Week 5:

• Dates: Monday, 10/2 and Wednesday, 10/4
• Meeting Info: This course meets in person for 100 minutes twice per week, Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:00-1:40pm, in Namm 602A. By the end of each week, I will post an agenda that will outline the next week’s work. It will include instructions for you and links to readings, discussion questions, and other work. We will work on developing community both in our classroom and in our online written community. *This week, Prof. Rosen has jury duty. A colleague will cover the classes as needed.

Objectives

• To submit Project 1: Education Narrative
• To reflect on the writing process for Project 1 in a cover letter written to Prof. Rosen
• To begin our next project, we will consider how to use writing to address what matters.

To Do Before Week 5

Just in case you haven’t already, please:

• Catch up on any readings or discussions you’ve missed–you can review the Weekly Class Agendas to see what we covered. Any late work for the first half of the semester must be completed before midsemester. This includes the Introductions discussion, the Values and Goals discussion, and other discussions that built toward Project 1

To-Do This Week

Monday, 10/2: Writing about what matters

Texts:

• Historical Document/Protest Literature: Declaration of Independence
• Your finished version of Project 1

Writing:

• Project 1 (Education Narrative) Due–follow these instructions for posting your project
• Reflective letter on Project 1 writing process in class

In Class:

• Re-read your Project 1 education narrative. Make any last changes you want to make, or make notes for yourself so you can make changes when you are at a computer.
• Write the reflective letter on your Project 1 writing process (handout)
  • Remember, if you haven’t finished Project 1, you will write about what you have written, what you have left to do, and what help you need.
• Listen to the Declaration of Independence and follow along with the written text of the Declaration of Independence (handout)
• As you listen and read, mark up your text as you consider what you understand and what you have questions about.
• Understanding the Declaration of Independence (handout, to be collected)
  • Write a list or a paragraph: What stands out to you? What questions do you have? What do you understand?
  • What is the purpose of this text?
  • who is the speaker?
  • who is the audience?
  • what is the tone of the text?
  • what genre is the text?
  • how do we know these answers?
  • How does this text match or not match what you think of when you think about research?
  • What research does this text inspire you to want to do (not necessarily about it specifically)?

Wednesday, 10/4: Getting started with research

Texts:

• Poem: “38” by Layli Long Soldier
• Reading/Writing Resource Essay: “Research Starts With a Thesis Statement” by Emily Wierszewski, pages 231- 235 in Bad Ideas About Writing (note that the title of the book, Bad Ideas About Writing tells us that each chapter title is a bad idea–so thinking that research starts with a thesis statement is a bad idea)

Writing:

• Contribute to the discussion about what matters to these authors in this week’s texts, and what matters to us.

In Class:

• What stood out about reading (and listening to) the Declaration of Independence? Was this your first time reading it? How did it match your conception of it as a foundational document in this country’s history? Choose one moment that you felt was particularly compelling within the argument, and write what you understand about it (double-entry journal)
• Read and listen to “38” by Layli Long Soldier
• Understanding Layli Long Soldier’s “38” (handout, to be collected)
  • Write a list or a paragraph: What stands out to you? What questions do you have? What do you understand?
  • What is the purpose of this text?
  • who is the speaker?
  • who is the audience?
  • what is the tone of the text?
  • what genre is the text?
  • how do we know these answers?
  • How does this text match or not match what you think of when you think about research?
  • What research does this text inspire you to want to do (not necessarily about it specifically)?
  • why did Abraham Lincoln decide to execute the 38 Dakota people? what was the public response to it? why is this left out of the movie “Lincoln”? why don’t we learn about this in school. what else are we not learning about?
• Contribute to our discussion about what matters to these authors in this week’s texts, and what matters to us
• What matters to us as a group that we would want to research? What aspects would we want to focus on?
• Read and annotate Emily Wierszewski’s “Research Starts With a Thesis Statement”–which is a chapter from Bad Ideas About Writing.