LC 2015: Emotions 1101

“Colossus of New York” by August Brill/Flickr Creative Commons

Today we did a free write that asked you to consider when you realized you were a “New Yorker.”  This might be specific experience you remember (similar to  Colson Whitehead’s early memory of riding the Number 1 subway train in the essay we read, “Colossus of New York”) or a contemplative moment (similar to Whitehead’s claim that a New Yorker becomes a “New Yorker” when he or she feels that buildings or businesses that no longer exist are more real than those that have replaced them).

We also discussed the general conventions of the narrative essay form:

• Setting: you must describe place and clarify time (both duration and time period)
• Conflict
• Sequence of events
• Character
• Resolution
• Transitions appropriate to narratives include: afterward, currently, eventually, finally, first, later, meanwhile, next, now, soon, and then.

For more on the subject of Narrative Essays, see Purdue Online Writing Lab’s section on “Modes of Discourse” and their page dedicated to the Narrative Essay form:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/04/

Photo: Colson Whitehead by Frank Wojciechowski
http://colsonwhitehead.com

Here is the Reading for Analysis sheet we used in class when reading Colson Whitehead’s “Colossus of New York.”

Reading for Analysis-Taking Notes

Actively reading and keeping notes will help you remember  what you read and also make referencing your paper in your own essays a much easier task.  Remember: these are just preliminary questions to get you started.  As active readers, good writers annotate and write in the margins of the reading selection in addition to taking notes.

For those interested in Colson Whitehead, visit his website and/or find his book of essays, Colossus of New York: A City in 13 Parts in the City Tech library.

Photo:Kurt Vonnegut in 1972 from the author’s Wikipedia page

In today’s class today we discussed and practiced paraphrasing (working line by line through Vonnegut’s sub-titles) and summarizing (condensing the whole essay into one paragraph.  Please remember the following points that came up in our discussing:

1. A summary rewords and condenses; a paraphrase rewords but does not aim to shorten the original text.
2. Avoid “you” in all paraphrases and summaries.
3. Keep summaries and paraphrases in present tense.
4. Remember to add the author’s concluding idea in the summary.

See also the previous post with the handout on summarizing.  Here are the paraphrases the class made of Kurt Vonnegut’s main points.  In class, when summarizing, we changed the “second person” voice to third person:

1. Pick a topic that you’re interested in.
2. Make sure your writing is not lengthy or inconsequential
3. You don’t have to use big words to get your point across; don’t be too complicated; get straight to the point
4. Avoid sentences that do not correlate to the subject.
5. Be original; find your voice; be yourself.
6. Write in a way that communicates your ideas clearly to your audience.
7. Keep the audience interested.
8. Consult a text on writing when necessary

Here is the handout distributed in class for making a summary:

Components of a Summary

Here are two handouts that have been distributed in class.  They are:

From Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): Reading 1 Tips for Writing in North American Colleges
And Kurt Vonnegut’s essay: How to Write with Style Vonnegut
These are for your reference as we discussed them in class considering how the two articles are similar and different in terms of presumed audience and tone.

In response to the OWL essay, I asked you to consider your own “definition” of what college writing means.