Thursday September 18

Rhetorical Situation, Reading, Reflection & Response

Agenda

• Reading: "Six Short Essays” by Karen Anderson

  • A look at genre → What makes it an essay?

• Reading Like a Writer

  • What kinds of choices is the author making? 

  • What do you notice about structure & style? 

  • What do you notice in the grammar? Verb tense? Punctation? Word choice? 

  • What do you want to try in your own writing?

• Writing Exercise

  • Inspiration from Nonfiction - Write a short essay inspired by your article. Try to get creative and experiment with structure, style, grammar, verb tense, punctuation and word choice. 

• Rhetorical Situation: Author's Commentary 

  • Context: What’s happening in the world? In the country? In your city? In your life?

  • Author: Who are you? What aspects of your life experience and your identity are meaningful to you? 

  • Audience: With whom do you want your writing to connect?

• Reading & Reflecting 

  • Three types of observations/questions → 

    • content (ideas & meaning)

    • craft (structure & style)

    • connections 

• Intellectual Dialogue (social media example) — What does healthy community dialogue look like? Why is it important? How can we participate in a healthy community dialogue? What are some of the challenges in maintaining healthy dialogue? — quotes from Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari

• Revision Tips

Assignments

Short Essay & Reading Response (on Canvas)

Participate in the discussion board by adding at least 2 different posts:

1. Post your revised version of your journal writing (at least 250 words) inspired by one of the Week 1 Readings, along with one paragraph of author's commentary that provides context on the rhetorical situation. In your commentary be sure to include the title, author and link to the reading that inspired you. Due Friday 9/19 by 11:59pm

2. Read and respond to at least one other classmate's post with at least one paragraph. In your commentary respond to content (ideas & meaning), craft (structure & style), and/or connections, and be sure to include quotes from the person's essay. Due Sunday 9/21 by 11:59pm

The best posts and responses are:

• thoughtful

• specific and detailed

• respectful

• *use appropriate capitalization, punctuation, spelling and grammar*

All posts are graded according to the Discussion Post Rubric

Thursday September 25

The Four Temperaments

Agenda

• The Four Temperaments

  • Mentor Text: "Independence Day in West Texas" by J. Estanislao Lopez

  • Writing Exercise & Share

• Revision — return to your imagery journal writing. 

  • What temperament(s) do you notice most in your piece? 

  • How can you revise to make sure the other temperaments are also present?

  • Share — What temperaments did you work on in your piece and how did it go?

Assignments

Imagery & Reflection Essay Discussion (on Canvas)

Participate in the discussion board by adding at least 3 different posts:

Post an essay (at least 250 words) in which you use imagery and highly specific concrete details to reflect upon an experience or situation that held profound meaning. Consider using Pablo Neruda's "My First Poem" as a model. Due Friday 9/26 by 11:59pm

Reply  to at least two other people with a paragraph describing what you like about the piece (a particular line, paragraph, or the piece in general) and explaining how a particular language choice influences meaning and/or mood in the piece. Due Sunday 9/28 by 11:59pm

Thursday October 2

Discussion, Grammar & Punctuation

Agenda

• Reading Notes: Week 3 Readings

  • Write down at least three quotes that stood out to you. 

  • What thoughts, ideas and questions does each quote bring up for you?

  • What does the reading make you wonder? What questions does it leave unanswered? What questions does it bring up for you and your life?

  • What does it make you want to say? What ideas and insights does it make you want to discuss?

• Writing exercise: Discussion Question

• Discussion Inspired by Literature

• Aspects of Language & Syle, Part II: Grammar, Punctuation, Spacing & Titles

  • Cinematic Structure

  • Grammar & Punctuation

  • Readings for more info: 

    • The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr (excerpt pg 28-31)

    • The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition by Strunk & White (excerpt)

Assignments

Inspiration from Nonfiction Draft (on Canvas): In the first discussion post you reflected on a reading, and in the second discussion post you wrote a personal narrative full of vivid description. This time we are putting the two forms of writing together in a first draft that you will submit in Canvas.

Choose one of the articles from the Week 3 Readings List to read and reflect on. As you write your reflection, consider word choice, sonics, grammar, punctuation, and the writing tips proposed by Strunk & White. Feel free to experiment and take risks in your writing—the idea is to make sure a reader hears your voice and feels your presence in their mind when they are reading. 

Craft choices are not only a reflection of identity; they can also convey how the speaker sees themselves within the context of a particular time, place and culture. Consider the sociopolitical implications of your craft choices; how do you mix the personal with the historical? The reflective with the political? The quotidian with the extraordinary? How do you relax into your own voice as a writer so that the beauty of your thoughts are reflected in the language you use to communicate them?

The point of this draft is to experiment with a strong sense of voice in your writing. In order to earn full credit, your reading reflection must also include the following:

• quotes from the reading

• imagery & specific details

• connections to broader historical, social and/or cultural context

• critical questions

• in-text citations 

• bibliographic citation (the citation machine will automatically generate it for you, but you have to use the ORIGINAL link to the article)

Drafts will be graded according to the Reading Reflection Rubric Due Sunday 10/5 by 11:59pm

Thursday October 9

Titles

Agenda

• Titling your essay - "Titling a Poem, Titling Anything" by Alberto Rios

  • Triangulation: absolute/fixed, relative, and quirky 

• NOTE: We will end class at 7pm on Thursday October 9

Assignments

Inspiration from Nonfiction Draft (on Canvas) Due Sunday 10/12 by 11:59pm

Thursday October 16

Author’s Commentary & POTA folder

Agenda

• POTA Folder

• Reflection & Discussion

  • How do we dialogue and share our thoughts without invalidating alternative viewpoints? 

  • How do we find and acknowledge common ground while sharing our ideas and perspective? 

  • How can we write and speak in ways that offer ideas while still genuinely welcoming dialogue and alternative views? 

  • How do we move conversations from polarization to problem-solving and mutual understanding?

  • What do we gain when keeping a welcoming, generous, authentic, truthful, and validating spirit in our conversations? What are the drawbacks?

  • What are some challenges with having open dialogue with someone whose beliefs are different from yours? 

Assignments

Socratic Seminar Preparation: Research & Questions (on Canvas) 

Post #1 Due Friday 10/17 by 11:59pm

Post #2 Due Sunday 10/19 by 11:59pm

Thursday October 23

Analytical Writing Part II: Research

Please use this link to sign up for a 10-minute individual conference to be held between Tuesday October 21 - Tuesday October 28.

During this time we will meet together as a class from 6-6:30pm, followed by individual conferences from 6:30-8pm. On Tuesday 10/21, Thursday 10/23 and Tuesday 10/28, you are only required to attend class from 6-6:30pm and attend your individual conference on your scheduled date & time.

Agenda

• paraphrase vs. summary vs. quotes

• embedding quotes

Assignments

Author's Commentary (on Canvas) Due Sunday 10/26 by 11:59pm

Essay/Blog Post (on Canvas) Due Wednesday 10/29 by 11:59pm

Schedule your individual conference for next week (on Canvas) Due Friday 10/24 thru Wednesday 10/29

Thursday October 30

Reflecting & Responding, Lessons from Epistolary Writing, Feedback Letters

Agenda

• Epistolary Writing

• Feedback Letters

Assignments

Read & take notes on your classmate's draft by Sunday 11/2 in preparation for writing a Feedback Letter (at least 800 words) which will be due Wednesday November 5 by 11:59pm

Thursday November 6

Crafting Literary Works that Inspire Deep Conversations

Agenda

• Crafting works that inspire deep conversations

• Individual Conferences

Assignments

POTA Folder & Guide (on Canvas) Due Sunday 11/9 by 11:59pm

Schedule your individual conference for next week (on Canvas) Due Friday 11/7 thru Tuesday 11/11

Thursday November 13

Crafting a Collection: How the Parts Come Together to Form a Whole

Agenda

• Collection

• POTA Workshop

Assignments

Revised Draft (on Canvas) Due Sunday 11/16 by 11:59pm

Thursday November 20

Website

Agenda

• Peer editing

• Format webpages

Assignments

Webpage (on Canvas) Due Sunday 11/30 by 11:59pm

Thursday December 4

Insight, Innovation, Activism & Growth

Agenda

Assignments

Literary Practice Reflection (on Canvas) Due Sunday 12/7 by 11:59pm

Podcast Pre-Interview Written/Audio Response (on Canvas) Due Wednesday 12/10 by 11:59pm