Assignment 42: Get Inspired

Polyhymnia, the Greek Muse of Sacred Poetry

42.  Attend one of the scheduled readings at the Scissortail Creative Writing Festival.  Keep attending readings until you hear something that inspires you.  Then leave a comment (three-sentence minimum) on the ecuscissortail.blogspot.com website describing the reading that inspired you.  Scheduled readings at the Festival continue through 3 p.m. on Saturday.  Your comment is due by midnight on Saturday, April 2nd.

Assignment 41: So What? Who Cares?

Image source

41.  Read Chapter Seven of They Say/I Say: "'So What? Who Cares?'"  (pp. 92-100).  After you have read the chapter, write a paragraph in which you articulate a response to one of the essays you selected for Assignments #37 and #38.  Then write another paragraph in which you answer the question:  "So What?  Who Cares?"  Try to use at least one of the "Templates for Establishing Why Your Claims Matter" on pages 98 and 99.  Post both of these paragraphs on your blog (along with a clever title, of course).


Due before class on Monday, March 29th.

Writing Awards Deadline: April 8

Assignment 40: Skeptics May Object

Naysayer seeds

40.  Read Chapter Six of They Say/I Say:  "'Skeptics May Objec': Planting a Naysayer in Your Text."  (pp. 78-90).  After you have read the chapter, complete a modified version of either exercise one OR exercise two at the end of the chapter.  The modification is this:  plant the naysayer, but you don't have to respond to it (you'll understand this instruction after you've read the chapter).  When you have finished, e-mail it to me and bring a hard copy to class.  Due before class on Friday, March 25th.

Assignment 39: Did I do that?

Serial block quoter

39.  Review an academic essay you have written (the one you have chosen to analyze for this class or another) and e-mail your answers to these questions:
a)  Do you use block quotations in your writing?  If so, do you think some of these block quotations would have been more effective if they has been shortened?  Explain. Include an example if you have one (paste it into the e-mail).

According to the Purdue OWL:

"You should use a block quotation when the quotation extends more than four typed lines on the page. Although they are allowed in any type of writing, you will likely most often use them when quoting from fiction or literature. A block quotation is removed from the main body of your text. Indent one inch from the main margin (the equivalent of two half-inch paragraph indentations) and begin your quote. Maintain double spacing throughout, but you do not need to use quotation marks."

What he meant vs. what they understood

 b) Do you end paragraphs with quotations?  If so, do you think some of these paragraph-ending quotations would have been more effectively integrated into the essay if you had commented on them in some way?  Explain.  Include an example if you have one (paste it into the e-mail.)

Due before class on Wednesday, March 23rd.

Assignment 36: "And Yet"

36. Read Chapter Five of They Say/I Say ("And Yet:  Distinguishing What You Say from What They Say"; pp.68-74).  When you have finished, complete exercise 1 on page 75.  E-mail it to me and bring a hard copy to class.  Due by the start of class on Monday, March 21st Wednesday, March 23rd.

Assignments 37 and 38: Two Points of Departure

Look for two separate essays.  Each should meet a different one of the descriptions provided here:
a) an essay you disagree with;
b) an essay you agree with but can add to in an interesting way;
c) an essay you have mixed feelings about.

Briefly summarize the argument of each essay and state whether you agree with it, disagree with it, or have mixed feelings about it.

37. Post one of these summaries to your blog by midnight on Wednesday, March 23rd.


38. Post the other summary to your blog by the beginning of class on Friday, March 25th.

When choosing your essays, try to find some that you are interested in writing an extended response to.

The Argument Clinic

Assignment 35: "Yes/No/Okay, But"

Bryan Garner

35.  Read Chapter Four of They Say/I Say:  "Yes/No/Okay, But" (55-67) and the handout on Quoting from Garner's Modern American Usage (which I distributed in class; an extra copy is in the box of my office door). After you have read the chapter, complete exercise one on page 67 and e-mail it to me; also bring a hard copy to class (to complete this assignment, you'll need to read one of the essays included in the "Readings" section at the back of the text, either:  "Don't Blame the Eater" by David Zinczenko (195-197), "Hidden Intellectualism" by Gerald Graff (198-205), "Nuclear Waste" by Richard A. Muller (206-213), or "Agonism in the Academy:  Surviving the Argument Culture" by Deborah Tannen (214-220).  Due:  Before class on Friday, March 11th.

Assignment 34: "As He Himself Puts It"

34.  Read Chapter Three of They Say/I Say:  "As He Himself Puts It:  The Art of Quoting" (pp. 42-50).  Then look through the academic essay you have selected to analyze for this class and answer these questions:
a)  Does the essay have an "I say" moment?  If so, copy it down and identify the page on which it appears (it should be no more than a couple of sentences).  If not, explain why not and whether you think it would be stronger if it had one.
b)  Does the essay have a "They say" moment?  If so, copy part of it down and identify the page on which it appears (it should be no more than a couple of sentences).  If not, explain why not and whether you think it would be stronger if it had one.
c)  Does the essay include passage quoted from other texts?   If not, explain why not and whether you think it would be stronger if it did.  If it does, see if you can find an example of one well-framed quote and one poorly framed one.  Cut and paste into an e-mail these respective quotes and the paragraphs they appear in (including, presumably, their frame).

Send all of these to me via e-mail and bring a hard copy print out to class (along with the entire essay from which the examples are taken).  Due before class on Wednesday, March 9th.

Writing is rewriting

Lightning

In today's class, I returned overview comments (and grades) for the personal essays that were turned in February 25th.  If you choose to revise your essay for a higher grade, the deadline is Monday, March 28th.

The revision must be accompanied by a commentary that describes the changes made and changes in the revised draft should be in bold. In order to get a higher grade, the revised draft must be substantially different from the original draft.  And please: don't limit yourself to revising the things I suggested revising.

Click here for 300 inspirational words from Richard Nordquist (and others) on the value of revision (and an explanation of the lightning photo).

Assignments 32: "Her Point Is" and 33 "What Makes Academic Writing Academic?"

32.  Read "Her Point Is:  The Art of Summarizing" (pp. 30-40) of They Say/I Say.  After you have finished reading the chapter, do exercise one on page 40.  E-mail me a copy of both summaries and bring a hard copy of each summary to class on Monday.  We will exchange these summaries in class on Monday.  Due:  Before class on Monday, March 7th.

Scene from Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939)

33.  What makes academic writing "academic"?  Is it the topic discussed?  The tone employed?  The use of academic references?  The appeal to rationality and evidence?  Something else?  Share your thoughts in the comment space for this post.  Please read previous answers before weighing in yourself.  Look for common ground or points of difference with your classmates.  Due:  before class on Monday, March 7th. 

Assignment 31: "They Say . . ."

31.  After you have read Chapter One:  "They Say:  Starting with What Others Are Saying" in They Say/I Say (pp. 19-28), complete EITHER exercise 1 or 2 at the end of the chapter and e-mail it to me (in the body of an e-mail, not as an attachment, please). Also, please bring a hard copy to class.  Due before class on Friday, March 4th.