Good morning. Today is the last class meeting, and will be devoted to your writing a short essay of 450 -500 words. The topic list, directions, and requirements will be presented in class.
All paperwork is due today.Yeah!
Have a great break!
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Week 11
Good morning. Today is the last class meeting, and will be devoted to your writing a short essay of 450 -500 words. The topic list, directions, and requirements will be presented in class.
All paperwork is due today.Yeah!
Have a great break!
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Week 10
Good morning! Check out the following links for some fun, practical, and, finally, sobering news.
Extra Credit: Go to the Modern Love column at the New York Times online. Choose from the recent or archived essays one that appeals to you. All are first-person narrative essays on the subject of romantic love. Briefly describe (include title and author and post date) the content and then respond to the work by drawing out the associations and thoughts it gives rise to in you. You may include a story of your own that serves as commentary or illustration of what you find interesting in the piece. 400-500 words, titled.
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Week 9
“The man who has forgotten to be thankful has fallen asleep in life.”
–Robert Louis Stevenson
It is week nine, which means of course that we have just two weeks to completion of the quarter. Thus far you have been assigned a total of 7 essays; your short research project (7), and the in-class final (8) remain. The in-class final is to be done in class week 11, not at home. Today we will look at the field reports due today and after discussing potential topics and directions and the MLA guidelines for source integration, begin drafting the short report. It should be finished by the end of class next week.
I can look at drafts today of work in progress, time permitting, and review the documentation requirements and formatting of the Works Cited page. Rewrites and any outstanding assignments must be submitted by the last class.
Again, week 11 a "final" of 500 words will assess key composition skills–grammatical sentences, unified and well-developed paragraphs, support for your thesis, sound use of references, wth some direct quotation. This final, discussed more later, must be done in class.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Week 8
Lake Worth Street Painting Festival 2013
Good morning, class. I hope you enjoyed the week past and have caught up on projects. Today we will look at short reports again and the specifics of the previously assigned field report (due next week) and the poem "Illumination," by Eric Paul Shaffer, due today. We will also review the documentation of primary and secondary source material and practice using the format with an in-class exercise, perhaps one that focuses on visual imagery–photography, film, or illustration. The goal is to make you comfortable using various sources to develop an essay theme and thesis point. Before the end of class, we will review requirements of the individual report that will be due week 10.
Please consult with me about grades and any missing or late assignments. As we approach the final weeks of class, I want you to be completely clear about what is due or outstanding.
--------
A short list of websites featuring topical material and news from a variety of perspectives and in different mediums:
NPR.org (National Public Radio)
huffingtonpost. com
ted.com (Ted Talks)
slate.com
salon.com
nytimes.com
thedailybeast.com
alternet.org
U.S. government
Sources covering scientific, environmental, medical, educational, and judicial matters and research can be found through more specific searches of non-profit, education and governmental sites. The U.S. government, for example, maintains pages on the topics of "bullying" and "climate change" and others that may help in research of such topics.
A short list of websites featuring topical material and news from a variety of perspectives and in different mediums:
NPR.org (National Public Radio)
huffingtonpost. com
ted.com (Ted Talks)
slate.com
salon.com
nytimes.com
thedailybeast.com
alternet.org
U.S. government
Sources covering scientific, environmental, medical, educational, and judicial matters and research can be found through more specific searches of non-profit, education and governmental sites. The U.S. government, for example, maintains pages on the topics of "bullying" and "climate change" and others that may help in research of such topics.
----------------------------
Citing Sources in MLA Style
To document your research sources, whether from an article in print or online, an encyclopedia or dictionary item, an interview source, a film, photograph, illustration or other visual material– there is a standard means. The primary reference is the author of the source, whose last name provides the key word–the first word– to an itemized alphabetical list on the last page of the report (called the Works Cited page). The Works Cited page contains the full bibliographic information of all the sources referenced or cited in the text. Any directly quoted, paraphrased or summarized information should be referenced or cited in text and included on the Works Cited page. The author’s name and the title of the piece should be included in the essay text along with whatever information item you have borrowed or used. This in-text reference may appear as a parenthetical citation (i.e. a set of parentheses like the one I am using now) containing the author's last name and perhaps a page number or text title. Sometimes an article or source may have no author credit; in such instances, use the text title as the key term.
The following URL displays the MLA guidelines and illustrations for integrating sources:
Checklist:
*Double-check to that you have acknowledged all material from a source.
*Identify the author of each source in text or in parentheses following the information item.
*Use the title as a source reference for works without identified authors.
*Follow the basic pattern for creating entries on the Works Cited page, and be sure to alphabetize them.
Individual Author of a Book
Hazzard, Shirley. The Great Fire. New York. Farrar, 2003. Print.
Article from a Printed Magazine
Jenkins, Lee. “He’s Gotta Play Hurt.” Sports Illustrated. 26 Oct. 2009: 42-3. Print.
Article from an Online Magazine
Bowden, Mark. “Jihadists in Paradise.” The Atlantic.com. Atlantic Monthly Group, Mar. 2007. Web. 8 Mar. 2007.
Article from an Online Newspaper
Richmond, Riva. “Five Ways to Keep Online Criminals at Bay.” New York Times. New York Times, 19 May 2010. Web. 29 May 2010.
Selection from an Online Book
Webster, Augusta. “Not Love.” A Book of Rhyme. London, 1881. Victorian Women Wrtiers Project. Web. 8 Mar. 2007.
Organization Web Page
“Library Statistics.” American Library Association. Amer. Lib. Assn. 2010 Web. 26 Feb. 2010.
Film
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Dir. Peter Jackson. New Line Cinema, 2003. Film.
Program on Television or Radio
“The Wounded Platoon.” Frontline. PBS. WGBH, Boston, 18 May 2010. Television.
Advertisement
Feeding America. Advertisement. Time. 21 Dec. 2009: 59. Print.
Comic or Cartoon
Adams, Scott. “Dilbert.” Comic Strip. Denver Post 1 Mar. 2010: 8C. Print.
Personal, Telephone, or E-mail Interview
Boyd, Dierdra. Personal Interview. 5 Feb. 2012.
------------------------
Final Project (#7) : A short research project (750 words minimum, with in-text references to sources and a publication source list, i.e. a "Work Cited" list) is due week 10 or 11. This essay should address some subject about which you can make an arguable claim or assert an opinion that can be supported by the various sources you pull together to develop and prove the claim. I would like to see you address a topic making news now(the recent news lead)or in the not-too-distant past, just as we did with the topic of domestic cats. You must include information from at least two different secondary sources (article reports or commentaries by leading authorities, scientific or cultural) that provide clear support for your argument (thesis claim).
In the humanities, which includes the study of art, film, literature, philosophy, and religion, students often analyze some primary source, a literary work or historical document, a painting, film, or other work of art. In the social sciences, which include business, economics, education, criminal justice, psychology, sociology, health studies, researchers study the behavior of individuals and groups, seek to understand and explain causes and trends, suggest appropriate policy responses, and so on. Whatever the subject you address, again, provide at least two to four sources to help you make your case, such as published articles or book material that provides commentary, history, etc.
Other sources such as personal experience and eye-witness accounts, documentary photographs available on the web or elsewhere, cartoons, reader responses, information or insights gathered through personal interviews, surveys, etcetera, may also figure in the essay. You should provide clear summary of context and important details, and direct quotation of experts or authorities whose reports of fact and opinion matter to your argument. You are to have both in-text references and a Works Cited page, and you are to title and double space the essay.
Examples of field reporting from the New York Times:
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Week 7
Illumination
To begin today we will review the work and page notes of the last few weeks and the assignments due in the coming weeks. The quarter is fast coming to a close. Be mindful of the work that must be completed to pass this English class.
A quick recap of recent work:
Essay 3 (a summary of the posted article).
Essay 4 (a short report stemming from the article "Creativity Becomes an Academic Discipline," published in the NewYork Times). I'd like to look at a few, in fact, during class; by means of the shared drive the entire class may profit from the individual work you have composed.
Essay 5 (TBA poetry explication)
Essay 6 (a local field report) is due week 9 for presentation (see last week's blog and the handouts distributed last week for complete review of what I am asking for).
Essay 7 (a short report with full MLA documentation) is due week 10, by the end of class.
Essay 8 (in-class final) will be introduced week 10 and due at the end of class week 11.
All of the assignments above are geared to writing that takes account of the creative work and research or reporting of others and that requires accuracy in representation and the use of textual evidence in support of claims, the sine qua non of academic writing.
-------------------------
More Practice
--------------Writing About Images
--------------Writing About Images
We experience the world through our senses and mind– color, shape, sound, scent, texture, taste, composition– play endlessly in our perceptual fields. The images that culture produces–photographs, films, commercials, drawings, paintings, cartoons, logos, graphics, etcetera–get “read” just as written texts do. What can one learn from visual representations? Can one analyze the particular messages or meaning conveyed, interpret the story told, point or theme illustrated? Indeed, whether we want to understand the documentary value or aesthetic appeal, or the social, political, or economic interests and attitudes that an image represents, close study can be fun and insightful.
How do advertisers get us to buy? What makes a particular photograph resonate? What storylines or themes implicit in images make us pause? How to begin identifying or “reading” the source content?
The following guidelines should help you write cogently about visual representations:
Source, Purpose, Audience
*Identify the context of the image(s) or video; that is where and how it has been published and distributed or exhibited. To what end or purpose was it created, and by whom?
*What audience does the image address or appeal to? How so?
*What is the most prominent element or figure in the image? And the primary focal point?
Objects, Figures, Story
*Identify the important objects and figures of foreground and background, consider the literal and expressive details of each, and their collective arrangement in the composition.
*What story or event is depicted or implied?
*What mood or emotion or idea(s) are put in motion by the use of light and dark, color, balance or lack thereof, the use of white space, graphic text or other elements, etcetera?
Take Away Meaning
*To the extent the image persuades by feeling, mood, dramatic content, and so on, what is to be learned?
What do the uses of the image suggest about culture, politics, social life, art, history, the human condition?
Essay Practice (when we get the time): We will be writing about a single image or video piece, and its bearing on the larger issue(s) to which it speaks: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/science/a-cold-war-fought-by-women.html?src=xps&_r=0
Some options we will consider are listed below. Keep track of titles, authors, photographers, and posting sites so that MLA documentation can be completed.
(1) The following URL affords a fairly extensive photo archive that we will use for class practice in presenting and interpreting visual images. You will choose one image for a short work of 350-500 words that describes the image and the idea(s) it serves to illustrate or the questions to which it gives rise, whether social, historical, political, philosophical, aesthetic, technological, existential . . . . You must have a point to make in addressing the image and support that point by means of reference to the image. You do not have to be an expert on the subject the image addresses or implies, but you should be able to identify something about its impact and merits to make an interesting short essay.
(2) Some online periodicals provide a fairly large number of the work of cartoonists, who offer perspectives on matters making the news, in politics, sports, environment, etc. Choose one from the daily offering or the archives, describe the image and any accompanyng text, the artist or author, and the story, matter, or issue it addresses. You can google key words associated with the pictured material, and find recent news reports that may enhance your understanding of what is being depicted. Humor is typically an important element in cartoon work and you may have fun presenting readers the material. Avoid selecting any piece you do not get. 350-500 words, titled, double-spaced lines.
One site:
You should include references to authors or relevant sources in text and at the bottom of the piece in the MLA format.
* The world of images obviously exceeds the postings above, and if you have some alternative image example, you may elect to work with it.
-----------------
After reviewing the short reports of last week, we will write a short explication and response to a poem (250-350 words, essay 5). The aim is to describe what the poem is about, its theme, and how the writer makes it happen. The practice is in presenting the text clearly so that readers can understand it well without necessarily having read it for themselves. Description of the piece and the drawing of its meaning are key. You must identify the poem by author and title, present a conclusion about it (your thesis point), and then to the discussion of its contents and the images and ideas it puts into play in support of your thesis. You will use direct quotation to illustrate some of the text's important lines to support your reading of its contents.
The following paragraph illustrates in brief an "explication" or description and interpretation of a poem by Tony Hoagland called "The Best Moment of the Night." To explicate is to describe and explain the meaning of, here, a poetry piece. We will review what it means to summarize and paraphrase, and how and why we use direct quotations and source references in expository essays and reports. Then you will write a short essay on the poem identified below. The format is illustrated here:
In a poem by Tony Hoagland called “The Best Moment of the Night,” he writes about an informal dinner party. The human guests are gathered around a table and beneath it is a dog whose eager affection strikes a chord in the poet and creates a “moment” (line 1). The dog, “down near the base of the butcher-block table/ just as the party was getting started” (lines 2-3), makes him understand something about his own isolation. He seems lovelorn, and when that dog offers up its belly to be petted–“the vulnerable belly” (line 18)– he momentarily admires it, and is warmed by it, for the dog is still “panting, and alive, and seeking love”(line 19) in a way that he, as a human, can’t readily be or do in front of the gathered guests.
The following URLs explain and demonstrate the ways that quotations of prose and poetry are presented and punctuated, along with whatever citations may be required: http://www.writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/QPA_quoting.html
Essay (#5), to be completed in class (or at home :)): In short form (225-350 words) introduce, describe, and comment on the structure, development and theme(s) of the poem “Illumination,” by Eric Paul Shaffer. Use slashes to show lines breaks when quoting passages of three lines or less; use the block format for quotation of four or more successive lines. Include the MLA bibliographic information as it would appear on a Works Cited list at the bottom of the page.
Illumination by Eric Paul Shaffer
On those cold, clear winter mornings, I rise in the dark, and I sit
beneath a lamp with a pen and paper in a circle of light
barely bright enough for the work. The window beside me is black
beneath a lamp with a pen and paper in a circle of light
barely bright enough for the work. The window beside me is black
and blank, and soon I’m staring only through the window of the page
at whatever I’m drawing from ink and concentration. Hours pass,
and, always when I least expect it, there’s a sudden tide of light
at whatever I’m drawing from ink and concentration. Hours pass,
and, always when I least expect it, there’s a sudden tide of light
as the sun crests the mountain. When the first rays flood the fields,
the thin yellow curtain behind me brightens, and the room swells
with light. Everything is suddenly golden and illuminated,
the thin yellow curtain behind me brightens, and the room swells
with light. Everything is suddenly golden and illuminated,
and for just that one moment, I make the glorious and forgivable
mistake of thinking it has something to do with me.
mistake of thinking it has something to do with me.
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Week 6
Good morning.
Today we will review the work–the practice summaries –submitted last week and I'll collect the summary on "Learning to Think Outside the Box," (3), to be graded. We will then address the short report/essay (#4) you were to develop in draft over this last week. The topic must be tied to the piece you summarized on creativity as an academic course. The idea is to expand on a subject by reviewing related topical material. A requirement is that you use at least three reports as source material. This means you will introduce each, summarizing the findings, provide some direct quotation, all of which should contribute to the thesis of the essay. You will have some time to complete the assignment in class.
Possible Topics (and you can think of more):
- Enhancing or nurturing one's creative potential
- Lessons from the world's great creatives
- How play and dream inform art
- Creativity defined (with examples)
Type the key words combined with plus signs into the search engine (I use Google) and see what news or reports appear. The Huffington Post, The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, NPR.org, and many other sites regularly publish news and feature reports on current and perennial topics.
Here's my go, a rough draft:
At Youtube, a marvelous addition to the world of made things, one can watch the posts of the ice skating finals at the Sochi Winter Olympics, and marvel at the athletic skill, power, daring, and grace of reigning champion Yuan-Kim and others in faraway Russia, long after the games have ended, or listen to the recordings of artists long dead. Today we have so many sources and models of inspired work we can feel overwhelmed, but the problems and challenges of the 21st century remain and will require news ways of thinking to meet them. It seems to me creativity is part and parcel of surviving and thriving.
Here's my go, a rough draft:
On Being Creative
A recent article in the New York Times titled "Learning to Think Outside the Box," by Laura Pappano, reports that college degrees are now being awarded in the study of creativity and that those who earn such degrees, by some accounts, have proved themselves to be creative problem solvers, people who can think outside of the box, which might make them strong candidates in the current job market as certain employers prize creativity. It may seem awkward to speak of majoring or minoring in creativity per say, that is, separate from any specific field or endeavor, and in fact in several of the courses mentioned the work required appears rather academic, a traditional process requiring study of the literature on creativity and representative individuals, personal observation and self-reflection, analysis of a problem, discovery, and invention:
In Dr. Burnett’s Introduction to Creative Studies survey course, students explore definitions of creativity, characteristics of creative people and strategies to enhance their own creativity. These include rephrasing problems as questions, learning not to instinctively shoot down a new idea (first find three positives), and categorizing problems as needing a solution that requires either action, planning or invention. A key objective is to get students to look around with fresh eyes and be curious. The inventive process, she says, starts with “How might you…”
If the course were Composition 101, similar strategies might be used to enhance student awareness of how good writing gets done. The centrality of trial and error to all creative endeavour is a key takeaway in creativity studies; one teacher dubbed his course “Failure 101” to emphasize the fact. Indeed, “his favorite assignment” sounds much like a writing assignment: “Construct a résumé based on things that didn’t work out and find the meaning and influence these have had on your choices.” He asks students to connect the dots in their life, and to redefine failure in the context of the larger journey. Indeed, I believe we accomplish little if we are unwilling to risk failure or to grope our way instinctively through the psychological turmoil and darkness of inexperience, ignorance, and, at times, ineptitude. But we must till we find our footing, else we risk accomplishing little and losing touch with that which gives life real zest, meeting the challenges life poses.
Humans are naturally creative, we have had to be in order to survive; our world is increasingly a world of made things and the best of them, utilitarian or artistic, serve to make living easier and richer: a chair provides comfortable rest, a bowl, fork and spoon practical means of conveying food to our mouths, clothing warmth and protection, and story, poetry, music, film and all the arts ancient and modern, above all, sustenance for our souls. The more we develop our creative capacities the more potential we have to enhance our lives and those of others. The old myth is that creative endeavor requires some sort of divine gift or genius, but giftedness may be greatly overrated. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote in Human, All-Too Human (1878) about the process artists must dedicate themselves to in order to achieve greatness:
Artists have a vested interest in our believing in the flash of revelation, the so-called inspiration . . .[shining] down from heaven as a ray of grace. In reality, the imagination of the good artist or thinker produces continuously good, mediocre, and bad things, but his judgment, trained and sharpened to a fine point, rejects selects, connects . . . All great artists and thinkers [are] great workers, indefatigable not only in inventing, but also in rejecting, sifting, transforming, ordering. (qtd. in Shenk)
One has only to read the history of any great artist to discover the artist’s commitment to a process whereby natural endowments or talents were honed by experience and training and a sense of purpose that outweighed the considerable difficulties of achieving work of great merit. Stephen McCranie, a young commercial cartoonist, writes and illustrates a blog called DoodleAlley detailing some of his creative “issues” in a fresh and clear style, some of which the frame here illustrates.
Shenk, David. The Genius In All Of Us. New York. Random House, 2011. Print.
Below is another example of one quarter's assignment, which began with an article about a cat that made a 200-mile journey home after getting lost.
Sample Cat Report (Essay 4):
Cats on the Loose: A Problem in Need of a Solution
For all the cat lovers who read the article by Pam Belluck titled “A Cat’s 200-Mile Trek Leaves Scientists Guessing” (New York Times January 19, 2013) it is perhaps comforting to learn that domestic cats have an as yet little-understood ability to navigate home over long distances. Holly, a four-year-old house cat, got lost on a family outing to Daytona Beach, Fla., and over the next two months walked to within a mile of her owner’s home in West Palm Beach, Fla. Fortunately, she was wearing a microchip that allowed rescuers to reunite her with her owners. Holly’s thinness and bleeding paws attested to the hardships of her journey and that she was lucky to survive. Scientists do not know how cats navigate over long distances. Writes Belluck, “There is in fact little scientific dogma on cat navigation. Migratory animals like birds, turtles and insects have been studied more closely, and use magnetic fields, olfactory cues, or orientation by the sun.”
But in other, less heart-warming reports, we have a joint study by the University of Georgia and National Geographic Society called Kitty Cams that confirms that cats given the freedom to roam often expose themselves to significant harm and pose significant threats to small mammals, reptiles, and birds living in the wild. The Kitty Cams study estimates that domestic cats may kill as many as half a billion birds or more and several billion small mammals each year. Another report by scientists with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute raised alarms worldwide in contending that “un-owned and owned free-ranging domestic cats kill between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and between 6.9 and 20.7 billion small mammals each year in the contiguous United States” (“Feral and Free-Ranging Pet Cats Kill Far More Birds in the Continental United States Than Previously Believed, Smithsonian Study Finds”). The study indicates, moreover, that “it is un-owned cats—such as farm and barn cats, strays, colony cats, and feral cats—that cause the majority of the mortality, roughly 69 percent of bird deaths and 89 percent of mammal deaths.” Scientists have concluded that cats represent a greater mortality threat to wild birds, whose numbers are declining, than other threats often cited such as environmental toxins, bridges, skyscrapers, and towers.
The reports of cat predation are being challenged by cat welfare advocates who see a threat to feral cat populations (Alley Cat Allies “Tell the Smithsonian: Stop Spreading Junk Science That Will Kill Cats!”). Neuter and spay programs have been very effective at reducing the number of stray and feral cats, and the number of cats being euthanized, but the population problem persists. The large numbers of colonies of feral cats, even those fed and cared for by volunteers, pose a risk to wildlife that many authorities see as untenable. Debate centers on how to effectively reduce the number of stray and feral cats and thus conserve and protect important wildlife species (Mott “U.S. Faces Growing Feral Cat Problem”).
As the owner of a cat that relishes the hunt, and succeeds far too often, I have concluded that my Ruby, an ordinary black short-haired domestic cat, will have to stay indoors far more often than she would like, for her own safety and that of the wild creatures that live in or visit my neighborhood.
Note: The report above does not include a Works Cited list, but it has the in-text references that provide readers the key terms (author and article title) that would be used in a Works Cited page list. The specific reference information and the order in which it is to be formatted is illustrated in the set of MLA examples below.
----------------------------------------
Citing Sources in MLA Style
To document your research sources, whether from an article in print or online, an encyclopedia or dictionary item, an interview source, a film, photograph, illustration or other visual material– there is a standard means.
The primary reference is the author of the source, whose last name provides the key or first word to the source item as it is entered on the Works Cited page. This page contains an alphabetical list of all the sources cited in the report. Any directly quoted, paraphrased or summarized information should be referenced or cited in text and then included on the Works Cited page. Thus, on this page one finds the full bibliographic or publication information of each source cited in the report/essay.
The author’s name and the title of the piece should be included in the essay text along with whatever information item you have borrowed or used. This in-text reference may appear as a parenthetical citation (i.e. a set of parentheses like the one I am using now) containing the author's last name and perhaps a page number (for print sources typically) or text title. Sometimes an article or source being used may have no author named; in such instances, use the text title as the key term, the website name, or the most direct means of identifying the source. Do not put URLs in essay text.
At the following URLs you will find discussion of the MLA guidelines and illustrations for integrating sources:
Individual Author of a Book
Hazzard, Shirley. The Great Fire. New York. Farrar, 2003. Print.
Article from a Printed Magazine
Jenkins, Lee. “He’s Gotta Play Hurt.” Sports Illustrated. 26 Oct. 2009: 42-3. Print.
Article from an Online Magazine
Bowden, Mark. “Jihadists in Paradise.” The Atlantic.com. Atlantic Monthly Group, Mar. 2007. Web. 8 Mar. 2007.
Article from an Online Newspaper
Richmond, Riva. “Five Ways to Keep Online Criminals at Bay.” New York Times. New York Times, 19 May 2010. Web. 29 May 2010.
Selection from an Online Book
Webster, Augusta. “Not Love.” A Book of Rhyme. London, 1881. Victorian Women Wrtiers Project. Web. 8 Mar. 2007.
Organization Web Page
“Library Statistics.” American Library Association. Amer. Lib. Assn. 2010 Web. 26 Feb. 2010.
Film
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Dir. Peter Jackson. New Line Cinema, 2003. Film.
Program on Television or Radio
“The Wounded Platoon.” Frontline. PBS. WGBH, Boston, 18 May 2010. Television.
Online Video Clip
Murphy, Beth. "Tips for a Good Profile Piece." Project: Report. YouTube, 7 Sept. 2008. Web. 19 Sept. 2008.
Advertisement
Feeding America. Advertisement. Time. 21 Dec. 2009: 59. Print.
Comic or Cartoon
Adams, Scott. “Dilbert.” Comic Strip. Denver Post 1 Mar. 2010: 8C. Print.
Personal, Telephone, or E-mail Interview
Boyd, Dierdra. Personal Interview. 5 Feb. 2012.
----------------
Essay 5/Short Report, due week 6 (500 words): Use of references, formatting of quotations, and the avoidance of plagiarism is part of the essay practice. Learning how to find and use reference sources correctly and purposefully is an essential aspect of writing about subjects beyond your immediate experience and one that requires good reading skills and some measure of critical thinking and judgment.
Addressing current events and topics in the media allows you to tap the interest of readers who want to stay current and well-informed, and allows you to enter and shape the discussion as one who is well-informed and has something to add to the discussion, be it only your opinion. Use direct quotation in support of your claims, but don't overload the essay with quotations. Your voice should be the dominant voice. Identify the various sources you have used for content by author and/or title of work and tie the source information clearly to the specific content borrowed. There should be no confusion about which item of information came from where, or whose speech we hear in a passage. The in-text reference information provides the key word or words that will head each entry in the Works Cited list that follows the report. In essay 5, however, I am not requiring a Works Cited list.
Checklist:
*Make your thesis claim clear and provide adequate evidence to develop and support it
*Acknowledge all material borrowed from source texts.
* Use quotation marks around all language borrowed word for word
*Identify the author of each source in text or in parentheses following the information item.
*Use the article or website title as a source reference for works without identified authors.
*Review the basic pattern for creating entries on the Works Cited page.
-----------------
Essay 6 (due week 9, 500 words): An EyeWitness/Field Report: You must attend in person a local event, community function, business enterprise, entertainment venue, museum, restaurant or hotel establishment, nature preserve or park, area of historical interest, etcetera– in order to gather information from direct experience. You cannot rely on the reports of others or the site's own published information alone. The writing of the piece requires you bring to readers the vicarious experience of being there in person. themselves; that is, by engaging readers in your own experience on the ground. Background research may help fill out and provide context for the report of course, and you are encouraged to find out as much as you can in the way of origins or history of the establishment, event or area for possible inclusion in the report.
Reviews and descriptions of cultural fare–of nature parks, historical attractions, art exhibits and fairs, live music shows, restaurants, bars, and clubs old and new, sporting events, lectures, book signings and discussions, community classes and workshops –serve to inform people of what's going on about town and provide them incentive to get out and experience some of what the area has to offer. In this assignment you must report on a local place or local event from an eye-witness perspective–you must go there, experience whatever is on offer, and write about it in such a way that readers feel they have gotten to see and know the place through your first-hand experience of it.
The particular focus and perspective you bring to your subject, your knowledge and ideas and observations of it, and the degree of interest and engagement with the subject you show–these are central to the essay’s success. Whether you are visiting a park, a beach, a museum, theater, restaraunt, etcetera–descriptions of the scene or environs, the activity, the individual artworks, performances, ambiance, food, service, etcetera will bring the piece to life and convey a you-are-there sensation to readers. Your readers will be relying on your knowledge, powers of observation and storytelling abilities. Your informed judgment, taste, and opinions will be an important element. approach you create, the thesis idea controlling and unifying the work, will make for certain selections and emphases that reflect you the observer, your history, interests, tastes, etc.
The eye-witness report is a species of primary research. You may find you want background reading on whatever aspects of your subject require context, to fully develop your thesis or main ideas. To repeat, this essay will require you actually go somewhere in person and record material facts and observations before putting the piece together. Your thesis tells you what to include, to emphasize, and what to ignore. The essay should run a minimum of 5oo-6oo words, including introductory, body, and closing paragraphs, and title.
Remember the who, what, where, when, why roster of specifics.
If you were to visit an exhibit, you would include the museum name, location, and featured artist(s), including the exhibit’s run dates.
Focus would necessarily be on some theme observed in one or more works or overall. You would identify representative works (by title) and present a verbal description–medium, size, subject, form, and color–so that readers can "see" the work and understand the conclusions you draw from it. If you were to visit a natural area, you might tie the visit in to some current news (a news "hook") or ongoing area of interest (natural history/studies, ecology, environmental justice, marine life, art) to create audience appeal, to lend purpose and weight to the piece. Food culture is of great interest to many these days and offers many choices for primary research or "eye-witness" reports–green markets, restaraunts, bars, etcetera.
The field report (6), 500- 700 words, is due no later than week 9, though I prefer you submit it week 8, which will allow some time for revisions at the beginning of class week 8. Each of you will be responsible for reading your essay to the class week 8 or 9, and that presentation will be part of the grade you receive.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reminder: You must soon identify and begin to explore a subject or idea for a short research report on a topic of your choosing. Locate reading material relevant to whatever line of inquiry you intend. Week 10 or 11 you will have due a 700-word length essay in which you put across a claim made persuasive and credible by virtue of supporting facts, expert opinion, testimonials, logical inquiry, visuals, and, perhaps, emotional appeals to the reader's values.
University of Wisconsin Writing Lab: http://www.writing.wisc.edu/
On Comma Use and Common Mistakes: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E6D9163EF934A15756C0A9649D8B63
On Comma Use and Common Mistakes: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E6D9163EF934A15756C0A9649D8B63
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)