Writing and Experience: MIT: Inside, Live

Calendar and Homework

The table below contains the discussion topics, activities, and the homework assigned for this seminar.

Students posted writing assignments and reading responses on the class website.

For further detail on Assignments 1–6, please see the Assignments section.

SES #	TOPICS	HOMEWORK
1	Introduction: Course Overview We’ll discuss the class and “One Writer’s Beginnings” (Assignment 1).	Post “One Writer’s Beginnings” (Assignment 1).
2	Our Writing Lives We’ll discuss excerpts from “One Writer’s Beginnings” (Assignment 1) essays and the class’s writing experiences.	Read: “Looking—at MIT” (Assignment 2) Kotz, Deborah. “Cure For Distracted Mind: Stare at a Painting for Three Hours,” boston.com, May 24, 2013. “Freewriting” (PDF) Reading Responses handout (PDF) Post response to the Kotz reading.
3	Listening: The Thing Itself Writing Lab: We’ll do some in-class writing and prepare for going to the MIT Museum.	No homework assigned
4	Looking—at MIT We will meet at the MIT Museum to find an object and free write about it.	Read: Orwell, George. “Politics and the English Language.” In Fields of Writing: Motives for Writing. 10th ed. Edited by Nancy R. Cormley, David Hamilton, et al. Bedford / St. Martin’s Press, 2012. ISBN: 9781457608919. Kauffman, Ben. “What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate.” Boston Globe, January 4, 2004. Katongo, Kapaya. “Seeing is Not Always Believing,” Angles, 2013. Cholst, Beth. “The Abstract Art of Physics,” Angles, 2013. Shoyer Jr., Timothy Curtis. “Chaos Contained in a Cat,” Angles, 2013. Reading Response handout (PDF) Post response to the Orwell Reading.
5	Writing—Well We will discuss George Orwell’s essay “Politics and the English Language” and the three model reviews, and prepare for workshop.	Post “Looking—at MIT” (Assignment 2). Read: “On Workshops” (PDF) Your workshops mates’ “Looking—at MIT” reviews and respond in letter form. Some questions to consider in your response: Can you “see” the object? Where specifically is it vivid for you? Do you understand what the writer found interesting about this object? Is there anything more you’d like to know?
6	Workshop We will discuss what makes good workshops, and practice using your “Looking—at MIT” (Assignment 2) pieces and one of the models.	Read: “On the Road to MIT” (Assignment 3) Alexie, Sherman. “Indian Education.” In The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. 20th Anniv. ed. Grove Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780802121998. [Preview with Google Books] Dillard, Annie. An American Childhood. Harper and Row Publishers, 2013, pp. 147–9. ISBN: 9780060915186. Konopka, Jaclyn. “The Gift of Education,” Angles, 2011. Mendoza, Douglas. “Chapter Four: Slavery in the U.S.,” Angles, 2011. Post responses to the readings. What strategies do Alexie, Dillard, Konopka and Mendoza use to explore their own educations? What makes them effective—or not? What did you learn that could be of use in telling your own story? Could one of them serve as a model for your “On the Road” narrative?
7	On the Road to MIT We will discuss the “On the Road to MIT” (Assignment 3), models, and the following readings: Bombardieri, Marcella. “Colleges Try to Meet Needs of First-Generation Students,” Boston Globe, September 30, 2013.	Read the following models and post a response to three of them: Katongo, Kapaya. “Memories from the Future,” Angles, 2013. Manzi, Eric. “From the Great Dome,” Angles, 2013. Felhofer, Ann. “The View from the Top,” Angles, 2012. Senatus, Larissa. “What It Means To Be Alive,” Angles, 2012. Complete your “Looking—at MIT” second version to bring to class in two-envelope folder with first version, responses, and revision intent sheet (PDF).
8	On the Road to MIT (cont.) We will continue to discuss the “On the Road” models and prepare for our initial discussion of the Personal Investigative Essay (PIE) (Assignment 4).	Read: The PIE assignment (Assignment 4) Orlean, Susan. “Introduction.” In Best American Essays 2005. Mariner Books, 2005. ISBN: 9780618357130. [Preview with Google Books] Pick one sentence from Orlean’s reading to talk about. Watch “Common Threads: The Evolving Student Experience at MIT.” MIT+150. Accessed July 16, 2014. https://infinitehistory.mit.edu/video/common-threads%E2%80%94-evolving-student-experience-mit-trailer
9	Introduction to the Personal Investigative Essay (PIE) We will discuss the PIE assignment and generate a list of ideas for topics and ways to pursue them.	Post “On the Road to MIT” (Assignment 3). Print out and read the “On the Road to MIT” essays for Session 10 full-group workshop and respond in letter form. Select one sentence that appeals to you, and be prepared to tell us why.
10	Workshop: On the Road to MIT We will hold a full-group workshop for three writers’ essays.	Print out and read “On the Road to MIT” essays for Session 11 full-group workshop and respond in letter form. Select one sentence that appeals to you, and be prepared to tell us why. We will hold small-group workshops throughout the week. For those with small-group workshops, bring copies of the “On the Road to MIT” essays for your workshop (including your own) and two copies of your letter responses to workshop.
11	**Workshop: On the Road to MIT (cont.)     ** We will hold a full-group workshop for three writers’ essays.	Read and post responses to: Hochstadt, Andrew. “The Fovnder,” Angles, 2013. Shoyer Jr., Timothy Curtis. “The School Up the River and That Other Institute of Technology,” Angles, 2013. Sanneman, Lindsay. “Shifting Balance: The Elimination of MIT’s Varsity Women’s Gymnastics Program,” Angles, 2012. Watson, Sterling. “The Brass Rat: MIT’s Nonstandard Technology Ring,” Angles, 2012. Ji, Xunjie. “1927,” Angles, 2011. Bassett, Ross. “MIT-Trained Swadeshis: MIT and Indian Nationalism, 1880–1947.” (PDF) Osiris 24 (2009): 212–30. Galchen, Rivka. “Disaster Aversion: The Quest to Control Hurricanes.” Harper’s, October 2009. Work on your “On The Road” revisions.
12	PIE We will discuss models for the PIE and strategies for investigation as you move towards establishing a topic for your PIE.	Read and post responses to: Healey, Mina. “Walker Memorial: The ‘Useful’ Building,” Angles, 2012. Wangare, Yvonne. “Away From Home,” Angles, 2012. Moran, Shannon. “Freshman Year, On the Rocks,” Angles, 2011. Burgos, Ana. “A Professor of Puzzles,” Angles, 2012. Warneke, Jonathan. “Armed and Dangerous: Don’t Point your Quantum Computer at Me!” Angles, 2012. Bring copies of an initial idea for a PIE, including your key question and strategies for investigation, to class.
13	PIE (cont.) We will continue work on your PIEs, discussing models and PIE proposals.	Continue work on your PIEs, developing your train of thought, pursuing useful sources, etc.
14	PIE: Visiting the DIRC We will meet in the MIT Libraries’ Digital Instruction Resource Center (DIRC) with Mark Szarko, who will help you make the best use of the library resources as you continue to track sources for your essays.	Continue work on your PIEs. Fill out and bring your Search Worksheet (PDF) to class.
15	PIE: Visiting the Archives We will meet in the MIT Libraries’ Institute Archives & Special Collections with Nora Murphy, who will introduce you to the Archives, and assist you in finding archival material for your essays.	Continue work on your PIEs. Bring your annotated bibliography to class.
16	PIE: Incorporation and citation of source material / tracking resources We will discuss and practice incorporation of source material.	Continue work on your PIEs. Read: MIT Stories (Assignment 5) Gregg, Joseph. “Que Sera Sera,” Angles, 2008. Miner, Horace. “Body Ritual among the Nacirema.” American Anthropologist 58, no. 3 (1956): 503–7. Sun, Lili. “Pottery Class,” Angles, 2012. Fayngersh, Mark. “Owl,” Angles, 2012. Fujimori, Jessica. “Yellowstone’s Footprint,” Angles, 2012. Moffatt, Michael. “A Year on Hasbrouck Fourth.” Chapter 3 in Coming of Age in New Jersey: College and American Culture. Rutgers University Press, 1989, pp. 88-95. ISBN: 9780813513591. [Preview with Google Books] “Ode to the Midnight P-Setter” (PDF) MIT Stories, Responses I (PDF) Post reading responses.
17	MIT Stories We will discuss MIT Stories (Assignment 5) and readings.	Read: Khoury, Noor. “My Life: Tuesday,” Angles, 2012. Choi, Sang Huyun. “Transcript of 2011 Annual Cambridge Mouse Meeting (9/15~9/19),” Angles, 2012. Granville, Alina. “The Sketchbook: Lowlights of Being an MIT Archie,” Angles, 2012. MIT Stories, Responses II (PDF) Post reading responses.
18	MIT Stories (cont.) We will continue to read and discuss _models of MIT Stories._	Print out and read the PIEs for Session 19 full-group workshop and respond in letter form.
19	**Workshop: PIE     ** We will hold a full-group workshop for three writers’ PIEs.	Print out and read the PIEs for Session 20 full-group workshop and respond in letter form.
20	Workshop: PIE (cont.) We will hold a full-group workshop for three writers’ PIEs.	We will hold small-group workshops throughout the week. For those with small-group workshops, bring copies of your PIEs for your workshop (including your own) and two copies of your letter responses to workshop.
21	Workshops (small groups): PIE We will meet in small group workshops to discuss your first versions of PIE.	Print out and read the MIT Stories for Session 22 full-group workshop and respond in letter form. Revise your PIEs.
22	Workshop: MIT Stories We will hold a full-group workshop for three writers’ stories.	Read and respond to MIT Stories for Session 23’s workshop.
23	Workshop: MIT Stories (cont.) We will hold a full-group workshop for three writers’ stories.	Read your workshop mates’ MIT Stories and respond in letter form. Bring copies of the pieces for your workshop (including yours) and 2 copies of your responses to workshop.
24	Workshops (small groups): MIT Stories We will meet throughout the week in small group workshops to discuss your “MIT Stories” first versions.	Revise your MIT Stories. Begin preparing for your MIT Stories Live presentations.
25	Down to the Word We will check out how Sherman Alexie and his editor at Hanging Loose Press edited poems from Alexie’s “The Summer of Black Widows.” We will prepare for your presentations of MIT Stories Live, reviewing strategies for effective oral presentation.	Review your semester’s work and prepare your portfolio, including your “One Writer’s Beginnings,” Part II (Assignment 6). Prepare for your MIT Stories Live presentations.
26	Oral Presentations: MIT Stories Live	Complete your portfolio and prepare for final presentations of MIT Stories Live.
27	Oral Presentations: MIT Stories Live (cont.) Celebration The second group will present your oral MIT stories to the class. We will celebrate the completion of your semester’s work.	Portfolios and “One Writer’s Beginnings,” Part II (Assignment 6) due.