If you are in my section LC20 which meets Monday Mornings 9/10:00 AM in Midway: 

Next Assignment, Due Nov. 22: “The First Three Questions”

Write a few paragraphs (no more than four, no less than two) that sketch out each the following:

1. Your Research Paper Topic and Issue.

Example: “global warming/the problem of increased drought in India.”

2. Your Personal Position Statement.

This is where you get to vent about right and wrong (if you so choose). What do you think about the issue right now? Why? What connects you to the issue personally, or how can you make it connect to yourself and your life personally? What do you think about other perspectives?

3.     Create Questions: Now, brainstorm a whole series of questions to ask about the topic and issue. For our example, you might ask things like: What’s happening in India? Why is it happening? Is anybody doing anything about it? What? What kinds of politics are in play here? Who are the people who are most affected? What possible solutions are people proposing? Why or why aren’t those solutions being implemented? Again, these are just examples.

Turn this in to me, typed, double spaced, on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at the adjunct office at Namm 529. Yes, Tuesday. We can discuss any issues you are having in class on Monday before you hand it in.

What happens after this? Once you complete this exercise (remember you also have a list and an outline) you will have a very good sense of how to read up on your topic. Okay, maybe you don’t have a thesis statement yet, but you are on your way to working independently. Research and Read All You Can on your Topic and Issues! Start Now, and don’t stop.

Notes: Don’t hand in your only copy!! You will need one for yourself. I will not grade this for punctuation, etc. I want to see where you are and what you are thinking. And again, it is On You to begin researching and reading up all you can. Go!!

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Q: Okay, Professor, what comes next, after we do this?

A: Before and over Thanksgiving, you will start a very rough draft of your research paper. It will be due Nov. 29. It will take the 3-pronged structure outlined below. (Please don’t start this until you have completed the above assignment and done some good research.)

 

“The Next Three Questions: A Rough Draft”:

1. Write a paragraph or so of background information on the issue/topic and why you chose to dig into it.
2. Write as many paragraphs as you need to show us what you found from your sources. These will look a lot like brief versions of the summary, evaluation, analysis work we’ll be doing together in class. You won’t agree or disagree at this point – save that for question 3, below – just a “this is what the author says, this is what’s good/bad about it in terms of my evaluation and analysis.”
3. Write a final section where you give us a “so what?” Tell us where you agreed or disagreed with any of the authors, what you learned, what surprised you, what new insights you gained, what you now know about the “conversation” that you didn’t before, etc. Also tell us why you think this kind of analysis is important to you as a part of today’s society.

Once this above rough draft is done, you will arrive at a good thesis statement. Section 3, above, will help you find it. 

Eventually, that thesis statement will appear in the introductory paragraph of your final paper.  🙂

I will give you a worksheet to take home over break that will help you with your rough draft. It is called “Claim, Reason, Evidence.”

Remember Class: Writing is a Process.

And writing can change minds and change the world around you. You are on your way.

PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENTS:

Sorry I was so rushed on Post-Election Day. I left your MidTerms for pickup in the FYLC Office in Namm 506. Any MidTerms that have not been picked up by Friday, I will take with me to class on Monday. We can discuss in class. Now: Assignments…

For Monday, Nov 14: Please remember to make your Topics List: List Your Top Five Topics of Interest. This is actually quite important.

Think the game show “Jeopardy” if that helps you pick categories.

Say briefly what your experience is with these topics.

Also make a “What I Want to Know More About” List. The concepts on this list can relate to the topics you already mentioned, but they don’t have to at this point.

Let’s cull the data on Monday when I give you some parameters for narrowing your ideas. After that, you will write me a more formal, typed Outline. For now, typing is not necessary.

Thanks. See you.

Nov 7 10:00AM (note time!) reminder: We are meeting at the Library on this day, not the classroom. It is Library Instruction Day and a Librarian will discuss research tools with us. We will take roll outside the Library. 4th FL, Atrium Building, 10:00AM. Don’t come to the classroom.

Lesson Outline, October 26, 2016

Order of business:

Today we are going to get and give some feedback on our practice mid terms (the ones we took on Monday). I will give a few examples from actual student practice exams (with those students’ permission).

If I don’t read your exam back with you or in front of the class, you will see a few brief notes on your booklet, and you can ask me to clarify. Basically, everyone can do some brush up on at least one area of concern (quotation style, punctuation, thesis statements) before the actual exam on Monday. Good Luck!

I would also like to address the following:

+More mid term writing prep – this time, in the form of quoted conversations in the music video “All I Have” by J Lo and LL Cool J. You will watch the video, make excerpts from these two singers’ convos, and discuss. You may also write their imaginary text messages to each other – if we have time in class. : )

+”Modeling” how to write better “comments” on your OpenLab projects for Prof. Spevack – I offered to do this for Val and Gabriela (namely, use their projects as examples in which I “model” writing a mini review or comment), but there may not be time in our class to get through it. Chances are, I will follow you to Prof. Spevack’s room, and we take some time there for real time comment writing.

 

Reminders:

Mid Term Exam on Monday, Oct. 31.

Library Day, 10:00AM, not 9:00AM, Monday, Nov. 7

Office Hour on Friday at 1PM.

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Congratulations on handing in your Inner/Outer Dialogues! We have been studying for our Midterm, which is on Monday, October 31st. Hopefully, it will not be scary.

Congratulations on co-writing your recent Silence Score! (see home page!)

Now, on to your next paper assignment. Length: 500 words. Double-spaced, typed. Due: Oct 24. Record inner and outer dialogues. Do this on public transportation (bus, subway). You can ride many times, of course, (It will be good for future reference if you keep some track in your notebooks of when you recorded your inner/outer info — dates, locations.) Type these aural impressions up and, at the start or at various points in your paper, let the reader know where these impressions were recorded. For instance, “No. 5 Train to the Bronx, boarded at 14th Street Union Square, Sunday, October 16.” Note to those students who do not commute or ride the trains: you may use an open public space like a Starbucks or a busy city park or the Cafeteria.

Your First typed paper is due Oct 6. Write a movie review. 400 to 500 words in length, typed, double spaced. Please see my recent post on the HOME PAGE, link here, if you are having trouble.

Reminder: Journal Check Day is Sept. 26. Please include your handwritten movie review drafts in your journal.

You have a writing assignment: Write a review of a movie you have seen. (You can like or dislike the movie.) Handwritten for now — but eventually, we will type and hand in a movie review for our first graded assignment. Length: No less than 300 and no more than 700 words. Due: Sept 21. Again, this is just a draft, not a formal paper yet.

Reminder: Journal-Check on Sept. 26th. And bring in your highlighting pens. (See below.)

Also please remember:

Supplies: You will also need to start bringing your highlighting pens to class!: Yellow, Blue, Pink and another color of your choice. (Below are just examples; you only need four.)

You have one simple assignment, but it may take you a little while. Be patient!

Here it is: find 45 more words in the word “exceptional.” Due. Sept. 19

You have two assignments due Sept. 14. One is a short writing assignment. The other is a more abstract, graphic composition that is based on two of your writing assignments.

Short Writing Assignment: Do the same description exercise you already did — one more time. Any object of your choice. Any length. Handwritten. Due: Sept. 14. (See description below.)**

Graphic Composition Assignment: Take your “the” paper (about your worst day) and block out/mark/conceal/darken any instance in which you use the word “a” or “an.” Take your “a/an” paper (about your family) and block out/mark/conceal/darken any instance in which you use the word “the.” Layer one over the other. Hold them up to a strong light. Now create a graphic image (no words) made up of where these new dark places appear. The originals might look something like this (thank you, Kofi, for letting me use you as an example for blocking out the word “the” 🙂   ; I also use page one of my syllabus to block out the word “a”):

and then they might turn into these:

and then…

…do you see the squares (I chose geometric shapes; you don’t have to) starting to form an abstract composition? I’d like you to make a new composition in dark and light.

I know this isn’t great artistically, but it’s a quick example of what mine was shaping up to be.

You have a short writing assignment and a short reading assignment. Due: Monday Sept. 12. NOTE: if you did not do the “a/an” assignment, you are still responsible for it on Monday Sept. 12. (See below — PREVIOUS ASSIGNMENTS — for instructions.)

**Writing Assignment — Description: Pick an object — any object you wish — in the room around you. Describe that object as it appears to your naked eye. Do not use the object’s name; do not say what this object is used for. (Hint: make no assumptions about this object; if you came down to Earth for the first time and had no knowledge of humankind, you might be in the right frame of mind to complete this assignment.) Please be prepared to share in class, and to take notes. No length limit. Handwritten.

Reading Assignment: Read this article (link here) and be prepared to discuss on Monday, Sept. 12. Be prepared to discuss in class whether or not you agree with ideas like this one that they quote: “Imagination is more important than knowledge” and this: “I very rarely think in words at all. A thought comes, and I may try to express it in words afterwards…” and also about the concept of “associative play.”

If you are in my section LC20 which meets Monday Mornings 9/10:00 AM in Midway you have one short assignment and one longer assignment. Your short assignment is: just write a sentence or two getting around an impossible situation in writing without the word “the.” I put more info on our site’s homepage, and that link is here.

The longer assignment is a writing assignment. It has no length limit. It can be however long you wish, handwritten. Here is the topic: Tell me about your family. Here is the constraint: Don’t use the indefinite article in your writing — namely, don’t use the word “a” or “an.”  An example of use of the indefinite article would be something like, “Hey, did you see an elephant walking down the street?” “No, I didn’t see an elephant walking down the street, I saw a cat walking down the street.” Hence, you couldn’t write the words in bold. You can, however, use “the” this time. As in, “I saw the elephant I saw yesterday just walking down the street….” Good luck! Once again, the topic is: tell me about your family. Any way you like.

Due Wednesday, Aug. 31: write about your worst day/most embarrassing day or experience without using the word “the.”

No length. Handwritten is acceptable.