Week 5

Before class on Tuesday, March 1, students will…

• Read my Announcement.
• Write a Post titled Full Name, Responding to Douglass; post it under U1 Work (details can be found on the Agenda for Week 4).
• If you haven’t already, create a Post, titled Full Name, Brainstorming DC & Research and posted under U1 Work. (Details are on Week 3’s Agenda.)
  • This is essential to your U1 Writing Assignment!
• Watch/read Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (A.O.C), “I am Someone’s Daughter too.”
  • FYI: I copied the text and recording on a document, and placed it in the Course Profile.

During and after class, we’ll DISCUSS and WRITE: 

Pick a Model & Organize Your Ideas

• Discuss Ocasio-Cortez’s speech (define her discourse community and the issue facing it) and practice creating “quote sandwiches” with the transcript of the speech.
• Decide on your discourse community and the issue facing that community, as well as whether you are going to write a letter or a speech for your chosen audience.
• Now, review the relevant models. If you are writing a speech, review Young, A.O.C., and Douglass. If you are writing a letter look at the text by Wollstonecraft.
• Imagine you have met someone who is outside your discourse community. You want to convince them of the importance of the issue you’ve identified.
  • Set a timer and spend 20 uninterrupted minutes writing what you would say about your issue or problem. (This is a free write, so you don’t have to worry about perfect grammar or complete sentences– just get your ideas down!)
  • Include all the details you can think of related to this issue or problem:
    • Who is affected and how?
    • What are some of the effects of this problem? Give examples.
    • Also include other important and relevant information to help someone on the outside of your discourse community see and understand the problem.
    • Who are the people with power who could help to create change?
  • After twenty minutes, read through and decide what information seems useful and worth using in the letter or speech you will be writing. Also, think about how you will lay out your argument; for example, in what order will you deliver the information?
• The above activities are for you to keep and reflect on as you work towards the Unit Assignment (in other words, do not submit the above). 
• Instead, you will write a Post (approx. 300 words). Title it Full Name, Letter or Speech? Post it under U1 Work. In your post, please share the following:
  • Write a few sentences explaining which model you are choosing (the letter or speech) and why. How do you think this specific genre will help you to make your argument? 
  • Create either an outline or a summary organizing your thoughts. This outline or summary should state your main point and how you will make your argument.
  • This assignment is due by class time on Thursday, March 3!

On Thursday, March 3, we will…

WRITE! WRITE! WRITE!

• Today is a writing day. A writing day is a day that the majority of time will be devoted to writing your first draft of a speech or letter for the U1 Writing Assignment.
  • Come prepared! Bring your laptops/tablets or pen and notebook for this session. Bring any resources you’ve gathered (articles, interviews, etc.) to refer to as you write.
  • You may be tempted to skip this class–don’t give in to this temptation! This is a session devoted to writing your first draft (which will be peer reviewed in less than a week from today).
  • You’ll also have immediate access to your professor, so if you have a question or concern about this project, you can ask right away, not have to wait for an office hour or a response via email. This is a win-win situation! Don’t miss it!

RESOURCES to refer to when needed:

• Washoe School District, “The Quote Sandwich” 
• Purdue OWL “MLA Style Introduction”

Upcoming assignments for Week 6:

• A first draft of your speech or letter posted on OpenLab by class time on Tuesday, March 8. Instructions on how to post this draft can be found on the Course Profile.
  • If you’re writing a letter, create your document with the following format (see the picture below):
    • 1″ margins, Times New Roman font, 12 point font
    • Your name and City Tech’s address
    • Date
    • Dear _____:
    • Use a block paragraph style with spaces between each paragraph
    • Sincerely, Full Name
  • If you’re writing a speech, create your document with the following format (see the picture below):
    • 1″ margins, Times New Roman font, 12 point font
    • Your name and New York City College of Technology, CUNY
    • Date
    • Centered title of speech
    • Use a block paragraph style with spaces between each paragraph
  • Even if your draft isn’t complete, post it! We’ll be peer reviewing the drafts in class, which will help you know what needs to be improved upon and what’s working in your letter or speech!