Writing
I promise, writing well is a piece of pie, yet getting there takes time and patience and a whole lot of revising. There are three essays due in this course. These essays intend to hone your writing and reading skills, and each will help you arrive at thoughtful questioning around a specific topic, in addition to translating critical thinking onto the page, as well as learning methodology for making “interesting use of the texts you read in the essays you write” (Harris). Through evidence of library research (such as reading beyond the assigned texts, citations etc.,) and the gradual process of outlining, rewriting, and revising, you will produce the required 5,000 words for CI-HW subjects. At the end of the semester, you will submit a portfolio of all your returned essays, in addition to a statement of reflection on your experience as a writer.
- A Love Letter assignment - Due session 2
- The Great Gatsby assignment - Due session 3
- Waitress Pie Recipe assignment - Due session 4
- Draft of Essay 1 - Due five days after session 4 (final version due session 8)
- Fun Home assignment - Due session 9
- Beloved assignment - Due session 10
- Draft of Essay 2 - Due session 11 (final version due session 15)
- Benito Cereno assignment - Due session 17
- Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories assignment - Due session 19
- Draft of Essay 3 - Due session 22 (final version due session 24)
Presentation
Students are asked to organize a brief presentation relating to the course. I ask that you create a visual and read from a polished piece of writing. Presentations should be fun but smart and treated as a creative project that informs and illuminates the subject of the class. Teach us something that excites you, even if the presentation might require additional research. I have seen a range of presentations so if you’re the daring type, you’re in good company. CI-HW subjects require an oral component but don’t worry I will prepare you to begin thinking about your presentation, not just for this class or other classes, but in terms of professionalism. A significant component of grading (beyond your demonstration of research and analysis), will be your ability to engage the class: find a unique way to bring the material to life. By daring, what it is that I mean to say is just use creative methods—maybe photography, or a performance, or perhaps a staged reading, even incorporate music, a video, or poetry. The point should always be to bounce off of the class theme, then take us somewhere new but then bring us back to the text we’ve been reading together. Each student will schedule a conference date with me to discuss the 8-10 minute presentation.
