This Composition course is designed to allow you to experience the creativity, imagination, and wonder of exploring and experiencing the world through literary practice.
Course Overview, Writing Process, Journal Writing & Diaries, Mentor Texts, “Write What You Know,” & Writing as a Process of Discovery, POV
Agenda
Introductions -- please share:
Your Name and preferred pronouns
Major
What have you enjoyed reading? Even if you don't read often (or don't like to read), think back to the last thing you read that you enjoyed. What was it? What did you like about it? What insights did you gain? In what way did it change your view of life?
Do you like to write? If so, what kind of writing do you like to do? If not, what don't you like about writing?
Course Introduction
AI Policy
Attendance & Participation
Assignments & Grading
Course Webpage with lesson & assignment materials: https://sites.google.com/view/ntoso/course-information/composition
What is "literary practice" and why does it matter?
Writing Process
Write What You Know & Writing as a Process of Discovery
POV
Writing Exercise: Freewriting
Assignments
Journal Writing: Choose one of the readings from the Week 1 list (or bring your own) that you would like to use as inspiration for your writing in Thursday's class. Read and respond:
What thoughts, ideas and questions does it bring up for you?
Write down at least three quotes that stood out to you.
What does it 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?
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
Specific Details & Imagery/Sensory Language, Descriptive Outline
Agenda
Imagery — notes
Mentor Text: excerpt from Martin & Meditations from the South Valley by Jimmy Santiago Baca (excerpt)
Writing Exercise & Share
Descriptive / Reverse Outline — notes
Reading: "My First Poem" from The Complete Memoirs by Pablo Neruda
How & why we create descriptive / reverse outlines - example
Small group breakout: descriptive outline of paragraphs 2-5
Writing Exercise — start on journal writing prompt (see below)
Assignments
Journal Writing Prompt: Think about a moment in your life that felt tender and profoundly meaningful, as though the significance of the experience transcended the details and circumstances. Describe the situation in detail, using as much imagery and specific concrete details as possible. Try to put your reader inside the scene. Focus on painting the scene and telling the details of the experience, and wait until the very last line to tell us what you learned from that experience in a way that still focuses on the experience itself.
Inspired by the mentor text "My First Poem" from The Complete Memoirs by Pablo Neruda.
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
Word Choice: Significance & Meaning, Sound/Sonics
Agenda
Word Choice — notes
Mentor Texts:
"Black Map" by Bei Dao
"Early December in Croton-on-Hudson" by Louise Glück
Writing Exercise
Assignments
Journal Writing: Choose one of the readings from the Week 3 list (or bring your own) that you would like to use as inspiration for your writing in Thursday's class. Read and respond:
What thoughts, ideas and questions does it bring up for you?
Write down at least three quotes that stood out to you.
What does it 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?
What personal experience does it remind you of?
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
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
Spacing, Line/Paragraph Breaks, Paragraphs/Stanzas,
Prose, Analytical Writing, Storytelling & Alternative Narrative Structures, Genre, Poetry & Hybrid Forms
Agenda
Structure & Form
Spacing & Line Breaks
Paragraphs/Stanzas
Assignments
Inspiration from Nonfiction Draft (on Canvas) Due Sunday 10/12 by 11:59pm
Titles
Agenda
Titling your essay - "Titling a Poem, Titling Anything" by Alberto Rios
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
Historical, Social, Literary & Biographical Context
Agenda
Assignments
Author’s Commentary & POTA folder
Agenda
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
Analytical Writing Part I: The Power of Questions
Agenda
Writing Guide with Handbook: 8.1 Information & Critical Thinking → fact vs. opinion, uncovering bias, critical questions
Reflection writing
Generating questions
Credible sources
Multimedia
Note-taking
Combining historical, personal & imagination
Start research notes
Revise questions in preparation for individual conferences
Assignments
Research for your own writing — concept/context/connection reflection & question
Analytical Writing Part II: Research
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
Analytical Writing Part III: In Conversation
Agenda
Individual Conferences
Assignments
Essay/Blog Post (on Canvas) Due Wednesday 10/29 by 11:59pm
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
Exploring the Universal and Profound in Your Work, Synoptic Moment/Theme Stated
Agenda
Assignments
Feedback Letter (on Canvas) Due Wednesday 11/5 by 11:59pm
Crafting Literary Works that Inspire Deep Conversations
Agenda
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 Wednesday 11/12
Keeping the Audience in Mind
Agenda
Assignments
Individual Conference (on Canvas) Due Friday 11/7 thru Wednesday 11/12
Crafting a Collection: How the Parts Come Together to Form a Whole
Agenda
Assignments
Revised Draft (on Canvas) Due Sunday 11/16 by 11:59pm
Editorial Considerations in Publishing, Editor’s Reflection, In Conversation, Inspiration
Agenda
Editorial Meeting
Writing: respond to editorial reflection questions
Assignments
Editor's Reflection (on Canvas) Due Wednesday 11/19 by 11:59pm
Website
Agenda
Peer editing
Format webpages
Assignments
Webpage (on Canvas) Due Sunday 11/30 by 11:59pm
Reflecting on Process & Product, Literary Practice in the Context of Life
Agenda
Assignments
Editor's Reflection (on Canvas) Due Wednesday 11/19 by 11:59pm
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
Podcast Discussion Recording
Agenda
Assignments
Podcast Discussion Recording (in class) during final exam time on Thursday 12/11 from 6-7:50pm