ENG 1101 T/Th Fall ’22

Part 1

Look for places your writing could be published (or posted) and answer these questions for that publication forum.  Remember, this doesn’t have to be a magazine (though it can be!) but you should start getting a little specific! If you’re writing a short story, look at a collection of short stories.  If you’re making a YouTube video, look at a particular channel, etc… 

• What kinds of articles/ stories/ media  (and ads and videos for that matter) are on that site?  
• What does that tell you about who they think their audience is? How do you draw that conclusion?
• How long are the pieces usually? (pages, words, minutes)?
• What is the tone, usually? (funny, serious, casual)
• What kind of diction is usually used? (casual, formal, academic, etc.) 
• How do they usually use evidence/ support (such as data, quotations, interviews, etc)?
• What can you tell us about their visual presentation?  Is it all black and white text? Video with lots of graphics? 
• Do you think this would be a good publication or forum to reach your intended audience?  Why or why not? 

If you have a particular genre you want to write in, but you haven’t been able to find a forum where it would be published or posted, don’t immediately switch genres! Talk to me first– I’m sure we can find something. 

Part 2

WRITE: Write a plan for Unit 3 – New Genre piece.  What are your goals for working/ thinking/ brainstorming/ gathering material? Make a schedule for yourself in which you map out the different steps you need to complete and when you need to complete them by.

Post your answers to the Openlab under the category Discussions>Unit 3

Due this Thursday, 11/17, before the start of class

WRITE a proposal of at least 200 words outlining what you plan to do for Unit 3, then
POST it to the website under the category Unit 3 Proposals.

This proposal should be in paragraph form and must include: 

• • A 1-2 sentence statement of what you want to teach your audience (the most important thing you learned in Unit 2) 
  • The audience you are trying to reach
  • The genre you are planning to write in and why you chose it
  • Where you would hypothetically publish or present this text and why did you choose that site/venue/publication?
  • A plan – how do you intend to get started?
  • Anything you might be worried about.  What are your concerns about finishing this project?

For Thursday (10/27) – To be completed BEFORE class

PART I

VIEW/CLOSELY READ the following slideshow on rhetorical analysis: Source Entry Slides _RAB

PART 2

FIND/CHOOSE one source from your research and
POST the following using the Category “UNIT 2” ONLY

1. 1. 1. WRITE a summary of the source (1 long paragraph or 2 shorter paragraphs)
      2. PASTE 2-3 of the most important quotes from the source
      3. COMPLETE a Rhetorical/Genre Analysis Worksheet for your source and then
         WRITE 2-3 paragraphs of rhetorical analysis of the source based on your answers to the worksheet

DUE TUESDAY 10/18 BEFORE CLASS BEGINS

WRITE: Write a blog post (at least 400 words) in which you introduce your research question. You may find your topic anywhere– from Unit One to the blog posts we wrote last week, to your peers’ blog posts! (It’s really okay if two people write about the same topic– I promise you.) 

What is important here– and I can’t stress this enough– is that you research something you want to know more about, not something you think you already know the answer to.  You may be curious to know why there are so few African American ballerinas in major companies, or you may want to know how much “housing projects” have changed in New York since James Baldwin wrote “A Talk to Teachers” in 1963, or you may want to know what we really learn from playing computer games.  Just be curious. REMEMBER YOU MUST GET YOUR TOPIC APPROVED BY ME! 

Write it in question form (it can’t be a yes-or-no question, though) You must cover all of the questions in bold:

• Why are you interested in this question?  (Feel free to talk about your own personal experience with the topic, or to tell an anecdote about your experience with this subject matter) 
• What do you expect to find in your research? (Why do you expect to find this?)
• What will you do if you find information that goes completely against what you had expected to find? (Will you throw it out? Will you write about it anyway? Will you challenge your own assumptions?) 

Spend some time on this– because this will serve as the first draft of the introduction for your annotated bibliography!

THINK: Start thinking about a topic you are interested in, something you might want to know more about.  This can be something heavy, like police brutality, or it can be something that seems on the surface more light-hearted, like ballet.  The only criteria is that you are actually curious about it.  

This may seem like strange advice, but it can be helpful to go for a walk and think about topics you’d like to write about. Come home and jot down a few notes. By next class you will be expected to have some idea of a topic you’d like to research, even if it’s a bit vague.   

Then WRITE:

KWL+

1. What topic would you like to know more about?  This can be in question form if you like.
2. K- KNOW: Set your timer for five minutes.  Write that whole time.  It is important that you don’t pause here, so if you are stuck, write “I’m stuck!” But just keep typing.  Write down everything you can about what you KNOW about this topic or question

3. W-WANT:  Set your timer for another five minutes.  Same thing– you’ll write that whole time.  This time, write what you WANT to know about the topic.
   
   Here is where you do a little bit of research.  Again, time yourself– spend 10-15 minutes on the Internet looking up your topic.
4. L-LEARNED: Another five minutes.  Again, write the whole time.  Write what you LEARNED from your 10-15 minutes of internet research.

+-STILL WANT TO KNOW: This is the most important question (but we had to do all of the above to get there!) After doing very basic internet research, what are some questions about your topic that you still want to know? It’s okay if your question has changed a little bit.  Try to come up with questions that you will be able to research for a few weeks! (Hint: NO yes or no questions)

READ AND ANNOTATE: “A Talk to Teachers” by James Baldwin. 

 WRITE:  Blog Post (at least 250 words) responding to the prompt below.

In “A Talk to Teachers,” James Baldwin writes:  

I would try to make [the student] know that just as American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it, so is the world larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger – and that it belongs to him. I would teach him that he doesn’t have to be bound by the expediencies of any given administration, any given policy, any given morality; that he has the right and the necessity to examine everything. 

First of all, what do you think of what James Baldwin was saying? What do you think he means when he says “the world is larger?”

Secondly, what do you think you have the “necessity” to examine, or the obligation to learn more about? To put it another way: what do you wish had been taught to you in school that wasn’t? Why do you want to know about these topics?

Category: Unit 2

WRITE: A Less Shitty First Draft of UNIT ONE. At least 800 words. Pay attention to your paragraphs! Remember that you can use anything we have already written in this unit if you want. All low-stakes assignments are to help you write the major papers!

PRINT OUT TWO (2) COPIES AND BRING TO CLASS

–due 9/20 by the start of class–

Many times, students don’t know the rules when it comes to writing emails to professors. This isn’t their fault! There are so many rules, how could a person keep track? That’s why I want you to practice. First, watch this slide show about emailing a professor (OR if slideshows aren’t your thing, read this blogpost by another professor) and then write me an email either: 

1. 1. Asking me a question about Unit 1. This can be a question you have about the assignment or about your essay in particular or
   2. Explaining to me how your essay is going. 

If you have something else you want to talk about, feel free to write about that. These topics are really just there to give you ideas. Do your best to follow all the guidelines given in the handout! If you don’t get it right, that’s okay, but give it a shot. 

**Keep in mind that, while I don’t require you to address me as “Professor Stone”, many of your teachers will. Also, I’m pretty good with names. Still, you should use this as an opportunity to practice employing the different conventions of the ‘academic email’ genre.

Category: Unit 1

• THINK: Think of one specific incident that changed your views on education. Picture the scene.
• REVIEW : Please review your notes (or the slideshow we talked about in class) regarding paragraph structure. You can find the slideshow on the OpenLab under Course Resources>Slideshows.
• WRITE: a blog post of at least two distinct paragraphs describing one specific incident that changed your views on education using Concrete, Significant detail. The incident you described in class will be a great place to start, but feel free to choose another event/incident if you’ve thought of something you’d rather write about since then.

• THINK: Think of any specific incidents that changed your views on education/learning.  
• RE-READ: Unit 1 Assignment Sheet
• WRITE: 3 separate events (or topics/ideas) that you think you will want to write about for your Unit 1 assignment. For each, explain why you think it would be a good event or subject to write about.

Category: Unit 1

READ AND ANNOTATE : “Maybe I Could Save Myself by Writing” 

READ AND ANNOTATE: “The Fourth of July” by Audre Lorde 

WRITE: (250 Words)  So far in this unit, we have read (and heard) three examples from the genre of the “education narrative.”  Your first essay assignment in this class will be to write in this genre yourself.  So in this discussion forum, I’d like us to have a conversation about what the features of this genre are. Please discuss some of the following:

• What, from what you’ve seen so far, are the “ingredients” (also known as “conventions”) of the education narrative genre?
• What do you think might be a place to get started with your own education narrative?
• What are your questions or concerns about writing an education narrative of your own?
• If you like, you can also feel free to share an educational experience you had and ask for feedback from your colleagues (and me) to see if we think that might be a solid place to begin writing.

Category: Unit 1