Friday, August 27, 2010
And by the way...
On Monday, we'll begin talking about your personal narrative assignment...a lot. So, start thinking about something you might like to write about. Also, a great way to get inspired, get ideas, and really amp up your own prose is to read stuff you like. I suggest looking at all the links under Journal Two. The essays, articles, and excerpts I linked to are stories I found really moving, funny, relevant, and/or revealing. They are all very different. And offer you great examples of great personal narratives. Cool? Cool. See you all Monday!
Journal Two
Alright, folks. So, I think we all agree that people in this class -- and, in the world, generally -- dislike writing about those subjects with which they are not engaged. Correct?
Since establishing that fact this past week -- thanks to your free writing exercises, journal entries, and our classroom discussions -- I am going to do my best to spark your imaginations with readings and writing projects that you might ACTUALLY LIKE. I'm even going to give you a couple different options for how to construct your next journal assignment.
First, you all are now responsible for building and maintaining your own blogs. That means that under "Dashboard" (See it in the upper-right hand corner? Good.), I want you to start a new blog. Give it a snazzy, clever title. Play around with the design. Add photographs. Add links to websites you like, love, and loathe. Change up the fonts. Post videos from You Tube that you find relevant. Remember: all these seemingly insignificant choices are part of a greater rhetorical situation that you are creating. So, when designing your blog, try to remember what message you, the rhetor, want to send about yourself and your writing. And don't forget! Your peers and I are your audience. And the context in which you are writing is this grand ol' course, ENGL15: Composition And Rhetoric. In 2010. For whatever that's worth.
Ok. Now for your prompts. Remember, your journal entry is due by class on Wednesday and must be posted on your new, personal blog.
Here are your options:
1. As we get ready to write our personal narratives, I want you to start thinking of narrative techniques that help move your story along in a way that keeps the reader engaged, moves the plot along, and contributes, in some way, to the point of your story. One of these techniques is dialogue -- the direct speech among the characters in a story. Take a quick look at page 346 in Harbrace for more about dialogue. Now, I want you to create a story out of nothing but dialogue that is taking place between two people over instant messaging. Before you begin, make sure you have thought about the story it is you want to convey through the exchange. Make sure it's nothing too complicated or involved. Keep it simple, as they say. Maybe one person is telling the other about their recent break-up with a boyfriend. You'll want to tell us how the break-up happened and why. How that person may be feeling. But you'll need to do it within the limitations of the IM dialogue. (400 words)
2. Read one of the following personal essays and then, in 400-500 words, break down for us the elements of memoir which you learned about in your reading and which you'll be including in your own personal narrative. Tell us what the subject of the story is, why this particular story is timely or relevant, who is the intended audience, what is the point of the story, and what rhetorical devices are used that you found particularly strong and are ones you might like to incorporate in your own writing? Here are your choices:
- Giffels, David. "Shirt-Worthy," The New York Times Magazine. October 28, 2007.
- Lamott, Anne. "What She Gave," Salon.com. May 8, 2005.
- Sheff, David. "My Addicted Son," The New York Times Magazine. February 6, 2005. Note: this one is a bit longer, but it is so worth the read. Very emotional. Very riveting.
- Walker, Rebecca. An excerpt from her book "Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self."
Since establishing that fact this past week -- thanks to your free writing exercises, journal entries, and our classroom discussions -- I am going to do my best to spark your imaginations with readings and writing projects that you might ACTUALLY LIKE. I'm even going to give you a couple different options for how to construct your next journal assignment.
First, you all are now responsible for building and maintaining your own blogs. That means that under "Dashboard" (See it in the upper-right hand corner? Good.), I want you to start a new blog. Give it a snazzy, clever title. Play around with the design. Add photographs. Add links to websites you like, love, and loathe. Change up the fonts. Post videos from You Tube that you find relevant. Remember: all these seemingly insignificant choices are part of a greater rhetorical situation that you are creating. So, when designing your blog, try to remember what message you, the rhetor, want to send about yourself and your writing. And don't forget! Your peers and I are your audience. And the context in which you are writing is this grand ol' course, ENGL15: Composition And Rhetoric. In 2010. For whatever that's worth.
Ok. Now for your prompts. Remember, your journal entry is due by class on Wednesday and must be posted on your new, personal blog.
Here are your options:
1. As we get ready to write our personal narratives, I want you to start thinking of narrative techniques that help move your story along in a way that keeps the reader engaged, moves the plot along, and contributes, in some way, to the point of your story. One of these techniques is dialogue -- the direct speech among the characters in a story. Take a quick look at page 346 in Harbrace for more about dialogue. Now, I want you to create a story out of nothing but dialogue that is taking place between two people over instant messaging. Before you begin, make sure you have thought about the story it is you want to convey through the exchange. Make sure it's nothing too complicated or involved. Keep it simple, as they say. Maybe one person is telling the other about their recent break-up with a boyfriend. You'll want to tell us how the break-up happened and why. How that person may be feeling. But you'll need to do it within the limitations of the IM dialogue. (400 words)
2. Read one of the following personal essays and then, in 400-500 words, break down for us the elements of memoir which you learned about in your reading and which you'll be including in your own personal narrative. Tell us what the subject of the story is, why this particular story is timely or relevant, who is the intended audience, what is the point of the story, and what rhetorical devices are used that you found particularly strong and are ones you might like to incorporate in your own writing? Here are your choices:
- Giffels, David. "Shirt-Worthy," The New York Times Magazine. October 28, 2007.
- Lamott, Anne. "What She Gave," Salon.com. May 8, 2005.
- Sheff, David. "My Addicted Son," The New York Times Magazine. February 6, 2005. Note: this one is a bit longer, but it is so worth the read. Very emotional. Very riveting.
- Walker, Rebecca. An excerpt from her book "Black, White, and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self."
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Journal One
Think about your past experiences as a writer and rhetor. What are two of your strengths as a writer and rhetor? What are two of your writing weaknesses? Specifically, how would you like to improve as a writer? What could you do or learn to make such improvements? How do you anticipate that this particular course will help you improve as a writer and rhetor?
Answer these questions in 500 words or more. Also, include examples, via at least two hyperlinks, of writing or rhetorical situations that inspire you to be a better writer. It could be song lyrics, a scene from a television show, your favorite book, or a recent article you read. For example, I love reading The Onion. For me, satire is one of my favorite things to read -- but it's not always the easiest thing for me to write. How about you?
Answer these questions in 500 words or more. Also, include examples, via at least two hyperlinks, of writing or rhetorical situations that inspire you to be a better writer. It could be song lyrics, a scene from a television show, your favorite book, or a recent article you read. For example, I love reading The Onion. For me, satire is one of my favorite things to read -- but it's not always the easiest thing for me to write. How about you?
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