Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Assignments Seven, Eight and Nine

7.  Read "On the Pleasure of Hating" (1826; 189-198) by William Hazlitt (1778-1830).  As you are reading, be on the lookout for a  vocabulary word that is new to you.  Look up its definition and e-mail it to me after you have finished reading the entire essay.  Due before class on Friday, January 21st. Come to class on Friday ready to discuss the essay and the ways that it corresponds with the qualities Lopate attributes to the personal essay in the introduction.  Also take note of interesting turns of phrase or turns of thought, effective descriptive passages or intriguing ideas.  We will discuss these in class on Friday.

8.  Make a comment on posts made by two classmates, one that you choose at random and one that I assigned to you (Wendi on Katie, Katie on Lisa, Lisa on Megan, Megan on Ryan, Ryan on Kaylie, Kaylie on Rodney, Rodney on Chad, Chad on Paula, Paula on Josh, Josh on Brock, Brock on Trevor, Trevor on Lindsi, Lindsi on Laramie, Laramie on Preston, Preston on Cody, Cody on Geri, Geri on Wendi).  Keep it positive.  Mention a turn of phrase or turn of thought you liked in the post, or share a similar (or dissimilar) experience or point of view.  Send me an e-mail letting me know whose posts you have commented onDue before class on Friday.

9.  Make a list of the titles of 5 essays you would like to write.  E-mail them to me before class on Monday, January 24th and bring a hard copy with you to class on that day.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Assignments Five and Six

What kind of essayist are you? (Painting by Diana Golledge)
5.  Read the questions associated with the subsections of the Introduction to The Art of the Personal Essay. Use one of them as the point of departure for a new post.  You can either reflect on the reason why your answer to that particular question is "yes."  Or you write a post that illustrates the quality under discussion.  Due before class on Wednesday, January 19th.

6.  Read the titles of all the essays included in The Art of the Personal Essay.  Identify the five that seem most interesting to you.  Send that list to me in an e-mail.  Due before class on Wednesday, January 19th.  Bring a hard copy of the same list to class on Wednesday, January 19th and be prepared to discuss it.

What Kind of Personal Essayist am I?

Ambivalence = Mixed Feelings (Photo by SashaW)
I. The Conversational Element (xxiv-xxv). Am I willing to explore feelings of ambivalence or doubt?

II. Honesty, Confession, and Privacy (xxv-xxvii). Am I open to revealing sensitive details about my private life?

III. The Contractions and Expansions of the Self (xxvii-xxix). Am I open to discussing my personal flaws? Am in interested in revealing my extensive knowledge of a particular subject?

IV. The Role of Contrariety (30-31). Am I interested in articulating an opinion readers are likely disagree with?

"Echo and Narcissus" by John William Waterhouse (1903)
V. The Problem of Egotism (31-32) Do I have a response to those who might accuse me of vanity (for writing about myself, my experiences and opinions)?

VI. Cheek and Irony (32-33). Do I enjoy making fun of people?

"Idleness" by John William Godward (1900)
VII. The Idler Figure (33-35). Do I celebrate idleness?

VIII. The Past, the Local, and the Melancholy (35-37). Do I want to focus on “the local”? Am I interested in looking back at past experiences and reflecting on how they shaped the person I have become?

IX. Questions of Form and Style (37-41). Do like to meander into unexpected places instead of taking a straight path from A to B?

X. Quotation and the Uses of Learning (41-42). Am I interested in using texts I’ve read to propel my writing?

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Assignments Three and Four

Disappointment.
3. Make a new post to your blog.  Possible subjects:  "One of my flaws;" "That's me:  A story;" "I failed;" "Above my head." These topics were inspired by posts published by members of the class.
Due by the start of class on Friday, January 14th.

4.  Read pp. xxiii-xlv of Introduction to The Art of the Personal Essay by Phillip Lopate.  At the beginning of Friday's class, I'll ask everyone to write the sentence "I have read the entire assignment and I am ready to discuss it" on a sheet of paper--if it is true;  if it is not true, I'll ask you to explain why."
Due by the start of class on Friday, January 14th.

As you are reading, ask yourself which of the qualities Lopate describes might also describe the kind of personal essayist you imagine yourself becoming.  Later, I will ask you to write about this.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Assignment Two

World of Automatons
Make another post to your infant blog (and soon you will become a writing machine like the young woman in the image at left--one of my former students).

Possible topics related to the content of our first two classes include:
"I do what they tell me" ("If they tell me to sign up for Reading and Writing Advanced Essays," for example . . .)
"My Passion"
"School is not cool"
"Putting on Airs"  (Montaigne says he avoids it in his essays)
"My Naked Self" (Think:  Montaigne's aesthetic)
"Photos of Me"  (How do you feel about having your photo taken?  Do you have a favorite photo of your self?  One you hate?  One that brings up strong memories?)
"X" (whatever you want it to be)

Consider using a concrete particular (a specific image or experience, for example) to find your way into the topic.

Length:  You decide
Due date:  10 a.m., Wednesday, January 12th

Friday, January 7, 2011

Your first assignment

Send me (sbenton@ecok.edu) an e-mail from the e-mail account you use most often (it doesn't have to be your school address).  Include the address of the blog where you have made your first post for this course (follow the steps below to set up your blog).

Due:  before class on Monday, January 10th.

How to set up a blog:
1.  Go to www.blogger.com
2.  Create a google account (use an existing e-mail account to register).
3.  Send me your password if you’re afraid you might lose it; I’ll be your password bank.
4.  Choose a recognizable “display name,” as in your actual first (and last?) name rather than a nickname.
Uncharted waters
5.  Once you’ve created a google account, click on the “create a new blog” link.
6.  The title of your blog can have spaces in it (and you can change it later).
7.  Your blog’s address (what goes between the “www” and the “blogspot.com”) cannot have spaces in it.  I recommend that you choose an address that will be easy for other people to spell when you tell it to them.
8.  The title and your address do not have to be the same.
9.  When choosing a template for your blog, think “readability.” In other words, avoid dark pink on a black background. (You can easily change your template later.)
10.  Once you’ve created your blog, click on the “start posting” link. Your first post may be as long or as short as you want it to be.
11. Need a subject? Try “On Exploring Uncharted Waters.” Describe your feelings about trying new experiences for the first time or about entering unfamiliar territory.
He just posted his first assignment.
12. When you’re finished with your post, click “publish.” Or click “save as draft” if you’re not ready for anyone to see it yet. Whether you publish or save your post as a draft, you can go back in and revise it later if you want to.
13. Clicking on “new post” in the upper right hand corner will take you back to the dashboard. Once there, you can change some of your settings. Click on the “settings” tab. Then the “formatting” tab. Change the “time zone” to “(GMT-06:00): Central.”
14.  When you've done all this, send me a celebratory e-mail, or preferably, a short video of you doing a celebratory dance.  But the e-mail is OK, if you don't want to do the dance video.

Spring 2011 Course Syllabus

English 3113:  Reading and Writing Advanced Essays
Instructor:  Dr. Steve Benton                                                                     
Office:  316A, ext. 448
E-mail:  sbenton@ecok.edu              
Office Hours:  MW 11-12; T/TH 2–3 and by appointment

Required Textbooks:
The Art of the Personal Essay.  Selected and with an introduction by Phillip Lopate.  New York:  Anchor, 1994.
They Say/I Say:  The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing.  Second Edition. (Norton, 2010).

Official Course Description:
3 hours.  Prerequisite:  ENG 1213 or departmental approval.  Practice in narrative, descriptive and persuasive modes of discourse.