| Unit One: First Essay; Writing Focus: Personal Narrative |
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Intro to the Class as a Writing Community
Writing about Social and Ethical Issues |
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Distribute: Syllabus, Course Calendar, Writer's Letter assignment, Course information sheet, Exercise 1.1, Essay Assignment 1 |
| 2 |
Reasons to Believe: The Roots of Ethical and Social Values
Introducing Personal Essays |
Exercise 1.1, Notebook Exercise on Edelman, Writer's Letter |
Discuss: Sample student essay |
| 3 |
Reasons to Believe and Act |
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| 4 |
Developing and Sustaining Ethical and Social Values
The Personal Essay: Crafting Engaging and Effective Introductions |
2 Notebook Exercises (lec 3, lec 4) |
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| 5 |
The Writer as Social Activist: A Literary Tradition |
Draft Essay 1 (2 copies + cover letter.) (Due two days after lec 5)
Workshop students: email drafts (as Word documents) to classmates |
Read/Discuss: Assigned readings
Bring in: Introductions, Essay 1 (4 copies)
Workshop Preparation; Distribute Workshopping Letter |
| 6 |
Writing Workshop, Draft Essay 1; The Craft of Revision |
Workshop letters to classmates. (Copies to instructor) |
Distribute: Handouts on revision (3) |
| Unit Two: Second Essay; Writing Focus: Investigative Essay/Comparative Analysis |
| 7 |
Representing Social Issues and Problems; Images |
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| 8 |
Narratives of Poverty and Homelessness |
Notebook Exercise: Comment comparatively on the power of Marin's and Kozol's essays (1½-2 pp.)
Revision, Essay 1. (2 copies + cover letter and marked-up Draft) (Due two days after lec 8) |
Review: Essay 2 assignment.
Introduction to Community Research |
| 9 |
The Writer as Witness, Participant and Investigator: Inside the World of Poverty and Low-wage Labor |
Proposals, Essay 2. (Five copies)
Notebook Exercise on Ehrenreich |
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| 10 |
The Writer as Interpreter of Social Issues: The Value Of Comparative Analysis: Research Strategies |
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Pairs Workshops: Proposals 2
Library Session |
| 11 |
Writers Engage With Media Culture and Beauty Imagery |
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Read/Discuss: Assigned readings (distributed in lec) |
| 12 |
Writers Address Contemporary Debates: Race, Gender and Issues of Equality
Approaches to Comparative Analysis: Options in Introductions/Conclusions |
Notebook Assignment: Compare Takaki and Faludi |
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| 13 |
Writers Confront Contemporary: Educational Inequality, Past and Present: Individual Portraits |
Notebook assignment: Compare Rose and Kozol or Angelou
Draft, Essay 2 (2 copies + cover letter) (Due two days after lec 13) |
Distribute: Workshop 2 letter
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| 14 |
Writing Workshop, Draft, Essay 2 |
Workshop Letters |
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| Unit Three: Third Essay; Writing Focus: Investigative/Advocacy Essay |
| 15 |
Writers as Investigators and Advocates: Modern Classics in the Literature of Social Change |
Notebook Exercise on Friedan or Carson |
Review essay 3 assignments |
| 16 |
Reading Films Critically |
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| 17 |
Writers Explore Contemporary Issues: Mental Health |
Notebook Assignment: Girl, Interrupted
Proposals, Essay 3 (5 copies) |
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| 18 |
Writers Define Contemporary Issues and Advocate Solutions: Education |
Notebook Assignment on Hirsch and Orwell
Revision, Essay 2. (2 copies, coverletter + marked-up Draft) (Due two days after lec 18) |
Small Workshops: Proposals, Essay 3 |
| 19 |
View Dead Man Walking |
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| 20 |
Writers Debate Policy Issues: Capital Punishment
Incorporating Personal and Public Voices |
Notebook Exercise, Dead Man Walking
Incorporating Interview Material and Secondary Sources
Models of Advocacy Essays: Student Essay (MURJ)
Conclusions |
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| 21 |
Writers Debate Policy Issues: Capital Punishment
Incorporating Personal and Public Voices (cont.) |
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| 22 |
Approaches To Advocacy |
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Oral presentations |
| 23 |
Writers as Visionaries: Fiction as a Laboratory for Utopian Ideas and Dystopian Critiques |
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Oral presentations |
| 24 |
Writers as Visionaries: Fiction as a Laboratory for Utopian Ideas and Dystopian Critiques |
Notebook Exercise: Compare your own Visions of utopia and dystopia
Drafts, Essay 3 (Due one day after lec 24) |
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| 25 |
Revision Strategies for Advocacy Essays |
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| 26 |
Advanced Revision/Publication Workshop |
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Oral presentations |
| 27 |
Advanced Revision/Publication Workshop (cont.) |
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Workshop, Draft Essay 3 |
| 28 |
Presentations and Course Evaluations |
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Oral presentations
Course Evaluations |
| 29 |
Last Class: Celebration |
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Portfolios due by end of day (with revision 3) |