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."