Week 2 Assignments

• LEARNING JOURNAL 2
• Please spend 5 to 7 minutes free writing about #7 (p. 97) of Professor Rodgers’ “10 Things to Write About” in her ebook _What Is Writing?_.  With free writing, the only rule is that you are NOT ALLOWED TO STOP WRITING.  This means that if you do not have something to say/write, you just write, “I have nothing to say at the moment,” or “My mind is blank,” etc.  Please time yourself for this free writing assignment.

RWA4a: What Are Your Strengths as a Communicator?

Professor Rodgers
City Tech
ENG 1101:  College Writing
DUE: Monday, February 11

People often talk about (and sometimes seem to like to talk about) the fact that they “are not very good writers,” or “don’t know how to write,” or “sure could use some help with writing.”  And yet, people seem almost never to talk about needing help with talking.  Why is that?  Please write a paragraph reflecting on this phenomenon of how critical people are of their writing and yet how confident they appear to be in their talking.  Do you believe this is true, why or why not?

Secondly, please write one paragraph reflecting on whether you are more comfortable and confident expressing yourself in writing or in speech?  Why do you think this is the case?  What factors are involved in your feeling more comfortable with one as opposed to another mode of communication?

Thirdly, please write one paragraph in which you reflect on your strengths as a communicator.  What are they specifically?  How would you describe them?  Do you have these strengths in both written and spoken communication, or one or the other?  If the latter, how might a strength in one mode be transferred or translated to the other?

Finally, please write one or more paragraphs reflecting on your autobiography.  Are there examples of your strengths as a communicator in this piece of writing?  If yes, where?  If not, why not?

Please make sure to follow MLA formatting guidelines for this assignment and to read over what you have written at least once before you hand it in.  You can print out this assignment and bring it to class on Monday, or you can cut and paste the assignment into your Learning Journal on Blackboard.  I leave it up to you to decide whether you wish to submit the assignment in print or electronically.

• RWA3: Thinking About the Personal Essay as Genre
  
• DUE WEDNESDAY, FEB. 6

Please look at the following essays and, on the Open Lab, create a one paragraph blog post explaining which one you would like the class to read and why:

“Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin

“Chipped Beef” by David Sedaris

“City Limits” by Colson Whitehead

“The Lost Art of Reading” by David Ulin

“Goodbye To All That” by Joan Didion