writing strategies, including thesis statements, sentence building, transitions, and supporting an argument |
Complete the final draft of your persuasive argument and bring it to the final
Read the article in preparation for the final exam |
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| Week 15 | *Final Exam* | *You must pass this exam in order to pass the course* |
The OpenLab at City Tech:A place to learn, work, and share
The OpenLab is an open-source, digital platform designed to support teaching and learning at City Tech (New York City College of Technology), and to promote student and faculty engagement in the intellectual and social life of the college community.
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